Grant or loan?

posiepye

Yes I agree with you. It is shocking that they cant do something with the stairlift. Instead of just writing it off. Im sure in this day an age something could be done with it. Such a waste..
I seem to remember when I had my grant , it was something about a certain percentage to be paid back if sold in 10 years. No charge was put on the deeds
If I was you Mrsmch349 Id speak to a few differnet people at the council. Dont just go on the word of what one person tells you.

Danday

Mrsmch349 wrote: »

That!!!8217;s what I thought. However, it!!!8217;s galling to think that they make no effort to recycle the chair, and, if we hadn!!!8217;t stepped in to buy a home for my mother then they would have had to provide accommodation for her for 10yrs, too!

As you say logic dictates that it would have cost them more. But you are dealing with local authorities here. They don't view what it could have cost them, they simply see a way of getting money to roll back in.

50Twuncle

Stairlifts are designed for a specific property - they generally cannot be satisfactorily transferred between properties - they cost more to remove than have in 2nd hand value..

teddysmum

Could the mother not have been considered to have deprived herself of assets by letting her son have his 'inheritance ' early ?(assuming the 'inheritance' was cash. Property is not counted until residential care is required by someone not leaving a qualifying person in the house )

Danday

teddysmum wrote: »

Could the mother not have been considered to have deprived herself of assets by letting her son have his 'inheritance ' early ?(assuming the 'inheritance' was cash. Property is not counted until residential care is required by someone not leaving a qualifying person in the house )

Mum gave away her asset - to her two children, one took the cash upfront whilst the other became the owner of the property minus a mortgage raised to fund the cash payment. Yes it could be said that she did deprive herself. But given that mum died prior to her needing care at home or in a residential setting the transfer of the asset would never be considered. It would certainly be a different story if she had have gone into care. However depending on the size of mum's estate, the inheritance paid 'early' could well be 'unwound' for Inheritance Tax purposes.

Mrsmch349

An update for you guys ...

To clarify the inheritance issue ... my parents divorced just before my dad died. My brother & I inherited what should have been my mother!!!8217;s money had she stuck it out for a wee while longer. We gave it to my mother so she could buy a house. She then put it in trust for us so that we wouldn!!!8217;t lose it. That!!!8217;s when it hit the fan, and my brother decided he didn!!!8217;t want her to move near me, and took his half! Families, eh?

I have tried to give away the stairlift but have had no takers so it will be taken to the dump tomorrow.

I have spoken to the council today. If we want the charge removed from the deeds then we need to repay £4,300. However, he said that my buyer could accept the charge on the deeds (for another 4yrs) - even though the stairlift won!!!8217;t be in the house ( the council guy knew this). The conditions would be that it was her primary dwelling, not used for commercial use, and kept in a good state of repair.

I!!!8217;ve written to my solicitor with a proposal that we offer the purchaser £2,000 off the purchase price to do this. I!!!8217;m awaiting a reply.

Seems a complete waste of time and money but hey ho!

Thank you for all your responses.