the right to buy

[justin07]

we are currently living with the inlaws as we are in the process of buying their council house through a right to buy company.

before we moved in they was on housing benefit as they are retired obviously we are paying the rent at the moment but to get the right to buy discount they have to be named on the mortgage

the plan was buy the house and they move out and go back on housing benefit BUT as they are name on the mortgage aswell as myself i take it they are classed as homeowners

the right to buy company says they have to be named to get the discount
once i have the mortgage how do i get their names off if i can so they can claim housing benefit and move out

just a few things may help you guys trying to help me

the mortgage will be fixed for 4 years i cannot sell the house for 4 years otherwise the council will want a % of the discount back and i dont really want to be stuck living with them forever what can i do

hope you can make sense of this thanks in advance

[bednobs]

I'm not saying you shouldn't help them buy the place if they cant get a mortgage, its admirable that you want to help them, but you cant expect to get their rtb discount, and then have them move out straightaway and be able to claim benefits when they have just claimed their whopping discount on the house.
no wonder people like me get upset about rtb when people boast of the money they're going to make out of it. If you are a stuggling first time buyer, well, so are a lot of other people who arent in the fortunate position of having relatives in a rtb situation. Also, if you are struggling, why give them 10,000 quid?
anyway, of course you are not the only ones doing it, loads of other people do too

[annie0000]

Before we were married, my other half was intermitently staying with his parents - when his dad died, his mum was struggling as a very small pension put her a few pounds over the limit for benefits and hence she was worse off. He subsequently sold another flat he had bought with a former girlfriend and bought her council house as he was counted as resident. The mortgage did not have to be in her name, although the property was in joint names. She lived in the property rent free for the rest of her days as he moved out shortly after. I think that in your situation, your in laws would have to be on the titles, whether this would be held against them should they subsequesntly want to claim benefits, I am not sure. I do think though that they would have great difficulty in obtaining a council house, although they may be able to get a private rented property. I think that whilst it might not be what you want to hear, i think that legally and morally you are not going to be able to carry out your plans. I think that you could arrange to transfer the tenancy into your wifes name as she has been resident in it for all those years, I think that you would then have to wait until you qualified for a discount in your own right. Your in-laws would still struggle to get a council property, but may be eligable for housing benefit for a private rental, you could continue with the tenancy until such time as you qualified for the discount. Don't know if that helps you. Incidentally, you need to consider what happens if your in-laws die while their names are on the title deeds, if your wife has any brothers or sisters, this could become sticky. i can appreciate how frustrating it must be when you are trying to get on the housing ladder, I don't know if there are any short cuts.