Parents House - Moving in Rules

zmblake

Not sure if anyone can help, however here goes. My parents very suddenly have had to be moved into a care home. They are self funding as have enough in savings currently, their house is all paid for. I'm currently private renting, would I be able to move into their house, pay the bills etc for the house until such time that we need to sell the house in order to carry on paying for their care home fees? Whilst living there, I would be able to save money so once their house needs to go on market, id have some savings to be able to use for a deposit to buy a property. Are we allowed to do this? 

user1977

Who do you think might stop you?

Jami74

Should you ask your parents? Do you have siblings who might have different ideas about what should happen to the property if your parents aren't able to express their wishes for it? Who is currently 'looking after it'?

zmblake

I'm not sure if there are any tax implications etc for my parents or myself? Parents are happy with the arrangement. other family members have said that this may be seen as a 'gift' but parents are self funding their own care, so we aren't claiming anything from government etc and as soon as we need to put the house on the market, we would do 

AskAsk

you can move in without any issues if they are happy for you to do so.  i can't see any tax implications at all for this scenario.

RAS

This is fine as long as you don't delay sale.

And you need to pay (single person) CT and all utility bills.

And ensure the house is in good nick during the sale period, and you can confirm you will leave given a week's notice.

zmblake

Thank you, appreciate the advice 🙏 

Keep_pedalling

Nothing wrong with this plan. 

Going off at a bit of a tangent, do you have financial lasting power of attorney for both your parents? If not and they both still have the mental capacity to do so, they should do so as soon as possible otherwise it will make things very difficult if the house needs selling and one of them no longer has the mental capacity to sell.

poseidon1

zmblake said:

I'm not sure if there are any tax implications etc for my parents or myself? Parents are happy with the arrangement. other family members have said that this may be seen as a 'gift' but parents are self funding their own care, so we aren't claiming anything from government etc and as soon as we need to put the house on the market, we would do 

From what I can see your moving in ( pending sale) is prudent in that it help safe guard from the risk of squatters, burglary, burst water pipes etc.

Commercial businesses pay guardians to live in their empty properties, so far from your parents making a gift to you, you are providing an important safeguarding service.

 Only issue is how long would it be reasonable  for you to do this, if your expectation is you could save enough money to help towards a deposit for your own property. Don't know what part of the country you live, but here in South east England it would be an appreciable length of time to save enough for even a modest flat.

user1977

AskAsk said:

i can't see any tax implications at all for this scenario.

The parents would have potential liability for Capital Gains Tax in relation to the period after they move out.

lr1277

Does the OP become a de facto tenant? In which case the parents need to take on all the responsibilities of a landlord?