We could rent our house for more than it would cost to rent a place where I want to live.
Would we be allowed to do so if Mother had savings less than 23,250 or would some of the profit count as an asset?
Trying to be creative here!
Rent coming in would count as income, same as pension.
Be aware that renting out involves other costs too, tax, repairs, legal fees 're contracts etc.
We rent out my mum’s property as that and her pensions covers her fees without resorting to capital (yet!)
It’s worth investigating further
Hi Jaqueline
Sorry I don’t know the answer to that one but I think if you are self funding and can sustain being self funding based on rental income it shouldn’t be a problem.
I am really replying just to see if you have considered lodgers? If you have a house perhaps a bit too big, is that a viable option if you have a spare room.? I realise it may not be due to caring circumstances but worth throwing into the mix to consider.
Back to the renting idea, if the house is in your mum’s name and you rent it then the tenancy agreement would need to be in your mum’s name or you as POA. Lodgers are a much more informal arrangement and less onerous.
Being devil’s advocate here, if you moved to another LA and your mum went under the self funding threshold and SS had to pick up the tab for domicillary carers they may be more inclined to assess her as needing a care home (knowing this option would be funded by house) and would they suggest she returned to her home town to avoid funding. I am not sure about this , but have a suspicion they would wiggle out of be responsible for any bills whatever the consequences.
Back to your rental idea, I guess you need to calculate approx income from renting current home, work out the worst case scanareo in terms of max care costs in the future- up to 8 carers a day or residential costs and work out whether the income in addition to the capital in the property will in all likelihood be sufficient to meet expected timescales of care. If all this leaves you in credit then it is probably a resonable option.
Jacqueline, that’s a difficult one.
It wouldn’t be a problem whilst mum was self funding, but once her savings reduced to below £23,000 (which might not happen for a while) then the council might question what was going on.
(It’s a bit late in the day, the little grey cell is tired!)
Would there be any “profit”. If you are smart any spare income from the difference in rents would be taken up with “maintenance” of the old home.
However, realistically you only need to look after mum until you are 60 in 2 years time? So if the income from the old house wasn’t used on maintenance, it could go towards the cost of extra care for mum whilst she is still living with you.
Then there’s the income from selling off the stuff you don’t need any more.
Another option would be for mum to take out an interest only loan against some of the value of the “old” house.
I’m sure others will have more ideas. Gradually, once you have all the options, you should be able to filter out the less attractive options, etc. I have a friend who owns a house on a housing estate in the town. The rent he gets more than pays for renting an older cottage in the country. He’s been doing this for about 20 years now, so it CAN work.
From this, find out how much you could rent the existing house for, from a letting agent?
Also what work would be needed before it was lettable?
Then how much to rent a suitable property by the sea?
The basic problem with renting out one place to pay the rent on another is that good old HMRC puts their greedy hand out and takes at least 20% off you for the privilege!
You end up ‘wasting’ money on tax, alas.
And renting out is NOT an ‘easy’ way to make money! As others are warning, you have all the cost of administering the tenancy (whether you do it yourself, or pay an estate agent to do it), and there is SUCH a lot of risk about bad tenants.
Watch a single episode of Nightmare Tenants and Landlords and it will put you off for ever!
A friend of mine lets out her dad’s home (to help with care home fees) and the last tenant sued her to get back the deposit money which she’d kept as he’d damaged the place so much. She countersued to INCREASE what he owed her (because the damage was in excess of the deposit), and in the end it was a complete shambles - the judge simply said ‘split the deposit’ - so she was WAY out of pocket.
Also, and this was really scary, the estate agent who was supposed to be ‘managing’ the let (for something like 15% of the monthly rental income by the way) is WAY in arrears of handing over the balance of the rent to her.
And, of course, these days, the burden on landlords is getting heavier and heavier - houses have to environmentally insulated blah blah blah, and the whole thing is a total pain. The government is basically trying to force ‘buy to let’ landlords out of business, to free up housing for people who can’t afford to buy them anyway!
A possible alternative is to talk to the housing authority, and explain that you could be interested in letting it to them for a fixed term. They are certainly keen to do this in the New Forest area where I live. The council will update the property, let it to tenants for a fixed term, and then redecorate before they hand it back to you.
If the lodger option is at all viable you can get an income of £7,500 per year with no tax on it so this is additional income to other earnings and much more in your control.
I agree its definitely worth considering!
Obviously ,because they are ‘in the house with you’ you have to pick very carefully - BUT, I wonder whether you coiuld actually turn that to your advantage?
