If I go into sheltered accommodation can i let my son stay in my home. I still have a small mortgage on it.

804

MikeGG1 posted

Provided that you can pay the rent for the sheltered accommodation, there should be no problem from that side.

You would need to ask permission from your mortgage provider for him to stay there.

Are you intending him to pay a market rent, cover the mortgage or not pay anything?

The real problem would be if you need to go into a home. The council would want the house sold so that you can pay the fees for the home.

If you gave the property away to your son, the council would consider that a deliberate deprivation of assets and would have the transfer reversed.

Mike

Posted on 21 February 2010 | Love

Love 0 loves Report

272

Swarbs posted

I'm pretty sure you can continue to own your existing property when you go into sheltered accomodation. However, this is contingent on you being able to afford the service charges and other costs of the sheltered accomodation. If you need government support to cover these costs, they may insist that you sell your existing home to be eligible for this support.

How old is your son? It might be best to sell / give the house to him to avoid having to sell it in future if you need to go into a full time care home. If you do it around the time you move into the sheltered accomodation, you should be able to avoid the council arguing you have deprived yourself of it.

Posted on 21 February 2010 | Love

Love 1 love Report

0

poundnotes posted

My son is 23 and is just finishing a degree. He works part time at present. i would not get any government assistance as i receive an occupational pension which takes me above benefit level, so I would have to pay the rent for sheltered accommodation from the own money. My son has some savings and he was going to pay the mortgage for a while hoping that he would eventually get a full time job (we know the job situation is not great) However the mortgage on the house is cheaper than any rent he would be expected to pay for private accommodation. I would not want to rent my house out to strangers.

Hopefully I would not need to go into a care home for many years.

Posted on 21 February 2010 | Love

Love 0 loves Report

410

manzanilla posted

Can I ask how old you are what your health is? It seems unusual to be going into sheltered accommodation AND be very sure you will not need care home for many years...

This may be an uncomfortable thought for you, but unfortunately it is one of the major factors in this situation.

swarbs wrote If you do it around the time you move into the sheltered accomodation, you should be able to avoid the council arguing you have deprived yourself of it.

IMO this is just wrong. Unless it is sold to your son for full market value, it will be depriving yourself of an asset.

manzanilla

Posted on 21 February 2010 | Love

Love 1 love Report

272

Swarbs posted

Re: depriving yourself of assets, all the legal advice on the subject points out that it is only depriving yourself of assets if you do it in expectation of an assessment. If you do it now, when you do not expect to have to go into a care home for some time, if at all, it cannot be classed as depriving yourself of assets for the purposes of avoiding paying care fees:

"The timing of the disposal should be taken into account when

considering the purpose of the disposal. It would be unreasonable to

decide that a resident had disposed of an asset in order to reduce his

charge for accommodation when the disposal took place at a time when

he was fit and healthy and could not have foreseen the need for a move

to residential accommodation." CRAG, paragraphs 6.062 and 6.064.

With that in mind, I would consider selling the house to your son for as much as you feel is reasonable, as soon as he is able to raise the required deposit and mortgage, and as long as you can still afford the sheltered accomodation fees. That way you won't risk having it taken away if your situation deteriorates unexpectedly. Of course you do need to consider what would happen if your situation improved and you wanted to move back to your home, so it's best to discuss this with your son and be completely comfortable before you make any decision.

Posted on 22 February 2010 | Love

Love 0 loves Report

410

manzanilla posted

But why is a fit and healthy person going into sheltered accomodation? It may just come down to age. If they are 60 and healthy, then it could be reasonably argued that if they have a stroke aged 61 this was not foreseeable. But if they are 75 then the argument is more tricky.

This situation seems curious and I am reluctant to assume that we know all the relevant facts.

manzanilla

Posted on 22 February 2010 | Love

Love 0 loves Report

272

Swarbs posted

To my mind, sheltered accomodation doesn't necessarily mean you aren't fit and healthy, just that you are concerned about your independence and are maybe a bit frail / unsteady. People could potentially go into sheltered accomodation and stay there until they pass away and never need to go near a care home. As long as poundnotes doesn't have any existing medical conditions, it would be very hard for the council to successfully argue that a transfer was done in anticipation of an assessment. Even if the council tried, the argument could be made that it was to avoid getting a CGT bill after it stopped being poundnotes' PPR, or that it was simply done to help the son get on the property ladder.

