Retired parents renting their house from me and cannot afford to pay

urbanhim

FBaby wrote: »

You don't seem to appreciate that as a landlord, which you are, whether you are receiving rent or not, and as such you have legal duties.

A dreadful scenario, but if your parents were to die as a result of monoxide poisoning from a faulty boiler, it's not a case of no-one in the family suing you for compensation but a a criminal case for neglecting to conduct your legal requirements of carrying out an annual gas certificate.

It makes no difference that you are renting to parents, you are still a landlord with all the crap that comes with it.

Thanks, I will of course address all these issues, and ensure that I do all I need to do as a proper landlord. I will distant myself from the fact its my parents and I was helping them out by buying the house to stop them losing it, and treat it more like a landlord / tenancy agreement.

AnotherJoe

When I said I not an official landlord, what I mean is that I do not charge my parents rent.
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As I said, I dont think HMRC would accept that, but if they did, then that would mean that your parents are not entitled to any housing benefit, which since they seem to be in absolute penury, is surely a foolish position to have gotten into.

Can you post your parents income here? presumably they are both on state pension plus pension credit?

When_the_going_gets_tough

I am thinking that an analysis of your parents income and debts is the way to go. I think you could help your parents get some debt advice. Stepchange are great for non priority debts but your parents situation may be more complicated. Larger CABs will have debt specialists and I would take some advice as well as look on the National Debtline site.http://https://www.nationaldebtline.org/ to see what solutions may be recommended. Good luck. it is very hard to navigate all these systems correctly while trying to help oout your parents.

Winter_Phoenix

It sounds as if your parents got themselves into a real financial tangle, and that you have done your very best to rescue them and give them a peaceful old age.

You may have unintentionally made mistakes, which now need to be sorted out. But you should be congratulated for taking on the responsibility of caring for your parents rather than just abandoning them, even at great personal cost to you and your own family.

Well done. And good luck with sorting out the tax situation and the other issues which need to be addressed.

AdrianC

Tax is the least issue - mortgage interest is offset against rental income, so this property is making the OP a honking great big loss.

In fact, that loss may well reduce the OP's income tax liability overall...

GwylimT

A few questions, the answers will make it easier to help you out.

Do you have the following
Consent to let
Landlords insurance
Gas and electrical safety certs
Smoke/carbon monoxide alarm
Yearly income declaration to hmrc
What is mums income in total per month
What is dads income in total per month
What are their monthly unsecurred debt repayments each month
How much are their utilities
How much do they spend on food

I know it seems like lots of questions, but it means we can offer far more useful help to you and your parents. If you answer just quote this post and type the answer next to the question.

BrassicWoman

could dad go bankrupt? sounds like he as no assets, and it would clear the debt.

marliepanda

Chrysalis wrote: »

Yes, draw up a tenancy agreement, you and your parents sign it. Then they show it the council when applying for local housing allowance.

There is no guarantee you will get the full £200 of the council, but that does indeed seem a very low figure so it is likely you will get it, the money will actually go to your parents then they pay you from it.

Absolutely no chance of getting Housing Benefit on a property you used to own.

Especially when you sold it for half the price.

Tigsteroonie

marliepanda wrote: »

Absolutely no chance of getting Housing Benefit on a property you used to own.

Especially when you sold it for half the price.

That's academic - they don't pay rent. They make a gift of £200/month to their son. No rent, no benefit to help with rent.

seven-day-weekend

They will not b able to claim Housing Benefit as it is a contrived tenancy.

The facts are, neither you nor they can afford for them to live in this house, therefore the best thing to do is sell it, as others have said.