Should we rent out elderly DM’s house?

[Chipolatasandstuffing]

DM with dementia has just moved into care home. DC (me and DBs) have LPA. Plan is to put a charge against her house to pay for care, as well as using her pension and (modest) savings. Should we rent out her house (rather than sell) to help boost her income? What are the pitfalls?
TIA!

Having gone through this for my mother and mother in law, it is incredibly hard to get CHC funding, particularly for dementia. My mother had a wide range of health issues, very bad and unpredictable dementia, and didn’t qualify. I spent a lot of money to get a specialist company to represent me for the initial part of the process and then I appealed at the local and national levels and while the members of the NHS England appeal panel agreed to increase the weighting in some of the domains, she still didn’t meet the criteria, even after she had also had a stroke on top of everything else.

Aside from everything else, do you have the money to fully redecorate? Most tenants will want modern, neutral decor and a house that an old person has recently moved out of won't really be suitable.

Worked for DF

Thanks everyone! I’ll contact AgeUK after Christmas for advice.

Having rented out a property my advice would be dont do it.

Nope. My dad has dementia and had primarily health needs, he was denied this. It’s virtually impossible to get chc funding

I also hired a specialist company to challenge their decision but it didn’t work. It’s becoming harder and harder to get chc funding because they literally have no money and I know that the assessors are being asked to purposely mark people down on the checklists to avoid them qualifying

Same. Most stressful thing I’ve ever done.

Just sell it. Much easier to sell now with lpa than have to wait for probate to sell when sshe dies.
Sell up
Money in her account.
Pay fees

I’m a landlord but it only works because we aren’t reliant on the rental income. We pay a lot to an agent to manage them, and tbh it’s only the capital increase that makes it worthwhile.

In my understanding you can only get this funding if you have ongoing medical needs. With dementia the needs are generally considered to be social ie you only need social care not medical care. Medical needs have to be severe as well, you can't get it for being bed bound and having nasty bed sores for example - they only qualify if they are literally down to the bone. (From what I recall with FIL).

Is there a reason that the property isn't being sold now? Care homes tend to be a one way move, so assuming she won't be moving back. Renting often comes with more risks than rewards these days.

We let MIL’s house through an agency that managed everything including maintenance. They told us what needed doing first to bring it up to code (not much in this case), and they have standing instructions to take any repair/maintenance costs etc out of the rent before they pass it on.

it made a large difference to the final care home costs.

@Chipolatasandstuffingit might be worth looking into letting the house via your LA - I believe they cover costs re gas safety etc and guarantee rent, but please check it's the same in your area

Was there more to it than ‘just’ dementia? MIL had Alzheimer’s and didn’t get CHC until she was diagnosed with end stage leukaemia.

Just be aware of the pitfalls with the new laws coming in it makes it harder to ask people to leave who are renting if in the future you plan to sell it. We are in the same position and I was advised it’s much harder to ask someone to move out down the line if you want to stop renting it also if they failed to pay then you would accrue interest on the care home fees potentially leaving you with a substantial debt.

With the way that it would be taxed and then the issues with tenants - just sell it.

We did this for our DM. Renting the house helped greatly towards care home fees, and value of property went up in the meantime so we didn’t lose too much to her care.

She was in care for almost 10 years, be aware it can be a long process! You need ti take some proper advice…. None of us know your full circumstances or are really in a position to advise. Good luck.

If you are in Wales be alert to the very different legislation (and then in my opinion don't do it). England is about to become almost as strict as Wales. My father felt better knowing that he was providing income towards his fees but some months it wasn't much at all due to repairs etc and just provided extra stress for us. We would remind him that with pension and attendance allowance he wasnt just using up his savings. It's a tough time for you and the family op as you make these decisions

My late mum owned a three bed semi in a relatively cheap area. I'm in the midst of selling it after her death, so have access to the accounts from the lettings agent.

It barely made a profit for the last three years. Despite being a modern house,it wasn't well looked after by the tenants, and maintenance, new carpet and a new boiler ate up the entirety of the rental income for each of those years.

But if your parents home will rent for more than £1500, she should stand a decent chance if coming out ahead.

Ending rental contract is going to be hugely difficult in the future, but there being a change on the house to pay a debt will be a good reason to end the contract.

Are you having a laugh?!!!

No,I was trying to help.someone gave me that information I was very grateful. I got it for my DF

Your DF was exceptionally lucky to get it. My bed bound mum with dementia wasn't eligible.

Well obviously not lucky to be in that position in the first place. But the system seems unfair. Not the end of the world though, we sold her house.

I would be interested to know the grounds on which you got it for your DF.
Had he been sectioned under Section 3, ie for more than 28 days?

He’d been in hospital accidental overdose.