selling family home to get 2 houses .

[notmrscookie]

I have a mortgage free 4 bed house in west sussex. I have a new partner and 2 sons aged 25 and 21.
I kept family home when divorced to help boys settle but now want rid of it .
House needs work done on it soon.

I would live to buy a nice 2 bed house with south facing garden for myself and in time partner
then buy a 1 bed flat and put a fake wall in the lounge and make it 2 bedrooms no lounge and rent it to my boys for low rent and then get them to pay Bill's or just move them out to shared rental .
What do I need to consider with this.
so confused with wanting to settle down myself and still home my boys.?

I wouldn't gift the boys the difference. You might need that for old age. Buy a rental or an annuity. Help the boys with cash is required but keep the income and source of income for yourself.

Downsize by all means. But invest anything that’s left for your OWN retirement. Put it in a pension fund. State provision is pitiful. Your wish to help your sons is admirable but they will absolutely not be able to return the favour when you are older and need some income.

Getting a mortgage to rent to family is virtually impossible so you’d likely need to buy cash. Also consider stamp duty implications of two homes

@TizerorFizz

Good grief!!! Loads of children live at home in their 20s and 30s. Maybe less where housing is cheap but on minimum wage it’s very hard to afford rents! To rent a room in London is often £700 a month plus bills. Some people on this thread really don’t understand the London or home counties market. A 2 bed rental in any town around me is £800 a month! So get real! Minimum wage single people cannot afford it!

Option 1. Tidy the house up and sell it. If you don’t trust a builder to build a bathroom you will never trust one to convert it into flats!!! It’s absolutely the worst idea ever!!! You will pay CGT on any second property you own. It might not be the pension you think it is. So be very careful. You will pay tax on rental income too.

Option 2: Find a way of getting your children to help with the housework! Ditto new partner! All the other alternatives cost money. Get a second bathroom! This is cheaper than anything you are suggesting.

Be careful of CGT and tax on rental income.

If it's two flats, it doesn't need to be registered as such until they start legally renting it to a non-related party. It's a conversion without the land registry being informed as it's not necessary until renting. Mortgage companies won't mind, it's just a multi unit property under one title, if that's even necessary.

I know lots of people do this so parents have downstairs and the younger adults/newly married couple have the upstairs.

In the Mediterranean families do this for generations, always adding an additional floor for each new generation.

What if they meet someone and want to start a family, would one be able to sel their half the flat? What then happens to the remaining sibling?

Wouldn’t it be better for you to gift them a deposit?

@nwLondonDad

They are 21 and 25, not grown at all. What kind of job/salary would they need to afford their own place. Their dad is in a position to help, so I don't see why he wouldn't. Do you guys just get rid off your kids once they turn 18?

Of course they are grown ups. I was married at 20 and had my first child at 24. Stop infantilising adult children.

Good grief!!! Loads of children live at home in their 20s and 30s. Maybe less where housing is cheap but on minimum wage it’s very hard to afford rents! To rent a room in London is often £700 a month plus bills. Some people on this thread really don’t understand the London or home counties market. A 2 bed rental in any town around me is £800 a month! So get real! Minimum wage single people cannot afford it!

I rented a one bed flat in my town - in the midlands - from 17. I didn’t have any choice, there’s no room rentals here and social services don’t offer support after that. It was £800 a month, and I worked three jobs to be able to afford it…

Don’t get me wrong; London & the Home Counties have a serious housing cost issue… but there’s a privilege in being able to stay at home in your 20s or 30s. I don’t know anyone who was able to go home after uni, or stay after 18, with the exception of one of my husbands friends who moved home in the pandemic. There’s different issues in different places.

At 25, I'd expect someone to be pretty independent and capable of arranging their own housing. What's the cost of a cheap 1 bed or studio flat in the area he works in?

If the 25 yr old is on NMW and working 37.5 hrs a week, his annual salary should be c. £15k. Provided he hasn't got any debt etc., he should be able to get a mortgage £45-£60k. Add that to his share of the deposit that you'd be able to give - is that enough to buy him a 1 bed or studio flat? If not, is it enough for a shared ownership scheme?

If you want to help them, there are better options than buying a flat for the two of them with no living space - it will only lead to conflict when one wants to move and the other doesn't.

@TakeYourFinalPosition

Good grief!!! Loads of children live at home in their 20s and 30s. Maybe less where housing is cheap but on minimum wage it’s very hard to afford rents! To rent a room in London is often £700 a month plus bills. Some people on this thread really don’t understand the London or home counties market. A 2 bed rental in any town around me is £800 a month! So get real! Minimum wage single people cannot afford it!

I rented a one bed flat in my town - in the midlands - from 17. I didn’t have any choice, there’s no room rentals here and social services don’t offer support after that. It was £800 a month, and I worked three jobs to be able to afford it…

Don’t get me wrong; London & the Home Counties have a serious housing cost issue… but there’s a privilege in being able to stay at home in your 20s or 30s. I don’t know anyone who was able to go home after uni, or stay after 18, with the exception of one of my husbands friends who moved home in the pandemic. There’s different issues in different places.

I agree with this. I rented when I was on minimum wage. It's hard, but plenty of people manage.

@CSJobseeker

At 25, I'd expect someone to be pretty independent and capable of arranging their own housing. What's the cost of a cheap 1 bed or studio flat in the area he works in?

If the 25 yr old is on NMW and working 37.5 hrs a week, his annual salary should be c. £15k. Provided he hasn't got any debt etc., he should be able to get a mortgage £45-£60k. Add that to his share of the deposit that you'd be able to give - is that enough to buy him a 1 bed or studio flat? If not, is it enough for a shared ownership scheme?

If you want to help them, there are better options than buying a flat for the two of them with no living space - it will only lead to conflict when one wants to move and the other doesn't.

Also, if his salary isn't enough to do what I suggest - I'd be recommending he looks for a second job in order to get that mortgage. Now is the time to put the graft in and give himself some security for the future, as there is no shortage of jobs available right now.

@CSJobseeker The OP is not planning to give the flat, or the money, to her Ds’s. RTFT.

This worries me. It all seems to be geared towards housing your partner really.

I do understand about your DC, even as adults it is so hard to get on the property market or rent. But if you buy them a flat you have all those associated costs. I would be tempted to take them with me and then if you can gift them a deposit or they could save whilst paying you a minimal amount of rent.

If your partner cannot afford 50% of his own property he will not be able to give you 50% towards yours.

@user1471538283

This worries me. It all seems to be geared towards housing your partner really.

I do understand about your DC, even as adults it is so hard to get on the property market or rent. But if you buy them a flat you have all those associated costs. I would be tempted to take them with me and then if you can gift them a deposit or they could save whilst paying you a minimal amount of rent.

If your partner cannot afford 50% of his own property he will not be able to give you 50% towards yours.

Yes, this. Seems she’s taking family property to house the partner when the natural thing any mum would do would be to try and pass some of it on to her kids. I wonder if the DP is whispering in her ear.