Selling parents house to pay for care

Wurly

Hi everyone
My father has recently moved into nursing care so we are going to have to either rent or sell his house. I have to say I dread the whole process. It's been a very difficult the last few years with trying to keep him in his own house with carers visiting everyday.
Hopefully the worry we had with him living alone is now gone.

I had a pretty good handle on finances so his savings were not being drained too quickly, but now the care bill is frightening. I reckon' there is enough money to last about 6 months and then house will have to be sold.
So with that amount of time, i'm hoping to get a plan together so we aren't forced into selling it quickly and can hold out for a good selling price.

I have already closed all the general house service bills, Council tax has already had full reduction. The house is more or less empty with decades worth of furniture and junk already disposed of. There are few outstanding bills that will need to be settled and in a short while i'll know where we stand financially.

I was thinking about getting a local estate agent around for a valuation or maybe some idea of the rental income if we decide to go that route. Hopefully it will be a non committal valuation.
Is this a good idea? anyone care to offer some recommendations?
I would like to hear from someone who has already been in this situation who might like to offer some advice.
Thanks in advance

teddysmum

Do you really want the responsibility of being an unintentional landlord ? A lot of void times or a difficult tenant could be costly,meaning the house is sold anyway, but for much less.

xylophone

I assume that you have PoA.

I assume that your father has been assessed for Continuing Health Care and does not qualify?

Do you want to be a Landlord with all that that entails?


Is the house in a fit condition for letting out or will work be required?

If there are voids would there still be enough in your father's "kitty" to meet care bills?

While your father may be frail, he may still be in care for longer than the average two years.

My relative has PoA for his relative who went into care (with heart failure, high blood pressure/severe arthritis) at the age of 91 and is still there at the age of almost 96.

The donor's house was sold because my relative lived at a distance, did not want to arrange and supervise the works required for letting it out and besides did not want the hassle of being responsible for the property.

This still left the responsibility for managing a portfolio, pension income and savings but that can be done from his desk.

Tom99

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Have at least three EA round to get a more balanced view and also to try and weed out those who give you an unrealistic high likely sale figure because they think you will choose them.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Remember the EA fee is negotiable you do not have to accept the 1st fee they quote.[/FONT]

AdrianC

Those asking if you want to be a landlord are close to the pertinent point, but are missing one important detail.

Are you sure YOUR FATHER wants to be a landlord? Not you, him. It's his house, after all. His legal responsibility. His finances. His tax return. I presume you have PoA, but you need to act in HIS best interest. Not to safeguard your inheritance...

If you really think it appropriate to make such a decision on his behalf, then just pause and look at the numbers. Will the rental income even be adequate to cover his care costs? Remember - voids, damages, maintenance, fees... A rental property is one of the least liquid of investments - and is often not even that great a return in terms of short-term cash generation. It may historically, long-term, have been a decent investment - but that's largely because of value growth over time. And even that assumes the right property is picked, rather than the accidental-landlord route that you're looking at, which is more that of "I've got this house kicking about, so why not rent it out? This time next year, Rodney, we'll be millionaires!"

If you genuinely think it's a good plan, then feel free to post the numbers here, and we'll have a look and tell you whether it's a goer, or what you might be missing. How much does he have in other assets, what's the property value, how much needs spending to make it viable for rental, what's the likely rent - and what's the care costs?

AnotherJoe

Unless you've got some serious money to subsidise the difference between rental income and care home, I'd have thought it was very unlikely that rental will pay the care home fees or anywhere near it, so you'll be forced into selling anyway so the sooner you start the process the better.

agrinnall

It's been assumed that you have Power of Attorney, but we need to make sure that is the case (for example, Financial LPA), because if you don't have it then you can't sell the house at all.

elsien

They can if they apply for a deputyship, can't they?

AdrianC

elsien wrote: »

They can if they apply for a deputyship, can't they?

We don't know why the father's in the nursing home, he may be physically frail but still mentally sharp.

If he still has capacity, then get PoA underway TODAY. Do not wait.
https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney

If not, then it's too late for anything bar the court of protection. And that's long, slow and expensive.
https://www.gov.uk/courts-tribunals/court-of-protection

Either way, if PoA isn't already in place, nothing whatsoever is happening without the father's direct involvement and signatures (assuming capacity) until one of the two is in place - or until it becomes the responsibility of the executor.

Mardle

Does he get Attendance Allowance? If not, I suggest you/he get in a claim asap. He's entitled to it as he's self funding. Getting AA will affect Pension Guarantee Credit. My mother wasn't eligible for Pension Guarantee Credit before she went into a care home. She just got a small amount of Pension Savings Credit. Once on AA she became eligible for Pension Guarantee Credit which almost doubled her income. A definite help towards care home fees.

We considered renting out her home but decided to put it up for sale straight away. The biggest expense while it was empty was insurance.

He also needs to be assessed for NHS Continuing Care if that hasn't already been done.

Rambosmum

Yes, OP - unless you advise us of whether you have POA or your father has capcity we can't really advise you.

Does your fathers LA allow for a charge to be placed on the property until after death? Then you don't need to worry about it just yet and can take your time?