Inherited house, what to do?

[meanderingmanchild]

I live in social housing with right to acquire, worth about £100K and could stay here.

Left house worth about £100K that I don't want to live in.

Nicer, downsized for age, homes priced £200K

Never had a mortgage, 45 years old.

What would you do with the house? Sell? Buy my place? Put down for mortgage on other place? Invest?

-never had such money before

Sell the inherited house and invest the money for your future, since a state pension is not a huge amount to live on. Continue to live in your present house that you love paying that very small rent. When you eventually give up the tenancy through death or incapacity to live independently it will revert to being someone else’s tenancy.

Well yes that why I said it might be the sensible thing to do.

I disagree with the right to buy...it's immoral. But, if I was in that position, I'd probably take it

If this is legal it’s an outrage.
Should people be homeless and living in B&Bs, while someone in social housing has a £100k nest egg ?!
What a crazy world we live in.

This.

I regularly read on here that social housing is rented at market value. Where on earth do you live where standard rental is £80/week?

Not sure about this. I think I can keep my home as long as I pay rent. I love this home and may be forced to buy it via this inheritance. I was happy to leave it for the next person. I also want to secure my future though.

Well what's the alternative?

What am I missing? You live somewhere you like (I think) that you can buy for 100. You have been left a home worth 100. Surely, sell the home you have been left and buy the one you are in now. Worse case, may be a smallish gap, but you won’t be paying rent moving forward and what you would pay in rent you can put aside for necessary home maintenance over time? Don’t understand the actual conundrum?

How much do you earn? What’s your credit rating like? Given that you’re going to be on state pension only when you retire (though it’s not too late to do something about that), it makes sense to own a house by then. £80 a week is a huge chunk out of a pension. You need to sell the house you’ve inherited and then find out how much mortgage you’re able to get. There are calculators online for this.
If you’re on £30k-ish you will be able to get a mortgage that’s enough to buy the £200k bungalow you’d like. If not, using right to buy for your current house will probably be the best option.

You need to sell the house if not going to live in it - you can't own a property and live in social housing. Buy elsewhere, and give up the social house for someone who needs it - presumably as you did, at some stage.

Im saying you surely can't keep the inherited house and become a landlord and whilst living in your current home.

To be honest, I'm wondering if you'd be better off selling the inherited home, continue renting your current place and just keep the money. Once you buy your place, the money is no longer accessible to you so you could end up spending your later years asset rich and cash poor.

You should probably get independent financial advice.

Do you have family who you would like to leave something of value to when you die? If so, taking out a mortgage could be sensible if you have the income to pay it off within the next 20 years or so.

Ideally, you should speak to an Independent Financial Advisor to make the most of your inheritance. They'll be able to look at all your circumstances, income, outgoings, pension etc. and make suggestions.

If you like where you are, buy it. Whether you agree politicians with the system or not, it is what it is. If you're only on track for state pension I'm assuming you don't earn much. This way you're reducing your cost to the state in later life as you will have accommodation and an asset to be sold for care fees if required

Surely people in social housing are allowed to save for pensions? £100,000 is not a massive amount to have for retirement. This puts the op in a better financial position for what seems to be the first time while also preserving social housing for others in the future.

Is your current place worth 100k and you'll get a discount or is 100k the amount you would pay with the discount?

Moving out. Or if you can’t bear to do that, the next best thing is to buy your house. At least then the council/HA will have some money that they can invest in housing someone in need.

Staying where you are on subsidised rent, while having £100k in the bank, is just wrong. It would be like borrowing my friend’s car because mine had broken down, then getting mine repaired and still keeping my friend’s car too!

But then the OP will have all the expense of maintaining a house with no capital and a limited income, not to mention their current income being reduced by paying a mortgage rather than £80 rent. . Better to stay where they are and invest the money to increase retirement income.

This.

I’ve clearly misunderstood the purpose of social housing. I could have sworn it was for people who didn’t have the financial resources to buy a house or pay for private rental. Maybe I’ll sell my house, put the money in savings, and try and find some social housing to live in!

100% agree with this.

When you say that your current house, which you have the right to acquire, is worth about £100k is that how much you would have to pay for it or is that its actual market value but you might get it for less?

Maybe my understanding on this is outdated but I seem to remember from a long time back that council tenants could get a discount on the value of the house which was more the longer they had lived there.

If this was still the case I just wondered whether your current house would be worth more than the £100k you could buy it for do, if you waited however long it is before you would be allowed to sell it, you would be closer to the £200k for the bungalow than you think.

I don't think it's quite the same since living in a home and loving it and providing a family home there is a lot more difficult to up stix and leave than handing back a vehicle. It could involve changing schools and all sorts so I do want to stay here or move close by to a small bungalow which I could grow old in.

Social housing is for people that need housing, many areas don’t use income as a criteria at all.

So yes, you have misunderstood social housing.

It’s also not subsidised, not rent gouging isn’t the same thing at all.

That ship sailed about 3 decades ago.

Social housing rents aren't subsidised.