Right to Buy, Outright

Cakeguts

Guerillatoker wrote: »

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 able to 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?

It isn't worth the risk to her in later life. At the moment and for the future she has no housing worries at all. Once she and you own it she is at risk of becoming homeless. I don't think anyone would want their mother to be at risk of homelessness because of their actions?

Guerillatoker

Cakeguts wrote: »

It isn't worth the risk to her in later life. At the moment and for the future she has no housing worries at all. Once she and you own it she is at risk of becoming homeless. I don't think anyone would want their mother to be at risk of homelessness because of their actions?

It just seems so abstract that both me and my brother would hit dire straits simultaneously and leave my mum up !!!! creek.

I suppose those do sound like famous last words.

Norman_Castle

Guerillatoker wrote: »

It just seems so abstract that both me and my brother would hit dire straits simultaneously and leave my mum up !!!! creek.

If you pay your £15,000 mortgage quickly, 5 years? you can then save x amount for repairs and a financial buffer. Once the mortgage is paid saving will be easier. Have you saved anything towards this in the last year? If not, why not?

Guerillatoker

Norman_Castle wrote: »

If you pay your £15,000 mortgage quickly, 5 years? you can then save x amount for repairs and a financial buffer. Once the mortgage is paid saving will be easier. Have you saved anything towards this in the last year? If not, why not?

We will be buying in cash, which we have already saved up.

Norman_Castle

Only the three of you know how affordable this is for you. Without a mortgage you will only have maintenance costs to fund. Can you afford and agree to paying into a maintenance fund.
If you don't buy the property who pays your mothers ongoing rent? Presumably even if she receives housing benefit this could be reduced by the bedroom tax if you move out.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

I would personally concentrate on helping your mother re-focus her life following the sudden, and still quite recent death of your father. If she's approaching retirement she's got decisions to make about possibly moving/downsizing etc. It's easier to make such decisions from the security of a council tenancy, with no other pressure.

I don't see the need to complicate the situation; if you've sorted your debts and accumulated some cash then you should be thinking about buying your own place.

Guerillatoker

Norman_Castle wrote: »

Only the three of you know how affordable this is for you. Without a mortgage you will only have maintenance costs to fund. Can you afford and agree to paying into a maintenance fund.
If you don't buy the property who pays your mothers ongoing rent? Presumably even if she receives housing benefit this could be reduced by the bedroom tax if you move out.

We would definitely be able to afford a maintenance fund - 320p/m is already going on rent and I have plenty disposable once bills are paid for. My brother earns more than me but does have his own family, though most of his family's outgoings are paid by his wife's revenue.

At the moment I cover 100% of rent, 100% of elec/gas, 100% of ISP and about 80% of our food shopping, as well as providing my mum money for any bus fares or fivers here n there she might need. I generally buy any treats we have, like takeaways.

My mum pays water and TV license (but thats only because I haven't yet been able to convince her to give up on live TV). My brother pays CTax, her phone contract and generally any sizeable one-off costs of hers that come up.

If I move out housing benefit will cover my mums rent with a £26p/w defecit due to bedroom tax. In this situation me and my brother will probably roll up all her outgoing/bills except food shopping and split them down the middle between us. We do also have a sister who helps here and there but she is not in a position to provide regular support like we are.

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

I would personally concentrate on helping your mother re-focus her life following the sudden, and still quite recent death of your father. If she's approaching retirement she's got decisions to make about possibly moving/downsizing etc. It's easier to make such decisions from the security of a council tenancy, with no other pressure.

I don't see the need to complicate the situation; if you've sorted your debts and accumulated some cash then you should be thinking about buying your own place.

Now that I've laid it all out, I think not buying and moving out would be detrimental to my mum's quality of life in the short term but would be lower risk for her later years.

Buying the house will be a short term improvement due to our ability to invest in the house and that my continued proximity alleviates much of my mothers day-to-day financial worries, but risks her security in later years should anything happen to us.

Unfortunately as a contractor with very bad credit I fear my own place is 5-10 years away at least.

Its not an easy decision for any of us.

Cakeguts

Guerillatoker wrote: »

We would definitely be able to afford a maintenance fund - 320p/m is already going on rent and I have plenty disposable once bills are paid for. My brother earns more than me but does have his own family, though most of his family's outgoings are paid by his wife's revenue.

At the moment I cover 100% of rent, 100% of elec/gas, 100% of ISP and about 80% of our food shopping, as well as providing my mum money for any bus fares or fivers here n there she might need. I generally buy any treats we have, like takeaways.

My mum pays water and TV license (but thats only because I haven't yet been able to convince her to give up on live TV). My brother pays CTax, her phone contract and generally any sizeable one-off costs of hers that come up.



Now that I've laid it all out, I think not buying and moving out would be detrimental to my mum's quality of life in the short term but would be lower risk for her later years.

Buying the house will be a short term improvement due to our ability to invest in the house and that my continued proximity alleviates much of my mothers day-to-day financial worries, but risks her security in later years should anything happen to us.

Unfortunately as a contractor with very bad credit I fear my own place is 5-10 years away at least.

Its not an easy decision for any of us.

You have to consider this as well. Supposing your mother becomes less mobile as she becomes older and needs to move into sheltered housing. Council sheltered housing can be paid for by housing benefit so no money worries. Private sheltered housing often has very big service charges so although the actual flat is cheap to buy the service charge can cost £1000s a year. Housing benefit will only cover up to a certain level so what you want if you aren't working and don't have much of a pension is really to go into council sheltered housing. The security of these council tenancies are why so many people are trying to get council housing because you have no housing worries at all. A secure tenancy is something that really you shouldn't give up. When you think about it if your parents had been financially secure they would not have needed to get a council house they could just have bought a house. So your mother is not used to having to live in a property where she is responsible for all of the finance and really when you are nearly retiring age and likely to have a reduced income is not the time to start.



The time to start learning about financing your own home is when you are young and can work to earn money not when you are old and about to stop working altogether and retire.

Guerillatoker

Part of the discussion is about social care so I have a slightly off-topic query.

Obviously if my mum has assets she is at risk of having to fund her own social care. Would the quality of care we could obtain be higher than if the council had to pick up the tab?

No doubt most of you have no experience in this area - I couldn't find much on google.

Guerillatoker

Cakeguts wrote: »

You have to consider this as well. Supposing your mother becomes less mobile as she becomes older and needs to move into sheltered housing. Council sheltered housing can be paid for by housing benefit so no money worries. Private sheltered housing often has very big service charges so although the actual flat is cheap to buy the service charge can cost £1000s a year. Housing benefit will only cover up to a certain level so what you want if you aren't working and don't have much of a pension is really to go into council sheltered housing. The security of these council tenancies are why so many people are trying to get council housing because you have no housing worries at all. A secure tenancy is something that really you shouldn't give up. When you think about it if your parents had been financially secure they would not have needed to get a council house they could just have bought a house. So your mother is not used to having to live in a property where she is responsible for all of the finance and really when you are nearly retiring age and likely to have a reduced income is not the time to start.



The time to start learning about financing your own home is when you are young and can work to earn money not when you are old and about to stop working altogether and retire.

Thanks for your advice, I certainly have had my eyes opened to the reality of having to find my mother sheltered housing if this did occur.

I do want to make it clear that me and my brother would be responsible for all the financial implications of home ownership, though I acknowledge for the first 5-10 years my brothers share will be under my mum's responsibility.