Council House Purchase......

[bardenny]

My mum lived in a council house, brought up her grandson who lived with her and when he got to the age he could buy it he went ahead and did so. My mum and late father had to have their names on the transaction for him to get the discount that was being offered. My father has since passed away and my mums health isnt good plus the grandson now has a partner my mum doesnt get on with. When my dad died my mum put her name down for a council flat so she could be nearer to the shops when she was finding it to difficult to get around, she has now moved but is finding it it hard financially so I have enquired about help for her. Although my mum has never paid any money towards the mortgage and her only intention of her having her name on the purchase was to help her grandson - not to make any money, she just paid her way with bills etc. I have been told that she wont get any help as she is classed has owning half this property. Could anyone advise me if this is the case and if i can do anything about it. I have tried to get her name off the mortgage but they wont do that as her grandson got into arrears to the sum of about £6,000 and until this is paid they wont budge and i and he cant afford to pay this off. Whilst she was living in the house she was getting help with her council tax so I cant see why she wont be able to get help with her rent also.
My mum has worked all her life and done some really hard jobs to make ends meet, worked 30 years doing a night job and now she needs help the system seems to be going to let her down.

[hc4361]

Her name will also be on the Title Deeds at the Land Registry. She owns the house either as a joint tenant or tenant in common - either way she is equally liable for the mortgage and has a share of any equity in the house.

She can't get help with the rent as she is viewed as owning another home - an asset.

Even you could get her name off the Title Deed and mortgage it is likely the council would view that as a wilful disposal of assets and refuse her benefit.

The harsh fact is your mother fiddled the system to help her grandson buy the house cheaply and now it's bit her on the bum. Your grandson should be paying her rent for living in the house that she is getting no benefit from.

[black_cat51]

I don't think it's the system that is letting her down (after all she played "the system" to enable the grandson to get a discount he wasn't entitled to)
If the Grandson isn't willing to pay the arrears in order for her to take her name off of the mortgage, then perhaps he could sell the house to release some money to help her?

[woofgang]

I know that this sounds harsh but she's lucky. What they did is now actually illegal.

[Peter Pedant]

we were warned this may happen ( 1980s) and so didnt proceed

what you describe seems par for the course - including a member of the family who doesnt pull his weight and screws things up ( for everyone ) .

[EDDIE51]

Your Mum does own half the (ex council ) house so she can not get any help with rent. The only way out is for the grandson and your Mum to sell the house to raise cash or for the grandson to pay your Mums rent. As said the grandson has gained a large discount on the house that legally he should not have had.
There will be worse problems if your Mum needs to go into a care home as the value of the house will be used to pay care home fees.

[ladybirder]

Hmmm! User Inactive. Didn't like the answers perhaps.

[hc4361]

If things are left as they are there could be problems for the grandson when his grandmother dies. Unless they are joint tenants then her share of the property will form part of her estate to disposed of according to her will or intestacy rules.

[EDDIE51]

The grandson is living in a house that he only owns 50% of, he should be paying rent to your Mum for the other half. The fact that he does not pay is not relavant, as far as the council are concerned your Mum has an income from the old house.