Any options to move mother closer?

sghughes42

My mother is getting on a bit, father died a few years ago and both my sister and myself are long moved away from the area she lives in. She has expressed an interest in moving away from where she has lived for the last 50 years but has at the same time convinced herself it isn't possible.

The main issue is the area - even though she owns a fairly nice 3 bed terrace house, the area is an ex-coal mining area and we estimate the property will be lucky to make £60k, not helped by the fact it is still heated by a coal fire.

Neither my sister nor I can help much - we have both taken on mortgages recently which are towards the upper limit of our borrowing potential so couldn't borrow more to help.

What we aren't sure of is whether she is eligible to apply for council or housing association properties away from where she lives and / or whether she would qualify for housing benefit of any kind? Presumably the money she would have in the bank after selling her house would preclude this?

Favourite location to move to would be near my sister in Shrewsbury but bungalows there start at £150k or around £650pcm to rent. That seems to make a purchase out of the question and renting would burn through her money in 6 or 7 years and would remove the security of ownership she has had for all her life.

Are there any other avenues we can pursue or is it just a case of live with it or take the step away from home ownership to live somewhere better?

hazyjo

Could she live with either of you (or would she want to), or is there space to build an annexe or extension with her money on one of your homes?


Jx

sghughes42

I should have clarified that, unfortunately not. No space to expand either house and she wants to maintain some independence so not viable to share either of our houses. Not really space either.

marliepanda

If she owns her house in full and sells for 60k then she won't get help with housing benefit until it's below 16k

It's unusual for someone to be eligible for social housing with those means, and in particular one far away from where she currently lives, but if your area has surplus social housing then it's possible, maybe there is some for over a certain age which are not full. If there's high demand she has little to no chance.

sghughes42

I did see that some estate agents are now offering mortgages up to 80 and beyond. She's just turned 70 and gets my father's civic service pension so is she likely to be able to get a small mortgage or would she really need a much higher income to get one of these?

Dan-Dan

sghughes42 wrote: »

Presumably there are no tricks available where she can give the house to myself and my sister?

Really , did you really just type this?

tomtontom

sghughes42 wrote: »

Presumably there are no tricks available where she can give the house to myself and my sister?

I did see that some estate agents are now offering mortgages up to 80 and beyond. She's just turned 70 and gets my father's civic service pension so is she likely to be able to get a small mortgage or would she really need a much higher income to get one of these?

You want to keep the house but have the state pay for your mother's housing needs - really?

fairy_lights

Would she need to rent a bungalow or would a one bedroom flat be suitable? Does she have a pension or any other income?

sghughes42

Argh! Shows what happens when you reply without reading properly.

Apologies, I wasn't intending this to be a way for her to get benefits illegally, I was thinking it might help her get social housing- which would of course be paid for using the money obtained from selling her house.

sghughes42

fairy_lights wrote: »

Would she need to rent a bungalow or would a one bedroom flat be suitable? Does she have a pension or any other income?

A bungalow would be better - she would like and is still able to enjoy a garden. If a flat was available with that it might do but would have to be ground floor - knee issues are starting to make stairs a problem.

She gets full state pension plus my father's civil service pension - I'm not sure how much and if that is for life or only a fixed period, I'd have to enquire.

Dan-Dan

sell for 60k move closer to one of you and rent privately using pension/s and equity