Renting my parents house out

[Seafog]

Good evening all.
I have a difficult situation and I’m hoping for some advice.
my mother suffers with Alzheimer’s and dementia. Until 6 weeks ago my father has been caring for her but he had a fall and we had to put her in a home on restbite.
unfortunately he died yesterday and has left his half on their house to me and my sister to safe guard it for her.
can we rent it out to cover some of the care costs for her even if she isn’t classed as of sound mind. On her behalf.
many thanks for any replies

 

[karaokePete]

Hello @Seafog, you are welcome here and I hope you find the forum to be a friendly and supportive place.

I hope you have time to take a good look around the site as it is a goldmine for information. When I first joined I read old threads for information but then found the AS Publications list and the page where a post code search can be done to check for support services in ones own area. If you are interested in these, clicking the following links will take you there

https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-support/publications-factsheets-full-list

https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/find-support-near-you

You will see that there are Factsheets that will help with things like getting care needs assessments, deciding the level of care required and sorting out useful things like Wills, Power of Attorney etc., if any of that hasn't already been done. There is also a Dementia Guide in the list. There is quite extensive details on the financial aspects of things too. If you don't find what you need in the list I'm sure someone who has been in a similar situation will be along to advise.

Now that you have found us I hope you will keep posting as the membership has vast collective knowledge and experience.

 

[nitram]

Has anybody got LPA (Lasting Power of Attorney)?
https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-support/legal-financial/lasting-power-attorney .

 

[Weasell]

Ok, I don’t think my option is worth much and you need an expert, but here goes.

first you need professional help with her legal rights and capacity, but I would hope and presume you have power of attorney?

lets say her house were to rent for £1200 per month. It would be realistic to expect to clear 800. This is because by the time you have deducted the management fee, maintenance, landlord insurance, and paid someone to sort the tax, plus have a small contingency for non paying tenants that is all you could be left with.
so 800x12=9600.
if her care bill is £1200 per week then 1200x52= 62,400.
So 62,400 - 9600= £52,800 to be found every year.
So the simple answer would be how much cash does she have and how big are the pensions?
In addition where normally you would expect the house to rise in value, that will covid19 do to house prices? The government assure everyone all will be well, but we all appreciate if businesses fail there could be less rich people to buy houses and prices could drop? Or it could be interest rates are so low people invest in houses whatever? I would tell you but I left my crystal ball in the car.
Popping in to chat to a letting agent doesn’t cost anything?
wishing you well at such a difficult time.
Do you claim attendance allowance?

 

[Jessbow]

Will your mum be able to stay where she is?

Dont make hasty decisions just yet. Look carefully into the situation- If you want/need mum to stay in care, her half of the property may need to be sold,to pay for her care, as you father no longer lives there- easier without a tenant.

So much to consider, as mentioned above, its not just a case of rent it out.

Sorry for your loss x

 

[Bunpoots]

Welcome from me too @Seafog

Firstly please accept my condolences on the loss of your father. I’m sorry you’ve found yourself in this situation and appreciate hoe difficult it is to take on your mum’s care without him.

As others have said the viability of renting depends on how much cash your mum has to pay for her immediate needs. I rented out my dad’s bungalow but it only paid for about 20% of his care costs. I had LPA which I took to the letting agent to prove I had the right to act on dad’s behalf. I’m a landlord anyway so knew what to expect in terms of realistic income.

Dad had a good pension and attendance allowance which paid all but £60 of the rest of his care fees so I knew his savings would last another 3yrs and he was very unlikely to live that long. He was very poorly as well as his dementia by the time he went into care. If I’d expected him to live longer than that I would still have rented but been prepared to sell if necessary.

I suspect, in the current panic, people will delay buying houses unless they have to but will still need somewhere to live.