Buying a 'holiday home' when renting

[bbeanflickk]

DP and I are renting a tiny one bedroom flat in London. We can afford more but don't need it as never in the flat other than to sleep.

My parents are getting older (80s) and are starting to need more care. They live in a lovely coastal town. One day, would like to move back, but for now jobs are in London.

Would it be a completely ludicrous idea if we bought a small 2 bed house near to my parents? It would allow us to go down and visit and help with their care for extended periods of time, whilst also continuing with our independent lives and work.

Why would that be ludicrous?

No different to people who live rurally but then rent or buy a city "crash pad" for when at work.

You are just doing it the other way around.

We've bought a second house close to dh's parents - we spend a lot of time there caring for them but we still need to be close to London for work - having a second home has made the situation a lot easier - but we do feel guilty about having 2 homes but we tried the Airbnb and hotel option but we have a dog and it's incredibly awkward.

If you can afford it, it doesn’t seem ludicrous. Just if you might buy a place in London as well at some point you’d have to pay higher stamp duty.

Why feel guilty about having 2 homes?

Because we are in a housing crisis and millions of people don't even have one let alone two... when you take twice as much of something in a limited supply then decent people tend to feel a tad bit guilty... it show conscience.

OP how often will you be there?

If its every week end then not a huge issue but if its not very often what will happen to the house when you are not there?

Houses that stand unoccupied can get lots of issues like damp (especially around the coast where you have sea mist to contend with too). If you wont be there regular enough to vent and heat it etc... then I would suggest not buying until you are ready to move back or you'll move back to a house thats developed a host of issues and needs renovating.