Simply don't know what to do.

[Cantgiveitaway]

4 years ago we inherited a house. It has been on the market for the entirety of that time. It is on sale for approx 25% of market value. Reasons below:

The property is non-standard construction and therefore unmortgagable (we have explored this extensively).

It has a sitting lifetime tenancy on a peppercorn rent. Tenant is in their 70s and in good health.

We cannot sell it due to the above.

For those unaware, lifetime tenants cannot be evicted and the rent is very tightly controlled. We have increased it to the maximum allowed every year for the 4 years we've owned it. It still doesn't constitute £1000 a year.

We do not have any more money to put in to the property. We've done the legal required stuff. We've explored legal avenues for eviction ABD offered to give (gift) the property to the sitting tenant.

We basically need someone to come along with enough money to keep the property legally for 20+ years before they can do anything with it.

The most recent gas and electricity safety checks and the EPC have shown significant work needed in the next 12 months to keep it legal. We can't do it. Our only option is to sell our home that we, move in to a much smaller property in a different area (moving children's schools and away from family) and renting ourselves.

We have 0 savings because of the house and cannot afford basic things for our own home.

I just don't know what to do.

WWYD? We literally cannot give it away - we offered it to the LA and to a social landlord and a landlord with an extensive portfolio in the area and all said no.

In 20years, when the tenant dies or moves in to care the land might be worth something (and therefore sellable) but we can't wait that long. We had absolutely no idea the property existed until we inherited it and I've no idea why we did.

Any out of the box thinking here from the hive mind?

We can, but they won't accept it as stated in the OP.

No, it didn't convert existing ones. We'd have to get them to agree to sign a new tenant agreement, which they wouldn't do, because why would they!

Possibly the EPC could provide the answer? If the property doesn't meet the minimum standard you can't legally rent it out - not sure what happens then though, would this be legitimate terms for ending the tenancy?

Or alternatively, I think you may ne able to get an EPC exemption on financial grounds

You used to be able to but that may have changed

What's in it for the tenant? She'd have to put in her own new boiler etc etc, if she owns it. This is her home until she dies, as it is. And with no responsibility. There's no benefit to her accepting it as a gift.

Go through the thread again tomorrow & make a list of the many suggestions. I'm sure one if them will work out fir you 👍🏻🤗

How?

Are they a life tenant of a life interest trust? If so, is it part of the wording of the trust that they have to maintain the property?

Exactly!!

it's unbelievable that you need to point out the bloody obvious!!

What are the legal ramifications for letting it become uninhabitable?

You and your husband divorce on paper, you get all the assets with an agreement that he pay the mortgage on your home until your kids turn 18 so his money is tied up. He is the owner of that property, declare himself bankrupt or simply refuse to do the upkeep and allow the tenant to take him to court where he can lay out his financial situation after divorce (he’ll need to “move in with parents” or something), and also lay out all the reasonable offers he has made to the tenant to try and resolve it. And fall on the mercy of court… depending on what the worst outcome for him would be.

Can you condemn it. Get it classified as derelict? Unliveable or something?

Can you sign it over to the tenant and just be rid of it?
Edited: just seen this suggestion up thread and thepoint made about the tenant not gaining from owning the property.

Sorry, sounds a horrendous situation.

@Cantgiveitaway do you have home insurance for your own home? Check if it has a free legal helpline (you don't need to have taken out extra legal cover for the helpline). Nearly all do.

The solicitors on my insurers 24 hour helpline saved my sanity when I inherited my mum's buy to let (which had a whole different hellish situation tied to it). I could phone as often as I wanted (and I did) and they were incredible in their knowledge and empathy. And it cost me nothing.

Unfortunately not. You can register an exemption if the improvements would cost more than £3.5k (which they will). It isn't grounds for eviction, we'd just get penalised.

Can you make the house into two flats? Tenant gets one?

Have you ever applied to the VOA to reassess the fair rent? They won't be a huge amount of help if one is registered as the increases are capped, but if one isn't registered that should put it at or close to genuine market rate

Please read the thread, or at least OP 's posts.

ETA that you edited while I was posting that.

What if there was a major leak? Surely she’d have to move out till fixed? Is there some scenario like that you can mimic?

I'm sure they won't! There have been some absolutely ridiculous suggestions.

Except for my post about contacting her insurer's legal helpline, obviously!.

Ridiculous, how would that help?

@Cantgiveitaway I’m going to assume that probate has gone through because you’re referring to 4 years, earlier on in this thread you said it would be great if you could refuse the inheritance but I presume that window has passed.

Not sure what your solicitor has told you

But honestly, you need to sell it for like £1 to one of these companies who will take a view that they can realise their asset in 20 years.

on the wild off chance that the window hasn’t passed, you would need to refuse the inheritance

Owners of stately homes sometimes gift them to the nation. I know you can also choose to give any tax refund you are owed back to the Givernment to help repay the national debt

Is there anyway you could give it to the Government?

Yes, this. If they’ve neglected the property in any way which has led to the repairs, you could approach an eviction or some exit agreement where they’re not responsible for repairs but will need to move out for the works type situation?
I’m so sorry OP- sounds horrendous, it’s as though you’re stuck with some medieval clause or small print.

We signed a property over to a relative. The relative was happy, but as I recall, didn't have to sign anything, though did have to have their identity verified, by meeting our lawyer.
We're in Scotland, in case that makes a difference.
Hope you find a way out of this.

I tried the people linked in this post, re my late mum's buy to let. They couldn't help me, but I don't think you can afford to leave any stone unturned, @Cantgiveitaway , so you might as well try.

Thanks everyone. First port of call is auction again, asap.

I'll review the other suggestions and go though them 1 by 1.

We need it gone. I can't stress enough how we would give it away for free, we don't even need to recoup the costs are spent, just not have any more moving forward.

Tenant doesn't care about our situation, and I can understand why.

We will put off the further repairs for as long as possible, but similarly, if there were to be an electrical fire and the tenant die, we wouldn't be able to live with ourselves.

if you had refused the bequest, do you know what would have happened to it? Is there any way back in that direction?