Parents in 80's selling to rent? Good idea?

glitter_2

My in-laws (who are in their 80's) are selling their mobile home to move to live nearer their son. They hope to make about £80K form the sale. They have discovered that this will not buy them anything where there son lives so have considered renting a property. The rents is approx £650 pcm for somrthing decent.

My wife has worked out that their money for rent with interest rates etc will probably only last them 12 years max.

I am worried that renting is not a good idea ( bad landlords, etc) and am thinking about contributing with my family to help them buy another property.

Can anyone help me with these questions:
1. If we buy my parents a new property should it be in the children's name for tax reasons. It would be a way of getting rid of their assets.
2. In the event of one/both going into a home would it be better if they didn't own a home.
3. Will it affect my tax?

Any bright ideas would be greatly received.

Many thanks

zzzLazyDaisy

Have your parents contacted the Local Authority? Many LA's have flats and bungalows for the over 55's, and will give priority to people who need to move into the area to be near family who can help look after them. Rents are usually much more affordable - around £250 per month.

That would leave them free to spend their money as they wish, make gifts, whatever. And of course if/when their money drops below a certain level, they would get help with the rent and council tax.

Just a thought.

glitter_2

Good idea , but they are moving into a new LA, so I imagine thay would go to the bottom of the list.

Thanks for your thoughts!

Jane_2-2

I thought that the following link may help you in what options may be available in the area

http://www.housingcare.org/homepage.aspx

Best wishes
Jane

glitter_2

Thanks, that's a really helpful website. I'm going to look through it carefully.

glitter_2

Thanks this has been very useful for me. I'm going to look at all your suggestions carefully.

zzzLazyDaisy

glitter wrote:

Good idea , but they are moving into a new LA, so I imagine thay would go to the bottom of the list.

Hi, no that isn't always the case by any means. I know of two elderly couples who have sold up and moved to another part of the country to be near family, and they were both re-housed straight away (actually I think the accommodation was provided by a Housing Association in one case, but in both cases the initial contact was to the Local Authority.

Good luck!

Paul_Varjak

I agree with zzlazydaisy. I moved in 1995 to support elderly parents. I got offered a Council flat within four weeks. But it was a one-time offer; if I did not accept there would be no guarantee that I would be offered anything else. And I was claiming Housing and Council Tax benefits at the time as well!

Don't think it would be any different if elderly parents are moving to get support from children.

EdInvestor

1. If we buy my parents a new property should it be in the children's name for tax reasons. It would be a way of getting rid of their assets.
2. In the event of one/both going into a home would it be better if they didn't own a home.
3. Will it affect my tax?

You could always buy a BTL property and then rent it to the parents.

At some point it may be that they will be able to claim housing benefit to pay the rent if/when their money gets a bit low.There's no problem in tenants claiming HB if the landlord is a relative.

Tax arrangments are the same as for any BTL.

glitter_2

All these suggestions have been really useful, I am so pleased that I posted a question.

Thanks!!