Help buying a property for my parents - WWYD?

[tattooedmumofone]

Gosh I don't know where to start and if there is even an answer but I'm hoping someone has been in the same boat/situation!

We recently moved the family out of London for a slower pace lifestyle. My sister is planning on moving near us in the next two years and my parents would like to do the same.

My parents currently rent a council flat but own a property up in the North East that they rent out. I think they have a few more years before they pay the mortgage off, and I'd guess that the place is worth about £100k.

I would love to help them buy but we are maxed out financially and I have been thinking about other options to get them up here without getting stuck in a rental, and without a mortgage. Our plan, once our childcare costs have gone down was to always save and eventually buy a flat to rent out that would be an investment for our children in the distant future - we are not in a position to save just yet.

I was thinking maybe there could be a way of my parents selling the property up north as a good deposit but maybe putting the mortgage in our names so they don't have a mortgage hanging over their heads going into retirement. They would need to pay the mortgage as such, but I was thinking we could help pay for it in the future. We don't want to gain financially now, it's just that I'm trying to think of ways for it to work for everyone.

The property up north is being left to me and my sister in their will. So lots of complicated things at play.

Any help/experiences welcome :)

Obviously they should sell the flat,how did they qualify for a council property when they own a flat?
No sympathy for them at all when there’s a social housing shortage.

Sorry, to clarify it's ex-council but privately rented to them by their friend who owns it. So they are paying fairly high rent, but not the market rate which is why I don't want them to get stuck in the rental trap if they move.

A good start would be selling the flat in the NE.

You can't just put a mortgage into your name OP, as in transfer it. Your parents would have to pay it off with the proceeds of the sale of their flat.

As you are already financially maxed out, you are not in a position to take on a second mortgage anyway, surely?

It's a nice idea but how are you going to help them with a mortgage if you are maxed out financially? How are you going to get a bank to issue a mortgage in your name if you have no means of paying it? Also surely it would count as your second home then and you would have to pay the astronomical stamp duty rate.

The sensible option would be for your parents to sell the property they own and use that to partly fund their new home - do you live in a very expensive place by the way? Could they move to a cheaper part of the same area but would still be closer to you than they are now?

They give you the proceeds from the flat and you use it as a deposit for a BTL mortgage… and let the house to them?

However.

They will need to pay the mortgage cost as their rent. They won’t have the income they currently have from the flat. And they won’t own anything, either.

Once their current mortgage is paid off They are benefitting from property ownership by the rent they receive offsetting their own rent. So not really in a ‘trap’.