Right to Buy, Outright

Guerillatoker

CocoLouie wrote: »

You know there are risks but you deem them manageable. Why take even the smallest of risks at all when it comes to your mother having a roof over her head? How does this benefit anyone other than you or your brother?


Plenty of reasons why someone would need money from a house: divorce, have children and need a bigger house themselves, get sick or have an accident and can no longer work, redundancy, gambling problems, fall out with other owners/tenant, care home fees, additional stamp duty to pay.

We assess risks everyday - a drive on the motorway could result in a 70mph pile-up, but we still opt for it instead of the lower speed roads - and that is not gambling a home, its gambling lives. Would you deem that a manageable risk?

We are only talking ~£15,000 each here, for a house worth ~£40,000 each. It just seems strange to sacrifice ~£25,000 equity for the risk of one of us hitting financial trouble and being forced to sell - surely the equity for just one of us would more than cover finding my mum a new home to live in?

These risks seem to ignore that they will mostly result from selling the house, but that will leave the one of us without the financial issue plenty of spare cash to help the other and my mum.

I'm still looking into the social care hassle, that may not be a manageable risk.


EDIT: Looking like a loan or private mortgage between mum & brother will eliminate a lot of these risks, so thanks again Pixie, definitely going to get some legal advice about that.

CocoLouie

Guerillatoker wrote: »

We assess risks everyday - a drive on the motorway could result in a 70mph pile-up, but we still opt for it instead of the lower speed roads - and that is not gambling a home, its gambling lives. Would you deem that a manageable risk?

We are only talking ~£15,000 each here, for a house worth ~£40,000 each. It just seems strange to sacrifice ~£25,000 equity for the risk of one of us hitting financial trouble and being forced to sell - surely the equity for just one of us would more than cover finding my mum a new home to live in?

These risks seem to ignore that they will mostly result from selling the house, but that will leave the one of us without the financial issue plenty of spare cash to help the other and my mum.

I'm still looking into the social care hassle, that may not be a manageable risk.


EDIT: Looking like a loan or private mortgage between mum & brother will eliminate a lot of these risks, so thanks again Pixie, definitely going to get some legal advice about that.

Another possible cost could be adapting the home if your mother ends up with mobility issues which the council would usually provide for.


Your mum is the one taking the risk with absolutely no upside for her. Will you be able to purchase a home for her on the open market after all of the selling and buying fees are taken account of if one or both of you have a financial mishap?


You have your mind set on buying it just for you and your brother to make money and not to help your mother and the only worry you have is if you won't make as much money for the hassle be it care home fees or repair/upgrade bills. I stick by my previous opinion that you and your brother are only after £££ and not considering your mother as your posts have proved.


Good luck to your mother in future as she'll need it.

Guerillatoker

CocoLouie wrote: »

Another possible cost could be adapting the home if your mother ends up with mobility issues which the council would usually provide for.


Your mum is the one taking the risk with absolutely no upside for her. Will you be able to purchase a home for her on the open market after all of the selling and buying fees are taken account of if one or both of you have a financial mishap?


You have your mind set on buying it just for you and your brother to make money and not to help your mother and the only worry you have is if you won't make as much money for the hassle be it care home fees or repair/upgrade bills. I stick by my previous opinion that you and your brother are only after £££ and not considering your mother as your posts have proved.


Good luck to your mother in future as she'll need it.

What a condescending gob!!!!! you are.

Cakeguts

This is the problem with this that I see. At the moment your mother has the right to live in that property or another property provided by the council for life. If she can't pay the rent she will get housing benefit to cover it. So her living accommodation is secure without any risk for the rest of her life. She also does not have to pay maintenance.


Once that house becomes privately owned your mother's housing is at risk. If for any reason you can't pay the mortgage or you need the money that is in it your mother is at risk.


Now the risk is this. If your mother becomes homeless the council will not rehouse her. Not only that but she is then a single person so if she can't work she will only get the housing benefit available to a single person over the age of 35. If she is lucky this might be enough to rent a studio flat. However what is more likely is that it will only be enough to rent a room in a shared house. So she could go from having a house to live in without any chance of losing it to a room in a shared house full of strangers if something goes wrong once she and you own this house.



You see if you lose this house you are young and have the chance to start again because you are young enough to work. This may not be the case for your mother. If she can't work you say you will fund her but if it has all gone wrong and you are unable to do this she is going to be stuck.


Now the best thing for your mother because of her age is to not buy this council house. If she continues to live in it as a council tenant you will know that her housing for life is taken care of. She will not become homeless if something goes wrong in your life or your brother's life. If she is living in council accommodation and needs to move to a retirement flat because of mobility problems the council will arrange it. If she owns the house then that house would have to be sold to buy a retirement flat. Retirement accommodation has age limits on it. So if you were under 55 or 60 you would not be able to live there with her.



For her living in a council house is stress free there are no maintenance worries. She does not have to find a plumber or an electrician or a roofer it is all covered. For older people on low incomes maintenance can be a worry because of the cost. She may not want to have to ask you for cash all the time if something breaks. That is not nice for someone who likes their independence.

Norman_Castle

CocoLouie wrote: »

Your mum is the one taking the risk with absolutely no upside for her.

Many parents are keen to provide for their children in any way they can. The mother is hopefully financially astute and fully aware of the risks and benefits.

Teamocil

cjdavies wrote: »

I predict this going wrong in the future.

What happens if he needs his share for something?

Oh, come on. This is a straightforward right to buy scam. Neither of them are moving in but they want to monetise the social housing their mother has enjoyed for many years.

Norman_Castle

Teamocil wrote: »

Oh, come on. This is a straightforward right to buy scam. Neither of them are moving in but they want to monetise the social housing their mother has enjoyed for many years.

One already lives there.

blueball

Go for it. The cost is always going to be less than renting, you will be much better off.

jimbog

Cakeguts wrote: »

This is the problem with this that I see. At the moment your mother has the right to live in that property or another property provided by the council for life. If she can't pay the rent.....

An excellent post. I think the OP will now see what's best for his mother.

Guerillatoker

Cakeguts wrote: »

This is the problem with this that I see...

Thanks for your considered response, I will re-evaluate and am currently leaning towards not making the purchase.

It is a difficult decision for me as I know if I speak to my mum about the risk, she will say that she would rather us buy it. She doesn't see the council as a home for life due to the pressure on her to move when my dad passed away (which is why I originally moved in, contrary to suggestions made by other posters).

She knows that I will be inclined to improve the house to both our benefit once I have a stake in it, but that if not it will soon be time for me to get my own place. Obviously, she wants to help her children get onto the property ladder too.

If I am reading the consensus correctly, even with the above considered, it simply is not worth the risk in later life, regardless how any of us feel about it?