buying house with mum - good idea or not?

sleepless_saver

My mum lives alone and is now reaching the point where she can't really manage by herself. Her house isn't suitable for the sorts of adaptations she needs. She would hate to go into care so we are wondering about asking her to stay with us. But our house is too small plus the layout would cause problems. We'd have to buy somewhere more suitable and we can't afford a bigger mortgage than we already have.

She might still need residential care at some point down the line as her physical condition is getting steadily worse, so (and this is the point of this long story! ) if she sold her house and became a joint owner of the new house could the local authority force us to sell it in order to get her quarter of the house if she needed residential care? Or would it be better to increase the mortgage and ask her to pay rent to us instead to cover the increased cost?

missile

if she sold her house and became a joint owner of the new house could the local authority force us to sell it in order to get her quarter of the house if she needed residential care?

No, .........

sleepless_saver

I know they can't if you're a spouse, or over 60, but couldn't see anything abut carers?

margaretclare

sleepless_saver wrote: »

I know they can't if you're a spouse, or over 60, but couldn't see anything abut carers?

They're not 'carers'. They're joint owners! You can't force somebody to sell something that belongs to someone else, and no one would be interested in buying a half or a quarter of a house.

Margaret

sleepless_saver

margaretclare wrote: »

They're not 'carers'. They're joint owners! You can't force somebody to sell something that belongs to someone else, and no one would be interested in buying a half or a quarter of a house.

Margaret

that's what I would have hoped, but I've done a bit more digging since I posted and found the Age Concern Factsheet (10) which says :

"Joint owners: If you jointly own property with someone else the current
value of your interest in the property will be taken into account unless
one of the disregards mentioned above applies."

The disregards are:

"your spouse, civil partner or someone you live with as if you were
married or civil partners;
· a relative who is aged 60 or over;
· a relative who is aged under 60 but is incapacitated;
· a child under the age of 16 whom the resident (the person entering
a home) is liable to maintain. (This applies to local authorities
only);
· a lone parent who is estranged/divorced from the resident (local
authority only)."

We wouldn't fall into any of these categories so it looks like her share would be taken into account in assessing contribution - whether they'd go as far as making us sell up, I don't know.

missile

I am certain you would not have to sell, but for peace of mind best to contact your local council/social services and get their confirmation in writing.

sleepless_saver

Yup, I'll do that, thanks

Savvy_Sue

I'd be quite surprised if they'd give you a personal undertaking in writing, but if you asked what their policy was in general in such situations, you should get an answer. I think the worst they could do is put a charge on the property so that if / when you sell it, they'd be able to claim.

missile

As with most things the policy may vary depending on where you are. I suggest OP writes =

"Can you please confirm you policy regarding .......... "

Let's not forget they are not just employed to collect our council tax, they are there to help. If I did not get a satisfactory response, I would write to my councilor, MP and whatever action groups I thought appropriate.

If it were me, I would do whatever I felt best for mum and not worry about something which is most unlikely to happen. Perhaps first thing is to tactfully discuss what does mum want to do?

Moving house is expensive and there may be other options? I know, some have converted their loft / garage to provide a seperate granny flat.

EdInvestor

sleepless_saver wrote: »

...if she sold her house and became a joint owner of the new house could the local authority force us to sell it in order to get her quarter of the house if she needed residential care?

Probably not - the costs of making you all homeless would mean this was counterprductive.They would be more likely to place a charge on the property for your mother's portion, which you would repay when you later sold the property or she died and you inherited.

Or would it be better to increase the mortgage and ask her to pay rent to us instead to cover the increased cost?

Might be a better idea. She could then use some of her retained invested capital from the property to buy an "immediate needs annuity" if she did need care.These are value for money products (usually leaving money over for the family) which guarantee the cost of care for life and also give the annuitant independence.

If you rely on the council to pay for your care you have no control over what standard or location of home you might end up in. You get what you pay for, as in any transaction.

monkeyspanner

Be careful about contacting the Social Services. If you deprive yourself of assets in order to avoid being self funding in a care home the SS can come after the recipient of the asset to recover the money and I have seen somewhere there is not a time limit.

Your Mum can have up to £21500 in savings and other assets before needing to be self funding.

If you want to buy a home together I think putting the house as 'Tenants in common' gives more protection to you in this situation than 'joint ownership'. Check with a solicitor for more detail.

Also it might be worth taking advice from an organisation like nhfa
https://www.hsbcpensions.co.uk/nhfa/pages/index.asp