to be a little suspicious of landlord MIL.

[SmellsLikeTeenStrop]

Sorry, this is long.

DH and I rent from my MIL. She bought the house for DH before we met and there was always the understanding that when he had a steady income that would enable him to take on a mortgage she would let him buy the house at the same price she paid for it.

This was over 10 years ago, DH and I live here with our DCs and we're now in a position where we can buy the house, but now the plan seems to have changed. MIL is very cagey when we try and talk to her about buying the house. In the past she's said she'll 'be fair' when it comes to selling the house, but she's also said that for various reasons it would be impossible to sell the house to us for anything less than full market value. We've been told that the rent barely covers the mortgage and insurance, but we've also been told that she relies on our rent as her main source of income.

The last discussion we had she was pushing towards us not buying the house but instead having our names added to the mortgage and taking over the mortgage payments. I asked her how much the mortgage was and she claimed not to remember.

She's not been the best landlord in the world, she's made no effort to update the house at all. We can't have the boiler serviced because it's so old there are no parts available for it - but she can't replace the boiler as she has no money. The house is in massive need of updating, the kitchen is at least 30 years old, ditto the bathroom. The windows we're fighting a losing battle with, we sand them down and paint them every other year but they're deteriorating more and more.

For a house we're merely renting, it's not suitable for us any more. We're expecting another DC soon and we're a bit squished as it is. If we owned the house DH and I would hang on here a bit longer to improve the house and hopefully get it to a point where we can sell it on at market value and use the equity for a bigger home. Alternatively we could extend and/or add a loft conversion. MIL is aware that this is what we want to do and has said that this would be fine, but that was when we weren't in a position where we could actually buy the house.

If she won't sell us this house than the only real alternative is for us to move out. I won't hang on renting a house that is too small for us, especially with all the issues we're having with it. Us moving out would either force MIL to sell, or to invest a few thousand in to the property before she could get new tenants in. Given the amount of work the house needs, I can't imagine it would sell very quickly unless she sold it very cheaply.

So, after this huge wall of text. AIBU to be suspicious of MIL and WIBU to expect her to honour the promise she made to DH but if that really is impossible for her, to give us a mahoosive discount to take in to account the years of rental we've been paying, plus the huge amount of money we'll need to invest in the house?

The more I hear, the more I think it's best if you start looking for something else, as your are at 37 weeks, I guess you'll have to do that after the baby comes, but you could start looking now, particularly for rentals. I wouldn't want to be using that boiler in the winter...

I've already done so Don'tmind and I'm signed up for email alerts if any new properties become available.

Glad to see that the scales have fallen from the eyes of both yourself and DH :)

Your MIL sounds like a manipulative horror- I'm still stunned that she put her own family's life at risk to make money. And if you'd gone along with her plan to put you on the mortgage, she'd have swindled you 5 times over- with the rent, with having no actual ownership of the house, paying extra mortgage, paying the lump sum, and paying for the repairs.

I agree with Dontmind, you really need to get proactive with your planning. My plan of action would be

1. Ensure the boiler is safe.
2. Get another rental lined up, give minimal notice, move out.
3. Agree with your DH that you will under no circumstances pay out any money at all to shore up MIL's property empire when it's discovered to be collapsing under a heap of remortgages , negative equity and essential repair costs- even when she tells you it's your inheritance and therefore you have to pay to protect it.

I'm glad you're taking control of your situation.

"That devious devious woman"
Yep. Pretty much sums her up.

'If I'm going to sink thousands in to a wreck of a property to get it up to a good standard, I want that old wreck to be the old wreck of my dreams.'

Good. Older properties that haven't been regularly modernised/upgraded can be money pits. You go to solve one problem and when you're doing that, you discover another one! If you buy one it should be one you love and for a price that leaves you some money to spend on the improvements.

Also, I don't want to buy this house any more.

That's so good to hear.

Wow, how manipulative? So glad to see you gettig assertive on this thread. Hope the talk goes well.

Even if you moved out tomorrow -she's still going to need to get the boiler done - she can't rent it without doing so - unless he intends to move in and live there herself - in which case you may inherit a blown out shell sometime around next March

She is relying on your indolence. Start acting and she'll have to as well.

