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Just received a call from a pensioner who has a joint mortgage with his son. He gets pension credit for his half of the mortgage. His son now wants to move out and says he won't be able to pay the mortgage after April. He wants his father to either buy out his share of the house or sell his share to the son and rent it back off him.
As far as I can see, if he increases his mortgage liability he doesn't fit any of the circumstances where he can get extra help from Pension Credit.
If he sells the house to his son and rents it back, not only will he be in an insecure position (what if his son wants to sell the property?) but there are all sorts of problems to overcome to get housing benefit - due to capital, the rule that says you can't get housing benefit on a property you've previously owned, possibly being seen as a contrived or non-commercial tenancy and maybe a restriction based on the size of the property.
Can anyone suggest a way this man can stay in his home with a reasonable degree of security and affordability?
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