House swap with parents

[tomwa]

I'm currently talking with my parents about our living arrangements and I'm just considering the options.

My parents currently live in a large home on ~100 acres they own down the country.
They also own some additional investment properties (~€220,000). No finance outstanding on any of it.

I live in a four-bed I own (with a 1.1% tracker, circa half paid off) in Portlaoise and commute to Dublin.

My mum is ill and needs to be closer to a hospital/wants to be closer to a town. My dad is unhappy with the effort involved in upkeep of their current home.
I'd be very happy to be rid of the commute.

Initially our collective long-term plan was for me to purchase land close to Dublin build a house and build a granny flat for my parents, we'd sell my parent's investment properties and my house to pay for it and keep the home in the country.

Given my mum's situation, my dad wants to make that move quicker than I was ready for (I was planning to do it when my mortgage was paid off). He's suggested selling their home (€350-400k w/h or w/o 3 acres), purchasing a large apartment in Dublin suitable for my work and to accommodate both parents short term (for hospital appointments and the like) or one parent long term, and both my parents taking up residence in my Portlaoise home.

I reckon the rent equivalent on a similar apartment in Dublin would be €2-2.5k/month and the house in portlaoise would get €1.2-1.3k/month.

How do we reckon this for gift/inheritance purposes? Is it based on the balance between the two rents?
Is there any allowance if I retain responsibility for upkeep of the Portlaoise property and handle maintenance of the Dublin apartment?
How would annual maintenance fees from the maintenance company on both properties be handled?
Will the dwelling home exemption apply for inheritance?
Does my parents use of a room in the apartment for 1-2 nights a week have an impact?

 

[Thirsty]

Tough question coming up...(and apologies in advance for any upset)

Is your Mum's illness such that she might not fully recover? Or could it even be terminal?

 

[tomwa]

She has two rare forms of cancer, both individually with 5 year survival rates in the region of 10-20%.
We're hoping for the best but planning flexibly.

 

[Thirsty]

I'm so very, very sorry.

I had a horrid feeling when I read your post that was the case.

If your mum is being treated in Dublin is Portlaoise the best location for her?

Your plan sounds a bit convoluted.

I'd suggest in the first instance they look at renting an apartment with good access and then see about selling and buying something that suits them better for the longer term.

 

[tomwa]

My parents want to stay closer to family and friends down the country (especially at the current time) so Dublin as a permanent home for them is out for the moment and Portlaoise is probably the limit.
We've had to use Portlaoise hospital for other matters like opportunistic infections, not her primary treatment.

The area of Dublin we're looking at is within our budget for purchasing but rents are €2.2 to 2.4k per month. I'm happy to consider the apartment a good long-term residence or investment.
I lived in that area up until early last year, it's beside the company I've worked with for almost 10 years and around 1.5km from the hospital she's being treated in.

Both myself and dad are more worried about letting go of the 3 acres of road frontage from the farm to be honest as it has consequences for the rest of the land, and nobody likes to diminish their generation's contribution to the family holdings (between my dad's siblings and cousins we have the majority of the parish collectively behind that three acres.....hard fought for).

 

[Thirsty]

It's very hard to make good decisions when in the middle of dealing with serious illness; my mother (lord rest her) had a great phrase - "if in doubt, don't".

IANAL

To answer your main question: if your parents purchase an apartment as their ppr, they are the owners, no additional tax liability applies.

If you effectively, 'swap' living arrangements, it's for the purposes of medical treatment and I don't believe gift tax applies in this case.

As an example in the case of NPPR and property tax, exemption was/is granted as appropriate on medical grounds; it would be my belief that similar exemption would apply in this case.