Any Rightmove experts help me out with this?

[0WLY]

So, my mother has proposed that as she is getting frail we could both sell our properties and we buy one with an annex. She can't look after her garden now but doesn't want to live in a flat or go into a home.
Our properties are both worth about 5-550k I think. So about 1 million to spend.

The problem is I have no idea how to filter for properties with an annex, is it possible? Any tips? Or anyone want to find one for us?! It needs to be in Sussex for our work.

Possibly not enough money though?

Yep, you can use a keyword in the search.

It's there below the filters.

You should take legal advice before you go any further with these plans .

Can you explain please?

I don't have that, maybe because it's on my mobile?

Will you still need a mortgage? Some mortgage companies won’t lend on properties registered as a single abode but with 2 kitchens. I unfortunately had to rule out properties with an annex because of this - they went to developers. Have a look at what mortgage products are available. I think £1.1mil will be enough or you could look at properties that need fixing up and annex could be formed. Sorry to hear about your mum and wish you both the best.

Search- Sussex-£1,000000-annex

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E61325&maxPrice=1000000&sortType=18&propertyTypes=&includeSSTC=false&mustHave=&dontShow=&furnishTypes=&keywords=Annex

It's there in the search filters on mobile. Just been using it.

You could look for a house which is large enough and lends itself to being divided up to create an annex or look for a house with sufficient space to add an annex on.

Ohhh I wish I was shopping for a million pound home ☹️ Never in my lifetime….

Try Zoopla or other property search engines. Failing that, download the app??

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/135555383#/floorplan?activePlan=1&channel=RES_BUY

The previous poster likely means inheritance tax laws and that you’ll want to be informed about how to consolidate assets with your mum that is optimal and won’t disbenefit you. Especially as properties can be force sold now to pay for care. You don’t want to lose your home if it gets to that point.

Could you build somewhere? Or would that take too long?

Ok thank you. But I can't see that any of those have an annex actually

You need to get legal advice

Whose names will the house be in? Will you need a mortgage? What will happen if your mum needs to go into a home? Who will pay stamp duty? What happens when your mum passes away - who will the beneficiaries be?

They say annex on the listings if they have one, and they all do

Okay yes that's really important isn't it. Only just told me today so haven't thought about all this yet

Most of the ones in that link have an annexe, but some do just say the property has the potential for one as it has outbuildings. A good place to start though.

Okay, here’s some questions for starters.

You say “ our work” so I assume that you mean you and your partner. So how would the ownership of this new property be divided up?

Would it be 50% to your your mother and 25% each to you and your partner ? Or 33% each ?

What will happen if your mother becomes frail and has to go into nursing home care? Will you sell the property to pay for the fees?

What will happen when your mother dies ? Who will inherit her third / half of the property? If it’s not just you, how will you pay out the other people who will inherit, such as your siblings?

what are the implications for inheritance tax?

What happens if your mother dies and your husband then divorce? Will he get half of your mothers share of the house ?

what happens if you die first and your husband is left sharing a house with his MIL? Will he still care for her ? What happens if / when he remarries ?

How old are you and your partner ? Do you have children? How do they fit into this plan ?

Would something like this work. You might need to convert the ground floor of the garage if stairs are an issue or install a stair lift.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/137299265#/?channel=RES_BUY

You should take into consideration things mentioned above, whose name will the house be in, what happens if your mum passed away within 7 years or needs care (either at home or a care home), who will find repairs. Then it’s even more complicated if you have siblings.

Also here to say get legal advice before you do this. If your mum needs to go into a home in the future you could run into problems. She can’t just give you or combine her funds with yours - you could get done for deprivation of assets.

Gosh yes. It's way more complicated than I had thought. Honestly I have an idea that she is partly wanting to do it because me and DH are much less wealthy than my siblings who both live in expensive houses with no mortgages, she maybe thinks that this is a way to leave us some more money. But it could create a problem with them and I don't want that.

Who will pay for and arrange this repairs and maintenance for the shared property and garden ? What share would your mother pay - I’m guessing her part of the property will be smaller than yours ?

What happens if she doesn’t want work done or can’t pay ?

what about utility bills, insurance , council tax etc ? How will you divide these up ?

But yes this looks great. I like that area too.

The first four I looked at all do? Unless you don’t want to include outbuildings?