Paying for a care home

[harmans]

My mum recently went into a care home- prior to that she was living on her own and owns her own house. Now, obviously the house is empty. She has enough savings to pay for the care home fees for about a year but after that I assume we will have to sell the house. I have been told that we don't have to sell the house and can just mount up the fees, paying off our debts when the house is sold eventually. I thought that was only the case if a relative etc lived in the house and selling it would make them homeless. Can anyone advise me about this?

 

[Toddleo]

hi there, I wondered whether you have seen this rather large but useful fact sheet?

it should cover the deferred payment agreement in there (which I believe is what you are referring to)

http://www.ageuk.org.uk/Documents/E...permanent_residential_care_fcs.pdf?dtrk=true]

 

[Beate]

That would only be the case if she agreed a deferred payment agreement with Social services once they have financially assessed her. This is done to give people more time to sell their house. But if you know a year in advance that you're going to have to sell it eventually, what's the point in delaying it?

 

[lemonjuice]

My mum recently went into a care home- prior to that she was living on her own and owns her own house. Now, obviously the house is empty. She has enough savings to pay for the care home fees for about a year but after that I assume we will have to sell the house. I have been told that we don't have to sell the house and can just mount up the fees, paying off our debts when the house is sold eventually. I thought that was only the case if a relative etc lived in the house and selling it would make them homeless. Can anyone advise me about this?

Even if you have to apply to SS for a deferred payment I believe they may let you rent out the house, particularly if it's difficult to sell for any reason. I know of houses in my area taking over 3 years to sell.

Watch that after 6 months of being unoccupied Council tax is liable and that will drain some of your mother's money. Insurance will insist that the house is checked for water leaks etc and you'll almost certainly have to leave the water, electricity /gas on to keep the house from freezing over cold times when the pipes could freeze. All will incur standing charges even if only for minimal use.
However beware that after 3 years of not living there, the house becomes an asset, not her home and she may be liable for Capital Gains.

This affording the care is increasingly becoming a minefield, particularly when NH fees often increase by well above inflation.

 

[love.dad.but..]

Dad has been in a care home for 2.5 years now with me doing weekly checks on the house about half an hour away and after being on the market for 18 months it was sold in May to cover care costs. His council exempted on a rolling basis council tax as he is in permanent care. There is a lot expense in preparing a property for rental market and dad would not have had enough residue to cover his shortfall in feesand so we decided best thing to do was sell. All the monitoring of the property and associated affairs fell on me....have 2 sisters at a distance...so it was frankly a relief to sell once I had come to terms with the emotional side of selling and clearing and it has secured dads care for the next few years. I don't regret selling sooner rather than later.

 

[Pauline123]

To rent or sell

I was my mum's carer for four years. Unfortunately two years ago I had to give in and let her go into a care home. We didn't want to sell her home so decided to rent it out. We put the house in the hands of an agent as we wanted things done properly. We thought the rent would help to cover, it doesn't even come close. By the time the agents have taken their fee, house insurance, insurance to cover us if the tenant doesn't pay the rent, a gas certificate and yearly boiler checks. The money we get doesn't even cover a third of of mum's monthly care home bill. I am seriously thinking we should sell the house because the strain is getting to me as I see mum's savings slipping away.

 

[Kevinl]

Hi Pauline, welcome to TP
I did the same sums as you a while back and just decided to sell my mum's house. I couldn't make the numbers add up to rent it out.
Remember too that any income from renting is liable to income tax by the owner of the house and that after 3 years (I think) capital gains tax kick in when it is sold.
K

 

[jakiflora]

We rented out Mums bungalow when she went into a care home 2 years ago. The rent together with her income doesn't cover her fees. Now nearly all her savings have gone we are entering into a Deferred Payment Agreement. The LA make up the shortfall as a loan which is set against the house. When Mum dies her home must be sold within 3 months so the loan can be paid off. As I see it, the rent is paying towards her fees and hopefully the value of the property may increase, which may help towards paying back the loan.