Best type of home for 70plus

We have considered that we will if we are lucky enough to live to a ripe old age and getting doddery to move to a garden flat. Like yourself I couldn't imagine not being able to go outside.

I'd say, start looking now. The sooner you decide, the better your choices are. If you wait until you can't cope, you may find yourself making a hurried decision.
My father took a lot of pleasure from having a small, paved garden, where he did container and deep bed gardening. It wasn't difficult to wait for a friend to lift a bag of compost up to the table, or lift a planted container down. Twice a year someone came to do a bit more tidying, lift several containers up and down etc.
However, if you really like where you are, could you afford a regular contract with a gardening agency? One of my neighbours does this.

Sift the pros and cons.Moving house costs a great deal of money, this could be spent on a regular gardener or gardening firm as Nannarose suggests.
If you would actually like a smaller house as well, then a bungalow with a small garden or groundfloor flat with a small outdoor space would suit you?Do you have pets, to factor into the choice?

I agree with Nannarose, start looking now so you don't make a decision you may regret. Having lived in the same place for so long perhaps you should stay in the same area in order to keep your local friends and acquaintances. On the other hand, if you have family in another area you may prefer to move near them. Lots to think about. I'm not a good example as I've been thinking about this for years and not managed to reach a conclusion!

We put a downstairs shower, toilet and sink in what was the garage and is now a large utility room. This means if ever the stairs become impossible, we can live downstairs. I looked for a bungalow for several years but never found anything I liked even half as much as what has been our family home. We're close to our GP surgery, supermarket, butcher, bus stop and library so hope to stay here. If we ever did the lottery, that would up our chances of winning and being able to afford the perfect 1930's bungalow

Maybe adapt the garden so it is do-able. Swop the hedges for fences, make the lawn smaller or artificial, (just an idea honest!) have some maneagable high planters/beds. Might be worth getting an estimate of getting someone in to do it for you as opposed to the cost of moving. I read an article recently about people who have outbuildings, for want of a better name, in their gardens big enough for someone to live in. See about something like that, would take up a fair bit of room and give you say a craft room, even hire it out to holiday makers though that would depend on where you live. Very near us there are some early Victorian cottages. They have very long gardens. For many years now each time one comes up for sale a developer will buy it and build several homes on the site. Sorry, that was a long-winded way of saying could you sell off part of your garden if you wanted to?

I downsized from a big garden to a smaller one. Now I have fun in my garden, planting, moving stuff, ringing the changes when I feel like it, instead of it being a chore that did my arthritic hands no good at all. I go out in my garden now and love it, not look at it, at everything that needed doing and feeling defeated!
Incidentally the pain in my hands has disappeared now that Im not battling with lawns and hedges, borders that need digging and shrubs that need cutting.
It was the best move for me. That's all I can say really. But I did need some outside space. Couldn't have done a flat!

We had a really large garden with hedges and lots of grass. We moved 20 years ago to a slightly smaller house but a much smaller garden.

Like eglantine, we enjoy doing the garden now but also getting the chance to sit in it. We had the garden paved so have no grass nagging us or hedges growing all the time.

The cost of moving now would go a long way to Re landscaping your garden. If you still want 'grass' the good quality Astroturfing is really good.
Plus, you won't have the stress of moving.

We are about to have the lawns in our front garden removed and replaced with artificial grass. We are also going to have new block paving even though it is only five years old, did not seem to wear well. Not a cheap option, twice the original cost of the house.
We refurbished the house to make it easy care but sadly it does not clean itself.

Lucky legs, sounds like moving would be a good idea. Free yourself up to enjoy life. Perhaps speak to the estate agents where you live so they can look out for somewhere suitable.

Or you could have organic gardeners come and stay or horticultural students?

See woofas, hosts for organic gardeners.

I'm thinking of moving. I have a large house with a small garden but I still find the garden difficult. Dealing with the weeds coming through the paving and the ivy coming from the garden behind is boring, painful and time-consuming.
I'm considering moving to a smaller house with a similar size garden but would pay a landscaper to make the new garden easier to look after when I move in.
I can't imagine having no outside space and maintenance fees are usually high on flats.

We moved from a large cottage on a steep hill to a spacious bungalow on a shallow hill - all hills round here!

It has a garden that is more or less flat (a novelty for us!) and a huge area of decking all round the bungalow, so we walk out onto flat areas.

We looked at lots of bungalows online over a period of a few years and hated them all - poky and dark - then suddenly found this one that had come back on the market; and here we are - we moved within a month of first seeing it! But we have not regretted it.

