Mum's house is falling down

[Desperateclueless]

Desperately need some help and advice.
Mum is 70 so not that elderly but has a lot of mental health issues - mainly depression which have been ongoing for last 40 years or so.
She still lives in the 3 bed detached family home after my parents divorced about 35 years ago and it has gradually deteriorated to the point where the garage roof has fallen in and potentially the whole property has structural issues. I have not been there in about 15 years other than to drive past and see the state its in from the outside. I dont live locally and dont drive so dont see her really unless she comes to me. I have tried to persuade her to move for years as I have seen the house getting worse and worse but she keeps saying she needs to sort it out before selling. It's now in such a state that not sure anyone would buy it except developers for the land. She has very little money too although the mortgage has been paid off. She also has 5 dogs and not sure she's great at clearing up after them. She needs to move to a far more manageable bungalow or something but not sure she'll get enough from the property to buy one that has space for the dogs and it would break her heart to give them up. I have no spare money to help and have my own family and a full time job and at complete loss as to what I can do

She could probably get an over 55's council property, they do seem to be more readily available that other types of social housing. Not sure how the dogs would be viewed though. If she doesn't have the money to do up the house to sell she will have no choice but to sell it as it is.

I'd ask her if she'd be happy for you to arrange for a few estate agents to come and value it.

See what she says. She will then know one way or the other what she's likely to get in the region of and can plan accordingly.

Possibly it could go into auction with a reserve?

If it's on a good plot of land it might make more than you think?

If its brick/stone, why would it be falling in? Garage roof is one thing but hardly beyond redemption.

How do you drive past if you don't drive? so you can get there as a passenger in a car or you wouldn't be driving past.... why not have look inside and see if its leaking etc, she'd be pleased to see you.

Make a more informed opinion rather than a curb view.

We’ve been through something similar. DF died and left DM with no spouse pension and a house that needed a lot of work. DM also has mobility issues that made using the stairs difficult.

We initially got the house valued to see how many years DM could afford to pay rent in a council bungalow if it came to that - mortgage has been paid off so there’s a consideration of extra monthly cost if moving to a council property. We then applied for a council property and are on the waiting list. We’re using the time to gradually get DM used to the idea of moving out of the family home. If she lives to be 83+ there’s a risk she’ll run out of money to pay rent and will need to apply for pension credits etc.

Getting a valuation as the house is now might really focus your DM. We reasoned that if We had the money to do the work the house would be worth more. Is she planning on spending money on repairs only to get the same amount back on sale.

LAs are more challenging in terms of identifying people who want social housing now, who wouldn’t want to sell their home and retire to a maintained council home whilst having the profits from their sale to enjoy.

Thanks to those who have given advice. Will try and persuade her to at least get it valued.
I have been driven past as a passenger maybe 2 or 3 times in the last 15 years. Even if it were possible to get there she would hate it if I turned up and wouldn't let me in anyway.

We were in a similar situation with a divorced elderly parent.
What happened is the house (a semi) became so bad that the elderly person was reported to Environmental Health by the neighbours and the council issued an order to enforce that work had to be done. This was found a very traumatic experience by the resident and I would say that you do need to do something to make sure this doesn't happen to your DM, if it can possible be avoided.
The house was sold (by auction) and parent was moved to a sheltered housing complex.