senior accommodation

Totally agree with Lancslass, Kirsty from the TV put it even more clearly! She said ‘it is not our responsibility to house our adult child visitors’.

My father went into flats for the over sixties. The service charge was phenomenal. The live in warden only worked Monday to Friday office hours, so emergencies out of these hours had to be dealt with by the occupant themselves or their families. When everyone moved in there were social events and outings. As the residents aged these fizzled out. Then there were the constant funeral teas in the communal area. He got very depressed and sold his flat. He had to pay a percentage of the sale price to the owners. He bought an ordinary new build with neighbours of all ages and was so much happier. I’d never buy a flat like his.

Do not move yet but explore all your options. Decide if you want to stay in your area or move nearer an adult child and their family. Do not buy into a system that has large service charges, may not be suitable for carers to attend, would be difficult for your inheritors to sell and who may have to keep up paying service charges until it is sold often at very low cost back to the original company to be quit of the expenses..

It is useful to explore this website, subscribe to their free news letter, attend a regional meeting free of charge that is in your area. Their site also has a post cod finder of different types of senior citizen living accommodation near you.

www.housinglin.org.uk/

If you think you will have sufficient income to pay for a bit of help with the garden, with housework etc., and you can also afford to future proof your home by having bathroom/wc access on all floors then perhaps it is wise to stay where you are. That is my plan anyway, as I have a GP surgery, shop, pharmacist etc within walking distance, and more importantly, I could not live anywhere I was not allowed to have a cat!

I would start by asking myself:

Can I afford a gardener and a cleaner, plus tradesmen to do repairs I cannot?

Is it possible to find a gardener and a cleaner?

Is this house suitable if I develop restricted mobility?

If the answer to these questions is no then I would start looking for a suitable alternative.

Depending on how old the cat is, you might fix the time frame for your move as something that will happen after you lose the cat. I'm not trying to be hurtful, but a cat that has had a garden to go out in, is not going to take kindly to a flat, or is not likely to at any rate.

Perhaps it is a little early to consider senior accommodation right now, could you find a flat, or perhaps a smaller house and garden.

I too had parents who managed to long to badly and have no intention of repeating their mistake, so I hope you find a solution that suits you.

Im in my mid sixties....husband in early 70s...I still work and intend to continue working till I drop! I go to the gym...swim daily....do physical work including our fair sized garden. Im fit and healthy, I don't take medication and OH the same. There is no way I want to live in a smaller property......we had a flat in the UK when we lived in France and I hated being in the flat...despite being modern it was too small and I like space. We are all different.....I nursed for many years and at one time managed nursing homes, there is no way on Gods earth I will ever go into a home....would rather Thelma and Louise off Beachy Head!

We are in our 70's and still in good health as it goes. We live in a 3 bed semi opposite a bus stop and everything very nearby. But its on a big hill with about 14 steps up to the front door and a sloping front garden.

I think if anything happened to Mr Barmey I would consider moving to a small 1 bed flat, not sure if I would want to be be in a retirement complex but a ground floor flat near the shops would suit me.

You would fit right in where I am living.My rent covers my one bed room apartment. all gourmet meals, TV,Wi Fi,laundry,utilities, Assistance readily available if and when I need it. It's expensive but much cheaper than home ownership and maintainence.

lonjay I would much rather have my own front door but I am sure where you are suits your needs.
We have a lovely retirement bungalow all mod cons and a beautiful garden serviced by a weekly support worker who calls in to see if everything is alright.
We have nice neighbours who we see as and when we want,I could not do communial living at all.

We moved to a 3 bedroom flat in a block with resident caretaker and factoring company. It's not a retirement block but is full of older people as, once people move in, they seem to just stay. I think we will too as its so convenient.
I had a taste of things to come while recovering from first one then the other knee replacement. I managed well once the bathroom was changed to a shower room. There's a lift, friendly nieghbours who aren't 'in your face', a beautiful view (Kirsty and Phil filmed here and said it 'was like being in a work of art') and handy shops etc. There's even parking! All this and it's 5 minutes from the centre of town.
Am I smug? Probably. Are we glad we made the move when we did? You bet!
OP look around. Not all flats are official retirement ones. Is there a block near what you need? Ugly 60s blocks are good value as they are much bigger than more modern ones. Just a suggestion.

If you are happy where you are then future-proof and adapt now. Invest in a walk-in shower. I’ve had one fitted in the corner of the bedroom. Takes up little room and looks fine.
Get a stair-lift fitted. They only cost about £2000 and that’s a good investment. You can get help with costs towards building ramps at back and front doors. Buy a mobility scooter so you can get out and about independently. Find a reliable cleaner who can do the jobs you find difficult.....and so on.

Or if you want to sell up and move.

I am 70 this month and have been going through this process. Basically, there is little out there for either the young or the older members of society and yet, in many ways, we are both after similar accommodation.

Like the OP I have been caring for my mother - for about 10 or 12 years in my case. She was in a bungalow which she moved into when she was and my father were in their late 60s so staying there was quite possible for quite a long period of that time. She had the bathroom made into a wet room which helped.