The clinching factor was that we instantly felt a connection with it and felt at home - it has large windows and lots o light coming in which matters to us both.

Might be worth just keeping an eye open in your chosen area via the internet just to see if anything jumps out at you.

Astroturf? - is it slippery when wet?

We downsized 3 years ago, location and outside space was very important to us both. I would agree with everyone who has said don't leave it too long. Luckily we were both fit and healthy at the time but it still took lots of energy both physical and emotional to do so. After the initial anxieties we now live a much more care free life, less housework and gardening more fun. We are 10 minute flat walk to the tube, on 3 bus routes, short walk to doctors and over ground train station, we are out about 3 or 4 nights a week. Children are both about 40 minutes away. Can only recommend downsizing but as Kirstie says it's location location location!

I agree with all those who have mentioned that moving is expensive so weigh up that cost v getting someone in to do what you can no longer do.

The trouble with downsizing is the size of the rooms in small houses! We would like fewer rooms but still of a decent size. When a developer finally realises this he will make a fortune.

There seems to be an assumption in the media that when we downsize we want to release equity but we don't. We would prefer a smaller property, house or bungalow, which is easier to maintain and keep the value in the property as savings do not keep up.

DS's neighbour recently died, she was 94 and lived at home until her last few weeks. Her house was big and she had help and a stairlift. It is certainly an option.

I have slowly over the last few years been getting my house to the way that I need and want it. I have a stairlift, there are no carpets and outside it is block paving. Unfortunately I own a long strip of grass to the side of my house and I pay somebody fortnightly to cut the grass, I also have a cleaner.

I have raised the path at my front door to the road so that I can now get in and out easily and made my dining area and kitchen one large room. It is easier for me now and should help the selling of the property when the time comes.

Buses are fairly close and frequent and when I can no longer drive, the money saved from running it will pay for taxis.

You have to start when you have the time and will to do it.

Since retiring in 2003, I have often looked at downsizing, but we have come to the conclusion that we are better off staying put. As we have a straight staircase, a stairlift would be an easy option if needed. Our room sizes are generous and we do spread out to use all available space. Last year we had artificial grass installed and have been delighted with it. A few years before that, we had our front garden mostly brick paved, but with a couple of beds to plant out. This has suited us and cut out the hard work that was becoming a chore. Our bathroom has been updated, with a slightly lower access bath, and hand grabs where needed. I love it. We recently though, did register an interest in a new retirement apartment nearby. It looks beautiful in the brochures, but is soooo expensive, more than we would get after selling our home. Then there would be the extra charges i.e. ground rent? maintenance etc. and they could increase annually. So no move on the cards just yet.

Luckylegs this is a difficulty shared by many and for each person there is a different answer. I retired and moved from inner city 2-up 2-down terrace house with long narrow garden, to sheltered accommodation in another city to be near family. I am still active but it is the best thing I ever did. I have a ground floor flat with my own paved front garden, which I've filled with lots of pots, and rear patio also filled with my pots. The building itself is triangular with a large internal grassed area complete with surrounding flower beds, fruit trees, raised veg plots, greenhouse, fish pond and outside gym, all available and accessible from each flat. Upkeep for that communal garden is included in the service charge.

My decision may not suit all but it certainly works for me and I know, as I age and may become less able, that systems are in place for additional help. As others have said, look around now before it becomes a necessity.

Incidentally, I have recently been on holiday knowing my neighbours will water my plants, and the 'big stuff' will be taken care of as normal by the regular gardeners

Why not start browsing Rightmove for the area you want to live in and look at the variety of property available in your price range.

Some will be totally unsuitable, some less so, some have features you had never considered. But it will help you decide whether you want to move and what there is available at the right price that appeals to you.

I'm hoping to sell a chunk of my garden to pay for improvements to my old house. Without essential repairs and an upstairs bathroom I can't stay here.
The only houses I could afford here are rabbit hutches on new estates or one of the cheapest retirement apartments. I need character and my own garden, I couldn't live in a battery house full of old people and most cost 1/2 million plus huge service charges. There's little choice in a rural area.

I agree with Nonnie, savings do not keep up with property values. That is my difficulty, I want to find something freehold for the younger family to inherit. I am free to go almost anywhere but the Property Search websites filter by location or postcode. Does Gransnet take Wanted ads? If so, some sharp-eyed GNetter could perhaps find me a freehold dwelling within walking distance of a food store, GP surgery and pharmacy - but with a manageable plot!

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.