If, say, you had a compatible person to lodge, could they also do some caring of your mum for you, even if just ‘sitting’, so that you YOU can get out and about more???
Maybe, too, the lodger would agree to provide ‘respite’ care for you to actually get away for a few days??
Whether your mum paid them separately, or you deducted it off the lodging ‘rent’, it would maybe help you stay where you are?(Or, of course, it could work just as well if you do move to the seaside!)
So glad to hear your mum would be willing in principle to get out and about more if she had somewhere nice to go to - like the seaside in summer!
PS Lodgers have far fewer ‘tenancy rights’ than an actual tenant, which makes it easier to get them out!
Lots to consider and research!
We do have a spare room with ensuite which could be rented out easily. It could then be my take a break fund.
Would like Mother and I to go on hol together at some point but the logistics of her travelling would be quite something …
One room rented out would pay for a whole house in the area I would like to live in.
Like the council idea. Hmmm
In your “PLAN” book, then have a page for each option, and add information as you find things out to that page.
Often, when you go through things methodically, a front runner emerges very easily, especially when you are clear in your head what you want.
At the moment, they seem to be
Stay put with extra support
Move and let the house out
Move and sell the house.
I am leaning towards stay put and take holidays in the village …
Hope we get lots of stuff out of the house whilst my son is here to help.
Less stuff, less stress.
Thanks for all comments. Most helpful.
I like this forum.
Not wanting to hijack the thread but,
Often, when you go through things methodically, a front runner emerges very easily, especially when you are clear in your head what you want.
Never works for me 
Maybe this is the result of marrying and engineer and having another as a son?!
Both really good at thinking things through and spotting potential hitches in my plans.
Henrietta and Bb I find that I have to really get close to axtually doing something, to !ive it fully in my imagination and discuss it and eventually feel it.
I am settled inside now that staying put and hoidays in the village is llooking achievable.
Possible fly in the ointment is that the coucnil will take the rent money as mother’s income and expect her to put it towards carers. Not sure what the position is. Research time again …
Hi Jaqueline
Yes I am sur e they would but holding on to that magic 60 figure, an extra few thousand a year from a lodger would help nudge you a bit closer to 60 .
Jacqueline
I was in the same dilemma when I stopped working due to increasing care demands, I couldn’t afford my home to sit empty but also did not want to sell up because of the risk of ending up homeless if caring suddenly ended. Worked out easier to have caree’s live with me meant much less bureaucracy, easier to manage/track finances and keep everything in the black (just)
Main perk of renting out a single property to someone is that you are keeping it lived in while you can’t live there yourself. Income wise your probably going to just break even when you weigh up cost of maintenance/repairs (stuff breaks even with good tenants) Thats about it though
Making money out of renting is more suited to those with a property portfolio because they will usually mostly have above average/good tenants with maybe the odd bad apple and be able to actually make a return on what their doing.
You have the extra admin to deal with (income tax) as well as all the various inspections and certification required by the council in order to be able to rent it out. You have to abide by building/safety regulations etc (https://www.gov.uk/renting-out-a-property). Put into perspective presently EPC (energy performance certificate) is up to £100 alone, some places more and if its an older property they might actually turn around, say you don’t meet them… then you would have to pump even more in to remedy it.
Off the top of my head, an example might be with older properties that have been maintained well/never have stuff break, something catching people out is they think when the boiler dies its a straight forward replacement but its not because you’ve got things like UK building regulations on the gas mains (loads of older homes still aren’t on the 22mm standard for gas mains). So a few hour job turns into something else entirely. Heaven forbid part of the piping is “embedded” partially in any way shape, form. And so on… rules are always changing
As always seek advice from professionals in that area of expertise. It might be in your case theres a way to make it work.
Best wishes
Honey Badger it all sounds too much admin for me to contend with…
Henrietta. Hmm. We would have to really like someone to share the kitchen with them … If the council then takes the money for csrers I am not exactky going to be able to afford hoidays … As you say it helps me get closer to 60 before the money runs out.
Hi Jaqueline
You are unlikely to find the dream living companion, just think of it as the least worst option and find a way to make it work - until the magic 60 when you can heave a sigh of relief.
You need to stay focused on the big equation-
One year of annoyance and or inconvenience equals a house staying in the family and not going to Care Home.
I stayed in a Granny Annexe in Devon a few years ago, which had an “all in one” kitchen, and have since seen something similar in Ikea. A small stove and fridge and sink in one unit. Just need a water supply, waste pipe, and power supply, roughly 4-5 ft long. Obviously designed for a bed sit situation, then you wouldn’t have to share a kitchen.