She wanted a lump sum as well??? Words fail me. The gall of the woman.

Are you in a position to buy a house the right size? Which would you rather do - rent a bigger place in the area you're in now, or buy one somewhere cheaper?

We're probably not in a position to buy a house the right size in the area we want, so because of that I'd rather rent somewhere still in this area and save for a bigger deposit.

I don't want to be the voice of doom and gloom, but surely she could potentially let the house out again, without replacing the death-trap boiler? Surely all she needs to do is find an trusting/unsuspicious tenant directly, without involving an agency full of liability-aware and legally-aware agents? Are even the majority of tenants informed enough to ask to see a current gas safety certificate?

Breaking the law is only a problem for her, if she would get caught. And from HER point of view, boiler explosions have never happened before, so why would they start now?

Is there something I'm missing? I've only ever been a tenant.

The whole situation is grim, honestly I would just move into a different rented property asap.

Re servicing the boiler, you many not be able to do that. As far as I know (and it is very possible that I am wrong) a reputable gas safe registered engineer will refuse to touch a boiler that doesn't meet safety standards, as even if it is serviced it could well still be dodgy and they would then be responsible.

As others of said a new boiler could well mean a new gas meter and pipework into your house, as well as potentially new wiring. Also, old boilers often vented into eg a chimney space which isn't allowed now so you may need some minor building work to allow the new boiler to be vented properly.

TheBigJessie, if I were the OP, I personally would report her to the authorities. It's an accident caused by MIL's neglect waiting to happen, I could not live with that on my conscience.

That's a good point thebigjessie, I wonder if the council can do anything to stop landlords renting out unsafe houses?

random, the plan is to move out but I'm due to give birth in 3 weeks so ASAP is most likely going to be after Christmas.

it'sallgoingtobefine a reputable and registered gas engineer has refused to touch the boiler, this happened shortly after DH moved here. MIL was informed, she got DH to get some quotes for her but didn't do anything with them.

I do find myself worrying about the welfare of the other tenants, that she lets a house to directly.

"oh god, when we talked about buying the house and she suggested that instead of doing that we put our names on the mortgage, she actually said she'd want a lump sum from us to make up for the reduction in income from rent."

YET, she made no mention of putting you on the deeds. That devious devious woman.... She wanted you to BUY her debt, while she kept the house....

That's something I'm going to ask her, if she gets an annual gas safety inspection for her other tenants.

I would be using the impending arrival of her grandchild as a stick with which to beat her about the need for a functional & safe boiler - lay on the guilt thick and insist that now you're on mat leave/saving for baby you simply have no cash to spare and if she refuses to get the house up to scratch you'll do it out of your rent. At least this way you know the next victim tenant won't suffer.

"DH thinks she'll push the line that she bought this home for us and its' really our home therefore we're responsible for all the repairs."

Actually it doesn't matter what line she pushes. You don't need to win any argument with her.

Don't forget the MN standards, "I'm sorry, that doesn't work for us," and "No. Because we don't want to."

A gas engineer can condemn the boiler and will do something to it so it is unable to be used - cap the incoming pipe or something I think. If you do move I would get an engineer round to 'look at boiler and get a quote for work' knowing he will render it unusable and saving any future tenant from using an unsafe boiler

OMG!!! you are going to wait till AFTER Christmas to move. I think that is VERY foolhardy considering you are well aware of the danger. I personally could not live with the guilt if my children died due to something that was preventable.

Get the boiler serviced, its only around £90 A matter of life or death, by christmas i dread to think what may happen
Carbon Monoxide detectors are good but it may take time for it to detect the high levels- if the alarm goes of you need to get out of the house immediately.
Tbh it needs servicing now: she will HAVE to replace it whether you stay, she rents to new tenants or she sells- its the law

cheque, would a bank statement class as a record?

No. In short, I submitted my bank statements in small claims court to prove I have paid someone for something on a regular basis. The judge said that there was no proof from the statements that the cheques paid for what I said they did.

I think it would bode VERY well for you to get some type of back dated statement from MIL to prove you have paid x amount in rent each week since xxxx.

If noting else, should you need to rent again, you will need to be able to prove that you paid a certain amount of months rent, to show you are reliable & on time with payments.