Right to acquire

chrisr123

Hi, as you may of seen on another post of mine. I live with my mum and dad. My mum passed away 3 weeks ago, so it’s just me and my dad and my nephew here. I’ve been living here for 20 years and it’s a housing association house, that is paid for by benefits because my dad had terminal lung cancer and he is 74. I’m not on the tendency or rent book. Rang up to tell them about mum today and they said if anything happened to dad then they would kick us out and find us alternative accommodation because of the ‘not using all the rooms’ law. We obviously would have to pay full rent then which is not a problem. I’ve got a good job so I want to my the house. My question is, because I’m not a tenant, dad can share the right to aquire with a family member. Obviously I’ll be funding it but dads name would be down as owner. What would happen if god forbid my dad died, what would happen to the house then?  Any help would be greatly appreciated as I’m really worried. Plus my sister gave us some bad news this morning that she has cancer aswell. So my world had been completely turned up side down. Many thanks 

chrisr123

Sorry that was meant to say ‘ I want to buy the house’ 

greatcrested

chrisr123 said:

Sorry that was meant to say ‘ I want to buy the house’ 

You can edit your original post by clicking 'edit' at top right corner of the post.

foxy-stoat

If your Dad can raise the funds to buy the property then he is free to do so.  If he were to die it will be left to whoever was in the Will, after all his debts are settled.  This may mean the property would have to be sold, but if its within a certain time frame from purchasing then an additional payment may have to be made to the Housing Association as he would get a discount.  The terms would be in the sales contract.

greatcrested

Your father could leave you the property in his will (he should take advice).

I believe (please check) that if you inherit it, it would not first have to be offered back to the HA (as it would if dad sold it within 10 years), though I may be wrong.

I imagine though that if you then sold it within 10 years, you'd have to offer it first to the HA (plues repay a proportion of the discount if within 5 years).

https://www.gov.uk/right-to-buy-buying-your-council-home/selling-your-home

edit: I've found this:

The clawback charge is, however, not triggered by an exempt disposal (as defined in Housing Act 1985, s 160). If the former tenant dies, the beneficiaries under his will or intestacy do not, therefore, have to refund the money until and unless they sell the property within the unexpired part of the statutory period.

HampshireH

Sorry to hear the news of your dad and sister.

Surprising dad is eligible for his rent to be paid if you live there and have a well paid job as he should be declaring your income which would significantly reduce his benefits.

If you have lived there for over 20years are you sure it's not right to buy as opposed to right to aquire. Right to aquire has far less discount (£9-£16k) and some properties are excluded.

Right to buy is linked to the tenancy and usually applies to former council tenancy in situ when they sold off or transferred stock to housing associatons. (Or current council homes of course)

The rules differ between the two

chrisr123

Because my dad gets attendance allowance, then it doesn’t matter how much I earn. If he didn’t get attendance allowance, then because I earn over £450 a week, he wouldn’t get his housing benefit paid at all. 

Yeah it’s definitely right to acquire, they don’t to the right to buy scheme. The discount is £11000.
Because mum and dad were joint tenants, when she died he became sole tenant which is one succession and apparently I can’t be added to the rent book.
The only other way is if he might be able to assign tenancy over to me

HampshireH

chrisr123 said:

Because my dad gets attendance allowance, then it doesn’t matter how much I earn. If he didn’t get attendance allowance, then because I earn over £450 a week, he wouldn’t get his housing benefit paid at all. 

Yeah it’s definitely right to acquire, they don’t to the right to buy scheme. The discount is £11000.
Because mum and dad were joint tenants, when she died he became sole tenant which is one succession and apparently I can’t be added to the rent book.
The only other way is if he might be able to assign tenancy over to me

The succession is normally the one change permitted by a HA. It's surprising they would allow him to assign it to you.

They and you would be worsening your father's housing situation as he would lose his tenancy. He would be daft to try and do that as he won't get housed again. He currently has a very safe roof over his head.