A good friend posed the following problem to me;
Would they be entitled to any grants as returning residents or first time buyers (believe it not they've never actually owned a house in Ireland!!!)??
The only benefit for first-time buyers is that they would be exempt from stamp duty, but as they would almost certainly be buying a smallish property, that’s probably not an issue. The first-time buyers grant was eliminated a few years ago, but it was fairly small anyway.
Would their endownment policies (prudential, freinds provident and phoenix) be recognised in Ireland and could they use them as collateral in buying a house.
Both Prudential & Friends would be well recognised over here. I haven’t come across Phoenix before. There is a fair chance that they could assign the policies to the lender and borrow the money up-front. There are also companies here & in the UK who would buy the endowment policy from them, probably from a price somewhere above the cashing in price.
If they needed to get a mortgage (at 62 -mum and 60 -dad) what would their chances be??
The general rule is that they would to be able to repay anything they borrow by age 70. So that doesn’t give them a whole lot of time or borrowing capacity. They would also have a problem convincing a lender that they will have steady income to cover repayments. Lenders also don’t like people on probationary periods. Unless they were to come over and rent for a while until they get decent jobs.
Any information on council part buy/part rent schemes.
Most councils have both affordable housing (whereby the council retains ownership of the land, while the buyer buys the building) and shared ownership (whereby the council buy a portion of the property, and the buyer buys out the council after a few years). I don’t think the shared ownership will be much help, as they probably won’t be in a position to buy out the council. The affordable housing may be an option, though I’d say there would be a lot of competition from young couples. I’m not sure who would get priority – see for details of Wexford’s affordable housing scheme.
They're keen in Wexford but whats the cheapest part of the country to live in???
Wexford is probably a bit too close to Dublin to be cheap. The cheapest areas are probably further west, say Leitrim, parts of Mayo or Sligo. There are decent properties going for €150k, but in VERY rural locations. For example, see [broken link removed]. To be honest, if your folks have always lived in towns, they might well find it hard to adjust to a rural environment. As they get older, it is likely to be more a problem when you think about health issues, travelling to work etc.
If wexford whats the job situations like??
Unemployment here is at the lowest levels for years – somewhere around 3% to 4%. Every shop, coffee bar & pub is full of Chinese or Eastern European staff, as Irish people have given up on such low-level demeaning jobs. [I am being sarcastic here, just in case you didn’t pick that up]. However, quality of job could be a problem. If they get near a town, I’d have no doubt that they could get some job, but it may not be too pleasant or too rewarding. The manufacturing sector here is gradually shrinking, as jobs get relocated to Eastern Europe or China. Even if your Dad were to get decent factory work, there would be a fair risk of this evaporating over time.
OK, so here’s my 2 other possible options;
How about renting instead of buying? They could rent a decent 2-bed or maybe 3-bed property in Wexford for €700 per month. Their €100k capital would last them about 10 years on that basis, assuming they would invest parts of their capital to keep up with inflation. Their UK endowment properties could yield €50k, giving them another 5 years. After that, they would probably be in trouble – and would be basically throwing themselves into the arms of the state at that stage. It’s a fairly high-risk strategy, but if it gave them 15 happy years in Ireland, it might be worth the risk.
Is there anyone in the family who could support them by buying perhaps 50% of the property for them & let them live there rent free for the rest of their lives. In return, the generous donor could take back 100% of the property when your folks eventually pass on.
He asked me a series of questions, so I've detailed his questions, my answers and a couple of other ideas I suggested below. Any additional wise suggestions from the AAM community would be very welcome.
Would they be entitled to any grants as returning residents or first time buyers (believe it not they've never actually owned a house in Ireland!!!)??
The only benefit for first-time buyers is that they would be exempt from stamp duty, but as they would almost certainly be buying a smallish property, that’s probably not an issue. The first-time buyers grant was eliminated a few years ago, but it was fairly small anyway.
Would their endownment policies (prudential, freinds provident and phoenix) be recognised in Ireland and could they use them as collateral in buying a house.
Both Prudential & Friends would be well recognised over here. I haven’t come across Phoenix before. There is a fair chance that they could assign the policies to the lender and borrow the money up-front. There are also companies here & in the UK who would buy the endowment policy from them, probably from a price somewhere above the cashing in price.
If they needed to get a mortgage (at 62 -mum and 60 -dad) what would their chances be??
The general rule is that they would to be able to repay anything they borrow by age 70. So that doesn’t give them a whole lot of time or borrowing capacity. They would also have a problem convincing a lender that they will have steady income to cover repayments. Lenders also don’t like people on probationary periods. Unless they were to come over and rent for a while until they get decent jobs.
Any information on council part buy/part rent schemes.
Most councils have both affordable housing (whereby the council retains ownership of the land, while the buyer buys the building) and shared ownership (whereby the council buy a portion of the property, and the buyer buys out the council after a few years). I don’t think the shared ownership will be much help, as they probably won’t be in a position to buy out the council. The affordable housing may be an option, though I’d say there would be a lot of competition from young couples. I’m not sure who would get priority – see for details of Wexford’s affordable housing scheme.
They're keen in Wexford but whats the cheapest part of the country to live in???
Wexford is probably a bit too close to Dublin to be cheap. The cheapest areas are probably further west, say Leitrim, parts of Mayo or Sligo. There are decent properties going for €150k, but in VERY rural locations. For example, see [broken link removed]. To be honest, if your folks have always lived in towns, they might well find it hard to adjust to a rural environment. As they get older, it is likely to be more a problem when you think about health issues, travelling to work etc.
If wexford whats the job situations like??
Unemployment here is at the lowest levels for years – somewhere around 3% to 4%. Every shop, coffee bar & pub is full of Chinese or Eastern European staff, as Irish people have given up on such low-level demeaning jobs. [I am being sarcastic here, just in case you didn’t pick that up]. However, quality of job could be a problem. If they get near a town, I’d have no doubt that they could get some job, but it may not be too pleasant or too rewarding. The manufacturing sector here is gradually shrinking, as jobs get relocated to Eastern Europe or China. Even if your Dad were to get decent factory work, there would be a fair risk of this evaporating over time.
OK, so here’s my 2 other possible options;
How about renting instead of buying? They could rent a decent 2-bed or maybe 3-bed property in Wexford for €700 per month. Their €100k capital would last them about 10 years on that basis, assuming they would invest parts of their capital to keep up with inflation. Their UK endowment properties could yield €50k, giving them another 5 years. After that, they would probably be in trouble – and would be basically throwing themselves into the arms of the state at that stage. It’s a fairly high-risk strategy, but if it gave them 15 happy years in Ireland, it might be worth the risk.
Is there anyone in the family who could support them by buying perhaps 50% of the property for them & let them live there rent free for the rest of their lives. In return, the generous donor could take back 100% of the property when your folks eventually pass on.