Temporary loan for 75 year old mother - trying to avoid equity release

myif

I've been trying to find temporary finance options for my mum. Her situation: 

• She has very little money remaining from the lump sum my dad left when he died. 
• She is waiting on some inheritance money that will take 3-6 months to come through.
• She owns her home mortgage free. 
• She also owns half a property in London but it's a complex situation. It has a lifetime tenant who pays £3 a week rent, so she and the other owner can't sell without offering a big discount. As it stands, that property is actually a net cost to her (with service charges).

In the meantime, she has a cashflow issue. She needs some money to fix issues in her house now, and if she waits for the inheritance money these issues will cause other problems (e.g. sunken drive doing damage to her car, leaking shower damaging kitchen ceiling). 

I don't have the cash to help her. I've also recently moved abroad so can't borrow on her behalf in the UK and I don't have the required tax return in my new country of residence to borrow anything. 

Is there any option for a kind of 'bridging loan' here? I've been searching and can't find anything, but thought I'd ask in case there's some sort of arcane option! We're trying to do everything we can to avoid equity release when the inheritance will give her enough to manage for another couple of years. 

Robin9

Any chance of an interim payment on the inheritance ?

Ryan_Holden

If the tenant has a true lifetime tenancy then it's redundant to the conversation.

How old is she? - Edit, wow, I am an idiot lol.

If she's claiming a pension, has no savings etc she is likely able to claim pension credit. Is she doing so?

There's also council tax reduction, not much, but worth it. And the cost of living payments over here she'll qualify for if she gets pension credit.

myif

Robin9 said:

Any chance of an interim payment on the inheritance ?

Sadly not. Only asset is a house that's being sold, so nothing until that goes through. 

myif

Ryan_Holden said:

If the tenant has a true lifetime tenancy then it's redundant to the conversation.

How old is she? - Edit, wow, I am an idiot lol.

If she's claiming a pension, has no savings etc she is likely able to claim pension credit. Is she doing so?

There's also council tax reduction, not much, but worth it. And the cost of living payments over here she'll qualify for if she gets pension credit.

There are some questions as to whether it's a true lifetime tenancy. That one's an exceptionally complex situation and a solicitor told us that we'd need to instruct a specialist, direct-access barrister to discuss it as the tenancy agreement may or may not be regulated. But she'd need c.£1k in the bank before we could do that. 

She's not eligible for pension credit, unfortunately. 

Ryan_Holden

Ah, I'm sorry then I'm out of ideas. I hope someone comes up with something for you.

Brie

Is there a local group (possibly through the council) that does a free or cheap handyperson service for those with limited funds?  Citizen's advice might know of one or a local food bank.

Grumpy_chap

myif said:

I've been trying to find temporary finance options for my mum. Her situation: 

• She has very little money remaining from the lump sum my dad left when he died. 
• She is waiting on some inheritance money that will take 3-6 months to come through.
• She owns her home mortgage free. 
• She also owns half a property in London but it's a complex situation. It has a lifetime tenant who pays £3 a week rent, so she and the other owner can't sell without offering a big discount. As it stands, that property is actually a net cost to her (with service charges).

In the meantime, she has a cashflow issue. She needs some money to fix issues in her house now, and if she waits for the inheritance money these issues will cause other problems (e.g. sunken drive doing damage to her car, leaking shower damaging kitchen ceiling). 

I don't have the cash to help her. I've also recently moved abroad so can't borrow on her behalf in the UK and I don't have the required tax return in my new country of residence to borrow anything. 

Is there any option for a kind of 'bridging loan' here? I've been searching and can't find anything, but thought I'd ask in case there's some sort of arcane option! We're trying to do everything we can to avoid equity release when the inheritance will give her enough to manage for another couple of years. 

Are there any ways to mitigate the issues with the house from causing further problems?
For example, the sunken drive won't damage the car if the car is not parked on the drive.

You seem to reference your Mum's finances solely in terms of the declining lump sum, future inheritance money and property assets (though the half property with the lifetime tenant is possibly moot as an asset).

What income does she have?
If her income is low, is she eligible for Pension Credit?
If her income is not low, can she borrow against that income?
Does she have any credit card or similar?

Can she finance a temporary repair to the shower?  Possibly within a zero-percent credit card offering.

Herzlos

Has she spoken to her bank and/or a mortgage broker?

Does she have any assets that she can sell in the mean time?

macman

The obvious quick source of capital is to sell the car, unless it's a near-scrapper.
You have given us no info about what her actual income is (state pension only?) or how she would be able to service a loan, were she able to get one. Nor how much she is seeking to borrow?
Sunken drive? Quick  temporary fix, get some ballast in to fill up the sinking areas.

Ryan_Holden

As above, if she's not eligible for pension credit then she must have some income.