UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hello im new to this forum and hope somebody may be able to help me out with where I stand legally please:

I purchased a property from a disabled elderly family member nearly 8 years ago as they got into financial difficulty after taking out an equity release scheme and was worried they would loose there home and they continued to live in the property.

I purchased the property at a discounted price on a residential mortgage and i have paid the mortgage ever since without a penny in rent, We never talked about rent being paid at the time but now 8 years later i am starting to feel it financially, I currently rent my own property and have never lived at the address which i purchased and as its a residential mortgage i cannot buy another property for myself and my partner as this is supposed to be my main home.

I believe the tenant can be assisted with Housing Benefit as they are disabled and have no other savings but i would just like to know where i stand legally in this matter.

I wanted to know if they are classed as a sitting tenant as i have never had a tenancy drawn up and they have lived there since 1969 and it was a verbal agreement that i would buy the property and not charge rent.

Would I be entitled to ask for rent or is it still classed as there home?

I would really appreciate it if somebody could shed some light on this please.

Thank you in advance.

I think you are trying to say regulated tenant instead of sitting tenant?  http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/private_renting/private_renting_agreements/regulated_tenancies

It was nice of you to try and help them out but looks like the dodgy mortgage you took out is coming home to roost.  A tenancy doesn't have to be in writing but is usually created when money is exchanged on a regular basis so I don't know how this would work in your situation. 

To help you out financially, why not convert the residential mortgage to a let to buy mortgage?  It could go on interest only then which would be significantly cheaper.

Personally I would go to the council and get the HB form.

Then fill it out with your relative, and apply for a market rent. This will involve filling out a AST contract. Get it paid direct to you.

I am sure if you explain to your relative your financial burden, and that this will not affect them, it will be okay.

Probably more of a bummer that the house values haven't moved in the last 8 years, which means any capital gain you may have envisaged on your relative passing have not come to fruition.