Father in law wants to move in with us in the next year, and pay us rent rather than his current set up where he is paying a lot of rent, has no central heating, and struggles as his property is over two floors with a big step up, and he uses a walking stick.
We are currently considering selling up due to cofL increases, so this could save all that upheaval; he would pay us rent, plus a cleaner for his area and to do his laundry. We have said that he will go into a home when the time comes; he put his own parents into a home rather than care so this is normal for him.
One thing I am keen to establish is distinct areas. Downstairs we have a dining room and living room. He would go into the second living room. He likes to get up very late, have his main meal at lunch, then spend the evening watching tv in a chair and making mess (dropping wrappers where they fall, that kind of thing). We have had to clear his home out a few times before engaging his cleaner; he will not clear up hence we have to be separate as otherwise he’ll drive me mad!!! I don’t want to spend every evening together, but happy to eat together in the evening, and be together a few times a week to join in family games etc. I also don’t mind providing his lunch. He is quite happy with space; we have been on holiday with him and he was very happy to be separate in the evening.
We can give him a downstairs bedroom which is large enough to have a tv, chair and a coffee table for drinks etc. I want him to eat in the kitchen or living room so he keeps moving as he is not yet infirm! The room is 15x15, plus bay, which is the same size as our bedroom which has a sitting area and obviously bed. He will need his own bathroom due to bowel problems. We don’t have any spare money so he will need to pay for this. It won’t add any money onto our house (and would be demolished when he moves on) as the room is a second reception room and we already have a downstairs WC.
He wants to move in as he knows he’s a bit useless and he’s had some health scares. He can’t find a ground floor rental and has no friends in his area. At the moment he volunteers a little, but this will finish in the next 6-12 months. He comes to us for Easter/Christmas his birthday etc; I imagine he is considering when he won’t be comfortable driving as we are 90 mins away. We are excellent cooks and he knows that we will look after him in terms of meals and drinks. He is not hugely interested in our children but I’d like to think that this is part of his decision making also!
So I have a few queries; do you think this set up will work, in terms of space in his room? I want him to be comfortable and enjoy it here; if the room is claustrophobic he won’t really.
What sort of figures might we be looking at to do this sort of side extension? It would only be for his bathroom, so a door would be created in the current external wall. Not sure how big it needs to be, but we would base the sizing on wheelchair accessibility so it is future proofed. He doesn’t have any savings, but he receives 2,500 pcm in pension so he should be able to put 1,000 per month towards it, so 12,000 saved by the time he wants to move in. I have been really clear that we can’t pay upfront, nor get a loan, as realistically we don’t know how long he will stay. He would save around 1000 by moving in with us so once he’s in he will be better off, or could maybe purchase the bathroom suite on finance. I don’t know if 12k is wildly unrealistic? I don’t really want to get someone to quote if it’s double/beyond; we will need to rethink the whole thing. We are East Midlands.
And finally, not property, but anything that I might not have considered? I will be asking to get a toilet that cleans the user so we are future proofed! We have space on the drive for his car. There is a local elderly community here for him to get involved in if he chooses, and we have a voluntary service which assists with hospital appointments if we are both working. Our local GP is excellent; better than his local surgery in my opinion. We have a large car so can fit everyone in for a family outing.
He has no possessions really; he hordes things but nothing he needs-he would pay for storage if he wants to keep his bits as he doesn’t need access to them; he has already given us special crockery and cutlery; and he doesn’t have ornaments, just books which he could keep in his room. He has some special pieces of furniture but we have some of them here already, and the others could be interspersed around the home.