Letting out my mother's property

[Swiftylala]

My mum has been in a care home for nearly a year now and instead of leaving the house empty, I'm seriously considering letting it out. I will of course get professional opinions first. I have POA. In approximately 2 years her savings will drop to the threshold level. I've read about local authorities putting a charging order on the house. Could anyone share their experiences of it please? Was it complicated and are you glad you did it, or do you wish you hadn't? If so, why? Thank you

 

[Jessbow]

It seems the straight forward solution but maybe more trouble than its worth.

Is there only you to consider, in the eventuality that Mum passes away? You may not be able to ask tennants to just up and vacate very easily, they seem to have so many rights, and you as landlord, so many responsibilites

 

[Bod]

Only consider going down the rental route, by using a Letting Agent. There are so many legal requirments now, that seem to change regularly.
Also getting the property fit to rent can be expensive, seriously look at the sale value, compared to the rental value.
If mother's funds are likely to run out, then the forced sale of the house, with sitting tenant, will be much lower than vacent possion, particularly if the tenant has a poor payer record.

Bod

 

[SAP]

This is only my personal opinion. If your mums finances are going to require the sale of the property in 2 years time, then I would set about selling it now. As stated above, it could make a complication for you further down the line in the near future possibly at a time when you could well do with out complications.
I sold my mums property when she went into care and it was hard work with all the providing of evidence on top of what should have been an easy sale and ended up taking over 6 months from sale agreed to completion (solicitor error several times over ) If there had been a tenant there as well, it would have been dreadful. I was in no rush to sell, mum had enough for several years but it was good to draw a line under it all and it means that when mum goes, settling her estate will be a bit easier.

 

[Sarasa]

Is there a reason you want to hang onto the house? From my understanding if your mum's finances do run out they'll look at her assets and there may be pressure to sell her house then. There are people here who've rented out places, but I think most of those were already experienced in the field. I too agree that if you go down that route get a letting agent. Depending on the state of the property you may well find that it just won't be financially viablle.
When it's sold that is one less thing to worry about and you can ensure the money is safely invested in places where it'll earn a bit of interest but you can access it when needed.

 

[canary]

Do your sums carefully and dont overestimate how much you will make.
How much would it cost to get the house into a rentable condition?
How much rent would you make - allowing for estate agents fees?
Dont forget periods between tenants. How much would you have to spend between tenants? Most landlords seem to redecorate between them and there will be no rent coming in.

I thought about this for mum, but the figures didnt add up.
If it looks like you could make a reasonable amount it would make your mums savings go further, but please consider it very carefully.

 

[Bunpoots]

I let my dad’s bungalow out. But it was already in a reasonable condition and a lick of paint and some new flooring brought it up to date. We got a decent amount of rent which paid for almost half of his fees and I calculated this would stretch his savings to allow 3 further years in the carehome.

Dad was very poorly when he went into the home and I didn’t really expect him to live longer than 6 months but I knew it could’ve been longer - he lasted twelve weeks and the contract had been signed for the tenancy just before he died leaving me with tenants for 6 months and siblings pushing me to get them out so they could get “their share” of the bungalow (which turned out to have been left to me).

It was worthwhile for us. Siblings caused far more stress than the tenants!

I’m a professional landlord and I used an agent I’ve worked with before and trusted to do a good job.

 

[illmyselfandoverwhelmed]

Are you talking about a direct payment agreement? When my mum went into her care home the LA gave me the option straight away in case her house wasn't sold after the 12 week grace period. In my LA there was the cost of placing the charge against the property and a £200 yearly admin fee. It would have been straightforward for me. I sold her bungalow (invisibles didnt like it but I had LPA), as I didnt want the hassle of renting it out and monitoring it on my own.

Mum died 2 weeks ago tomorrow, and am so relieved I don't face having to clear and sell her home now.

If renting would have covered the cost of the care home though, I might have considered it as it would have been in her best interest financially. However, In my area of the country a months rent wouldn't have covered the cost of one weeks care home fees.

 

[Brizzle]

You really need to do the sums. I have rented my personal property out while living overseas using a letting agent and it was a wise decision despite a few hiccups with both the agent and a few of the tenants along the way. It covered a very nice work free life style while living during the winter time in the Far East.

If you wish to follow a deferred payment agreement with the local council while renting out your mum's property there will be some additional costs you will have to pay to the council in order to do so.

Rents are historically high at the moment and house prices over the long term ( barring an unexpected affordable house building frenzy) look set to rise but are falling slowly in most parts right now due to rising interest rates. Its a bit of a lottery to be honest the result of which may well rest with how long your dear mum is actually in care for.

My mum is in a nursing home approaching end of life. For the last year we have left her house empty, but only after a big fight to secure CHC. If I thought Mum would have been long term in self paid care then the decision would have been easy and I would have 100% rented due to the remarkable rental value of properties in her area right now which would have far outweighed the costs. It is also not good for a property to be left unoccupied for extended periods particularly during winter time.

There is really no easy decision here unfortunately , everyone's case will be different with different parameters and even those parameters may not quite end up as you had thought. All you can do is take everything into consideration and make as educated a guess as you can. Hindsight as always will dictate whether your decision was the right one.

 

[Swiftylala]

Thank you everyone for your replies. I managed to lose my login and then got caught up with life, so I’m only seeing them now! I am grateful to you all.

 

[Violet Jane]

It all depends on the condition of the property and the local rental market. We let my mother's house out. It was far from run down but wasn't in a condition to appeal to a family. We therefore went down the HMO route which I was never very happy with and before new regulations came in governing HMOs.

You should definitely use a letting agent.

Once the costs of putting the property into a lettable condition, agents' fees, tax and wear and tear are taken into account the returns may not look as good.