Posted on 22 February 2010 | Love

Love 0 loves Report

134

liesarenocomfort posted

Re the thorny issue of transfer of property/care home costs discussed above

Couple of points to for poundnotes and others to consider:

1. Poundnotes may fall out with his/her son.

2. Age Concern stats for number of people in care home/hospital accomm relative to age as a % of population

65-74 0.8%

75-84 4.1%

85+ 17.5%

In other words it a lower % than many people think.

I (generally) try + dissuade parents from making these transfers on the basis that there is a risk they will prejudice their own position in an attempt to place their offspring in a better position (which puts the risk upside down).

Posted on 22 February 2010 | Love

Love 0 loves Report

804

MikeGG1 posted

Reading between the lines, here, I suspect that Poundnotes may well be under 65. There would be no problem with his son moving into his current home, provided he did it before the move to sheltered accommodation.

As a student, the son could have 2 homes. His father's and one at Uni.

Provided that he officially moved in before the move to sheltered accommodation, I am sure that the mortgage provider would not object. Poundnotes would have to continue to pay the mortgage, although his son could help him with that.

If the son officially took over the mortgage as soon as he had a permanent job which the mortgage provider considered was sufficient to fund the mortgage, then the property could be transferred to the son provided that Poundnotes pension provisions are sufficient for his needs in the sheltered accommodation and his expected longevity is such that a care home is not anticipated.

This would be particularly so if the move to sheltered accommodation was a disability issue rather than an age/ill-heath issue.

Mike

Posted on 22 February 2010 | Love

Love 0 loves Report

0

poundnotes posted

Thanks everyone for the very helpful answers which I will help me consider. My son already lives with me even though he is at Uni. I do have health issues but so far they are not bad enough for me to go into a care home.

I did seek legal advice on this issue and was told that I would have to get the mortgage lender's permission to let my son live in the house if I moved out. It would not matter who was paying the mortgage I was told that the lender had loaned the money to me and not my son. I was also told (although I wonder about this one) that my son could refuse to let me back into the house if I decided to return.

If these points are true I feel that I would be better staying in my home for as long as I can. I was also advised not to transfer my house to my son as I worked hard and paid for the house etc and If I did eventually sell my house the money should be mine for my old age.

Posted on 22 February 2010 | Love

Love 0 loves Report

272

Swarbs posted

poundnotes

The legal status is that whilst you are living together, you form a single household. However, if you move into sheltered accomodation and your son stays in the house, you become separate households. Your son is then deemed to be the household which lives in the house, which gives him protection under the Housing Act. This is the same protection given to tenants and squatters. If you and your son fell out, he could prevent you moving back into the house, until you obtain a court order for possession of the house and have him formally evicted. For this reason, you will need the mortgage lender's permission as your son could have some security of tenure if you defaulted on the mortgage, making it difficult for the lender to repossess the house.

This is one of the reasons I advised selling the house to your son if you decided to move into sheltered accomodation - you will get the money and there will be no problems around ownership and tenure of the house as your son will have both. Of course if your move into sheltered accomodation in the hope of potentially being able to move back into your house, then you shouldn't sell the house, but if you allow your son to stay there you could potentially run into the problems discussed above.

Posted on 22 February 2010 | Love

Love 0 loves Report

0

poundnotes posted

Thank you for your reply. You have explained things very well. I would feel happier if my son managed to get a full time job when he finished uni in June. I would let him buy the house for a low price, so he would be able to manage the mortgage repayments. I'd be glad to get rid of the responsibility of maintaining the house etc., especially now at my age. I am going to go to the housing people and hopefully defer the offer of sheltered accommodation until June when he finishes. If he decides to decline the offer of the house, and the offer of sheltered accommodation comes my way I will put the house up for sale.

Posted on 22 February 2010 | Love

Love 0 loves Report

If I go into sheltered accommodation can i let my son stay in my home. I still have a small mortgage on it.

Enjoyed this? Show it some love

Comments (12)

Post an answer

Something you're dying to ask... or answer?

Sign in for a better Q&A