Can't sell house - Disability Grant

[red23]

Hi there,

I am hoping someone out here can help me in this difficult time or someone who maybe has experience of a similar issue.

My mum passed away early last year and as an executor we have been trying to sell the house (with myself as the purchaser) The issue we are having is that sadly no lender will touch us (or any other buyer) due to the fact that the property in 2010 got a stairlift installed to help due to her disability at 92 years old.

The lenders are concerned that the £4000 grant will become repayable in the event that i go bankrupt and they need to sell the property. There is over £150,00 equity in the house. They are also concerned because the council in the below instances would become first security with the lender getting whats left, and no lender likes this one bit.

The council have stated to any lender that only under 3 terms is the grant ever repayable. (The lender simply needs to avoid selling to a buy to let or business)

1) The property is sold and converted to a business
2) The property is rented out
3) The property becomes a 2nd home.

We have been battling this issue for over a year now and my brothers debt problems are spiraling out of control. The lender, HSBC and the local council both refuse to give in.

It is a very frustrating issue as this grant was given out to help a disabled person and not to improve a home like in the instance of wood rot or any serious structural issues but this is being treated as an "improvement" even though the stairlift cannot be returned and has actually devalued the house.

Hopefully i have been detailed enough in my explanation as it is a complex issue.

I appreciate any help or advice anyone can give

Thank you

[des8]

Re: Can't sell house - Disability Grant

Could you not raise the £4000 (unsecured bank loan/credit card?) and repay the grant?
If distribution of any other funds from your mother's estate hasn't yet taken place, and with agreement of all other beneficiaries, you could possibly use those to clear the problem? others may have more knowledge of that possibility.
That would then allow you to raise the mortgage

[red23]

Re: Can't sell house - Disability Grant

Could you not raise the £4000 (unsecured bank loan/credit card?) and repay the grant?
If distribution of any other funds from your mother's estate hasn't yet taken place, and with agreement of all other beneficiaries, you could possibly use those to clear the problem? others may have more knowledge of that possibility.
That would then allow you to raise the mortgage

Thank you for your reply

Unfortunately it is not so simple. The council do not want the money repaid and have said there is no mechanism to pay back the money if you have not breached the terms of the grant.

[enaid]

Re: Can't sell house - Disability Grant

The council have stated to any lender that only under 3 terms is the grant ever repayable. (The lender simply needs to avoid selling to a buy to let or business)

1) The property is sold and converted to a business
2) The property is rented out
3) The property becomes a 2nd home.


Would it not be possible to rent the house for a short period then you have breached the terms of the grant and so make the £4,000 repayable?

[enquirer]

Re: Can't sell house - Disability Grant

The council in my area operates a roughly similar scheme. In the publicity material they call it a 'Disability Grant', yet when you look at the (very) small print, you discover that it is in fact a loan, and that they put a charge on the house.

So ...

The house forms part of the estate. The estate has to be wound up and assets disposed of. The estate is liable for legitimate debts.

If they call it a 'grant', then surely it should be a Gift. If there is a 'repayment', then it is a loan. It is difficult to see how it can be both these things simultaneously.

What happens to this 'grant' on the death of the recipient? The Council appear to be trying to say that the property itself is somehow bound in perpetuity, regardless of who owns it. This is extremely bizarre.

Is there actually a charge on the property? Is the loan secured on the property in any other way? If not, then the loan is not tied to it, and both lender and Council are talking nonsense. If it is a loan, then it is a debt and the estate is bound to repay it. Should a creditor refuse an offer of repayment, then the estate is absolved of any responsibility.

Thinking laterally ...

Rather than fighting this through with a solicitor, you could, as enaid suggests, simply invoke one of the Councils own stated Terms and Conditions. If the estate were to rent the property to you for a while, then it would seem that the loan would be repayable. That done, your way would be clear.

[enaid]

Re: Can't sell house - Disability Grant

Second thought if anyone is liable for Council Tax on the property and have another property it should automatically be classed as a second home.

[des8]

Re: Can't sell house - Disability Grant

Second thought if anyone is liable for Council Tax on the property and have another property it should automatically be classed as a second home.

but the difficulty here is that the council will be charging "the estate" the full council tax, and not regarding it as a second home.
They don't seem to have any common sense.

[enaid]

Re: Can't sell house - Disability Grant

but the difficulty here is that the council will be charging "the estate" the full council tax, and not regarding it as a second home.
They don't seem to have any common sense.

I think 6 months after probate is granted which I assume is the case here and the ownership is transferred to the beneficiary (ies) then they will become liable for any Council Tax, but worth checking this rule with your particular Local Authority.

[des8]

Re: Can't sell house - Disability Grant

It would seem the Council are being muppets.
I have discovered this on a related site:
. The Housing Grants Construction and Regeneration Act 1996: Disabled
Facilities Grant (Conditions relating to approval or payment of Grant) General
Consent 2008 enables Local Authorities to impose a condition on Disabled
Facilities Grant approvals requiring the repayment of the grant through a local
land charge in specific circumstances.
2.4. These circumstances are
• The approved Grant is above £5,000 and
• The applicant is an owner occupier and
• The property is sold by the applicant within ten years of the Grant being certified

Elsewhere it states "Repayment of the Grant would also not be required on the death of the applicant"
Have to go out now, but will research the wording of the Act later, if another beagle don't beat me to it

[des8]

Re: Can't sell house - Disability Grant

I think 6 months after probate is granted which I assume is the case here and the ownership is transferred to the beneficiary (ies) then they will become liable for any Council Tax, but worth checking this rule with your particular Local Authority.

But wouldn't the demand be addressed to "the executors of the late...." as the council will not necessarily know who the beneficiaries are?

[wales01man]

Re: Can't sell house - Disability Grant

Is there more to this than just the 4K?

[enaid]

Re: Can't sell house - Disability Grant

But wouldn't the demand be addressed to "the executors of the late...." as the council will not necessarily know who the beneficiaries are?

The council should be informed of the date probate was granted, details of the sale or transfer of the property and when the estate is settled. This info will give them who is responsible for the property and council tax imo.

[red23]

Re: Can't sell house - Disability Grant

Again thank you for the replies everyone.

If we were to pay back the £4000 there would also be added interest to this amount. We are unaware currently at what interest rate is and the council at the moment have no idea either.

enaid - Renting to breach the terms is an option, It would pain us to have to pay the money out, but obviously there may not be any choice in the matter and we have one beneficiary who refuses to see this as being his issue and will refuse to part with his share of the £4000. (He blames me as the buyer because I "cannot come up with the funds" and wants the estate money immediately)

enquirer - The "grant" (repayable under certain circumstances) is down as a charge on the property and mentioned in the title deeds against the property not owner.

des8 - that is an interesting point you have raised given the grant was below £5,000. as above the terms of the grant are against the property rather than the owner.

Wales01man - there is no more to this other than the 4k (plus interest since date of install)

[wales01man]

Re: Can't sell house - Disability Grant

Can I suggest a Solicitor it seems a mess the council seem to have no clue and with others not willing to pay a share to dispose of the Debt its going to go on and on

[IsItRequired]

Re: Can't sell house - Disability Grant

Write to your MP...Someone needs to resolve this and your MP may be able to help or at least get this to the attention of someone in the council who can use common sense over rules and regs.
And £4000 for a stair lift...that is even more shooking than the councils behaviour, the cheapest of new cars is not far off that...Someone in the stairlift industrie or some group are profiting huge amounts out of the disabled and vulnerable with a £4,000 price tag ...the advances in technology and electric motors in the last 20 years should make such a thing so much cheaper than 4G...I would expect a lift for that.