The difficulties were the up-keep - she had quite a large garden and my father was the gardener. On her own she could not do what two people did. Luckily she made a PoA or she would have been destitute pretty quickly. This seemed to come from a combination of Dad always looking after the finances, grief and the very early stages of Alzheimer's. A decade ago it was my insight into what "isolation" actually means. Just providing people with visitors or, as we did for about three years before Mum went into care last October, providing visiting carers does not stop the effects of isolation. This has taken its toll on my health as well as Mum's so I certainly don't want my own daughter to be put in the same position. I feel as if I am just starting my retirement but, on the other hand, it has given me an insight into what to look for. The questions are - does it exist and how soon do you plan to meet possible changes.

I have looked at various retirement flats. While I may be able to afford the flat the ground rent and the service charges have often been a third of my income. For that some are pristine and obviously cared for and some certainly are not. I thought they would offer a sense of community but again, some do but some are like a visit to the morgue. There are reselling issues too. The government has talked about changing the laws covering leasehold - England is anomalous in actually having them - but the builders of these flats see the on going income as part of their business plan so are fighting to keep them. I know of one single person and one couple who are moving because they can no longer afford the charges. They only go up! This doesn't mean these aren't the solution for some but do check everything out carefully.

Bungalows were the next thing I checked out. My worry with these is the possible isolation and the fact that most have quite large gardens. I could manage with a smallish bungalow on a small plot but they are few and far between. Because few new bungalows are being built they fetch quite a premium too. You also need to think about what you would need to pay for when you are a) on you own or b) no longer able.

Currently I am looking at ordinary flats. I would like to be in a village as I enjoy that level of community but, again such things are rare. Whatever I find will be a compromise but one thing is sure, forums like this can give a wealth of information from those who have been there and done that

www.telegraph.co.uk/goodlife/11510002/Should-you-really-buy-a-retirement-property.html

This is a really good article about retirement flats.

Davidal I agree totally I have friend struggling in huge houses and I feel exhausted just thinking about it .I downsized through circumstances 11 years ago and love this smaller house and garden ,. .In fact everyone who visits loves it . Cosy easy to manage ,pretty little garden .Been there done the big house bit and it suited when the children were at home but there is no sense whatever in trying to keep that up for two people in old age and certainly not for a single person

At what age do you recommend downsizing? I'm still working at the moment so am very active, but it'd be good to know, for future planning.

I was mulling over bungalow v flat just now, but reading comments on here, I think it's obvious a flat would be better.

I'm lucky that the city I live on the outskirts of has a plethora of flats. I own one already, although it's an upstairs one. A downstairs version of mine sounds ideal. Just need to make sure the area is ok. Not sure I'd want to live in the area where my rental property is.

I would suggest you move 5 - 10 years before you feel you will need to. It allows you to become part of the community and work out how to do things that may seem one task too many in the future. That is my thinking for moving now but that's because I want time to become part of a community and my surroundings to become very familiar.

GagaJo, a bungalow could still suit you. It depends on your income. Just work out all the jobs you could "outsource" and a rough cost for doing that.

I think we are inclined to look most at the capital cost of moving but, when you are older, income influences the decision in a very different way to when you could just calculate if you could pay the mortgage, etc.

I am still happy living in my family home at age 82.
I have more bedrooms than I need but family come to stay when actually I don’t have enough.
I can afford a cleaner and my S does the garden for me.
He is living here at the moment since my H died but that could change.
I am happy living on my own.
I have a friend living in McCarthy and Stone and it is so small, I like my space.
I think there are cliques and rivalries also, certainly where she lives.
I am too old to move now and I don’t want to, if I need care, so be it, if I need residential care I will accept that is the case.

Handy to know. So sounds like at about 60ish.

A shame there aren't flats around where I live now. In every other way it's a perfect area for the elderly. When I had a big operation a few years ago and had very limited mobility, I was so glad to be near shops and public transport. I was able to be independent almost as soon as I came home from hospital.

If a flat go for one with a lift!

I want to be mortgage free when I downsize. And given that I don't get my pension until I'm 67, won't be able to afford help. I'd like a tiny garden. I don't have a back garden now, as is often the way up north, and miss it although I hate gardening.

I agree with GracesGranMK3. At one time my DH worked as a home carer, and on many occasions he saw people who's homes were deteriorating around them, because they could no longer manage the "upkeep", and they had reached the age/stage where they couldn't manage a move either. (We were determined that this wasn't going to be us, hence our move last year.)

It depends on your pension really. If you have sufficient to upkeep your home then no problem, if you want to stay put, like ann60 or others. It also depends on what portion of your other half’s pension you can claim when they die. I think I get 50-60% of DH’s work pension but I must check that.

My old boss was a solicitor dealing with conveyancing. When I retired, his last words to me were "Don't forget, whatever you do, don't buy a purpose built retirement flat."

I didn't need telling as I had seen first hand the trouble people had in trying to sell their flats and monies having to be paid that they hadn't anticipated.