New roof

beattiesman

my brother bought my mums flat for her through the right to buy council scheme he paid the mortgage on it .there are 4 flats in the block 3 are still council owned .they have sent my mum a letter to say they are putting a new roof on the block & as a leaseholder she will have to pay £6000 towards the cost which she has no chance of paying as she only has her state pension & gets pension credit aswell.what happens in a situation like this she is 94 years of age & is worried out of her mind about this

Davesnave

I would tell your brother that this is the sort of responsibility that comes with purchasing property, so he'd better sort out a means to pay the bill.

AdrianC

And this is why RtB is not always a good plan...

Your mother needs to pay the bill for the property she owns. I'm sure your brother can find a way to paying it, as he's covering her mortgage and other costs. I am quite surprised that somebody of that age managed to get a mortgage in the first place, though.

If she does not pay it, the likely outcome is that the freeholder will obtain a charge against the property, to be satisfied on sale.

eddddy

Unfortunately, this is one of the risks of owning a leasehold property - you have to contribute to the cost of repairs to the building.

If the flat was bought recently, there should have been information about planned repairs (like the roof). Also, having a survey before buying might have highlighted that the roof was in poor condition (although that's little consolation now).

Who is the leaseholder - your brother or your mum? Whoever it is could try discussing their financial situation with the council. Some councils will allow payment by installment in this kind of situation.

AnotherJoe

beattiesman wrote: »

my brother bought my mums flat for her through the right to buy council scheme he paid the mortgage on it .there are 4 flats in the block 3 are still council owned .they have sent my mum a letter to say they are putting a new roof on the block & as a leaseholder she will have to pay £6000 towards the cost which she has no chance of paying as she only has her state pension & gets pension credit aswell.what happens in a situation like this she is 94 years of age & is worried out of her mind about this

If your brother bought it why have they sent your mum a letter ??

Anyway it seems straightforward, your brother bought it so it's his responsibility to pay for the roof repairs. Why is it anything to do with your mother ?

And why is your brother allowing your mother to be concerned ? Surely he should explain to your mother as he owns it he'll be paying the £6,000.

AdrianC

AnotherJoe wrote: »

If your brother bought it why have they sent your mum a letter ??

Anyway it seems straightforward, your brother bought it so it's his responsibility to pay for the roof repairs. Why is it anything to do with your mother ?

And why is your brother allowing your mother to be concerned ? Surely he should explain to your mother as he owns it he'll be paying the £6,000.

Because, of course, the brother didn't buy it. The brother gifted the money for the purchase to the tenant who had the RtB, the mother, and continues to gift a monthly amount the equivalent of the mortgage repayment...

AnotherJoe

But then .... but but but........ why has OP lied and told us brother bought it?


Why did mother buy it if she couldn't afford maintenance?

If OTOH some greedy relative such as a son convinced his elderly frail mother to buy so he could clean up when it came to inheritance time well he'd better shell out of his own pocket now then. Is he really so hard hearted as to throw his mum under a bus when it comes to a bill like this, and why is the OP whinging here about finding the money when its obvious if the son "bought it" he should also take the responsibility for repairs rather than expecting someone else to cough up?

They've had their RTB cake, now they are finding out the icing tastes a bit sour. Cry me a river.

seashore22

Well someone's going to have to find the money. Does your brother still live in the flat or did he get kicked out as per your previous thread?

ReadingTim

If the OP's that worried about it, he could always find the £6k her/himself....

G_M

This is a cost of ownership.

As a council tenant, your mother paid a modest rent and in return had security of tenure for life, and all maintenance expenses paid.

She and/or your brother saw an opportunity to 'benefit' from buying the property at the discounted RTB price, at the expense of the tax-payer.

They saw the positive aspects of this (perhaps selling in the future at a profit?) but failed to consider the negative aspects. ie

* mum's loss of a secure tenancy
* the costs of home-ownership

The options now are to

* sell and move out, if a buyer can be found with a new roof required
* pay for the share ofthe cost of the roof
* default on the payment and be chased for payment via the various legal routes open to the freeholder

Mossfarr

As your brother 'bought' your Mums flat for her its now his responsibility to pay for the maintenance. I'm sure he can offset the costs against the profit he will no doubt make when the time comes to sell it.