Downsizing in my retirement

I think that first of all, if you live in London, you are in a very enviable position as you should be able to sell it for a very good price and blissfully retire and travel until your heart's content. We have just sold a 4 bed house, downsized all our furniture to a storage unit the size of a single garage, and temporarily moved overseas until we decide what we want to do and where we want to live. I think I would spend a little money giving the house a bit of a facelift. this will help to sell more quickly. Downsizing and moving to a rental will be the best decision you will make. Have you thought about moving out of London?

The problem with renting is that you have no security of tenure, DD 2 has had to move twice because the owner has sold and given them notice.

However I’m assuming you’ve been on the Property rental sites so you should have a good idea of rental costs, so you can weigh up the costs involved. If you spend all of your money on holidays and need to go into a care home you will only get into a Council run home, rather than be able to choose one.

Good luck whatever you decide

I have no personal experience but it's becoming quite popular, according to a few articles I read last year.

These retirement flats look like they come with Assured Tenancies, so you won't be moved on against your will!

Rental

DD and I have 3 lots of friends who've recently had problems because they rent. When they needed to move because owner was selling up, they found it difficult to find somewhere that wasn't much more expensive and/or that was in the same area. I really felt for all of them.

I'm intested in the topic raised, surprised it hasn't produced more replies and then noticed it's under Site Stuff. Could mods please move it to a more appropriate category so Rowsie might get more help on this?

I downsized for that reason. My three storey house was in need of updating etc. I bought a flat and most maintenance is
covered by a management fee we all pay each month (5 flats).

It was an excellent decision. I love my flat.
Don’t rent ! Buy smaller.

I'm with Lucca definitely. Don't put yourself at the mercy of landlords if you don't have to.

I’ve rented for the last 12 years. It has oodles of advantages - no maintenance, and you are more easily able to move if you choose because you don’t have the hassle of selling and buying. You can move through life more lightly. I wouldn’t consider buying again.

You have to choose your landlord carefully, but contrary to the horror stories, I’ve found my landlords helpful and decent. If you get a duff landlord, move on.

One thing is that you need to have less stuff if you choose to move every so often. I keep a storage unit close to where my adult children live for the stuff I don’t want to throw away, but don’t need around me.

My DM sold her London flat when aged around 65 and after living with us for a few years, rented with a housing association in Cambridge, where she had family. The capital freed enabled her to travel and visit her DC overseas and she had a pretty good standard of living.
The rent and maintenance was fairly low.
Eventually the flats were put up for sale and her DC bought it for her so she stayed in her lovely, ground floor flat until she died 12 years ago.

An aunt of mine bought a new retirement apartment, McCarthy and Stone I think, secure, convenient, communal lounge, suited her well, service charges were high of course, also I did hear that resale value was not good.
I’m sure I would not want the hassle of having to maintain an old house in my later years.

Choose your landlord carefully! Private landlords can give notice when they like & before you know it, you're out. At present, due to Covid it's six months notice but that is very likely to change.
Moving into a dedicated retirement block like a McCarthy & Stone might be better, but much more expensive.

I'd be wary of buying a dedicated retirement flat. My MIL moved into a McCarthy and Stone flat when it was first built, there was quite a lively group of retirees there but of course they all aged and either went into care homes or died. It proved very difficult to sell the flats as M&Stone were building new blocks and buyers preferred those. There is an over supply as the builders tend to sell the leaseholds on to management companies once they are occupied and build some more down the road! When my MIL came to live with us it took over two years to sell her flat. it sold at 75% of the value that she had paid 14 years earlier and she had had to pay over £5k a year in service charges until the flat was sold. It would be better to rent.

Mine is not a retirement flat. But it is a building with just five flats and all residents are very nice as it happens plus it’s near town centre but in a cul de sac. I hit lucky !

Yes, Foxie, I’ve heard of a number of cases where it proved very difficult to sell such flats, particularly McC&S, which eventually went for rather less than had been paid. It has been a major problem in cases where the person has finally needed to go into a care home and hefty service charges have still needed to be paid, even for 2 years after the person had moved out. Not to mention funds from the sale being unavailable.

There are several blocks of ‘over 55s only’ flats (though not McC&S) not far from us. I often pass them and sometimes notice signs saying ‘for sale or rent’. I think they are fairly popular since there are very frequent buses more or less on the doorstep and they’re a stone’s throw from the hospital.

If circumstances/income permitted I think I’d choose to rent rather than buy,

McCarthy and Stone seem like extortionists to me and build in the most unattractive locations - at least hereabouts.

Their latest available complex here is sandwiched between a huge 24/7 supermarket and car park and an extremely busy road and roundabout. No green space in between.

The one before that was sandwiched between another extremely busy road and a car repair workshop. The one currently under construction (POA) is on yet another busy road overlooking the service area of a hotel.

I’m wondering if the company have a monopoly on brownfield sites in ugly, noisy, polluted environments. Again, no green space.

The one I first mentioned has two bedroomed flats from £453,500 plus service charge (unspecified on the website, you have to get a brochure) or monthly rent from £3560 pcm including service charge. I’m not kidding. From £42750 a year.

Apartments in this complex have been marketed for a couple of years but still only 65% sold. Covid may be part of the reason but I suspect price is too. At these rates, I’m assuming it’s seen as a half way house between independence and a care home but you’re likely to have little money left for care fees after a few years at these rates.

You can buy luxury apartments in the town centre overlooking a beautiful park for 350K and the average rent for a two bedroomed apartment is £1200 a month.

Can anyone make a case for McCarthy and Stone prices? I accept that new properties come at a premium, that buyers are freeing themselves from having to worry about maintenance costs on their previous home and there will be an on site manager and a ready-made community but these still sound like extortionate prices for living in unattractive surroundings. £42750 per year to have buses and lorries thundering past my door all day. No thanks.

Thanks for doing this. It was the first time I had started a forum topic and really didn't know what I was doing! Pleased with all the advice though!

I,m in a similar position,living alone in a big house that needs maintenance.At 70 I would love to rent and not have to worry about pointing and painting and all the other ailments a victorian house develops but I have no chance of social housing and I would'nt feel secure in private rented property.
This week I have bit the bullet and my house is on the market but finding another is hell! The market is crazy ,houses are selling in days but until you have a buyer or have cash you can't even view. As this will be my last house I need to be sure it,s the right one so don't want to be rushed but wonder how long a buyer will wait.

In October 2019 research revealed that London house prices were 353% higher than he UK average.

secretldn.com/london-house-prices/

If you have no real need to stay in London, you could sell your London house, buy something far more suitable in an attractive location elsewhere and have a huge amount of money in the bank to do whatever you want.

Unless you must stay close to family to help with childcare or whatever, why would anyone in your position Rowsie not want to move to somewhere much more pleasant and enjoy life in a nicer environment?

Thank you Varian. I do have family in London but they no longer need childcare. The reason I want to stay in London is that I love everything about London and can't imagine not being able to get a bus/train into London for the museums, art galleries and theatres. I love the countryside but I don't want to live there permanently and as I don't drive anymore I feel I might be isolated there.

London rents are very high. As a single pensioner, would your pension cover this and leave enough for holidays?
I think maintenance costs on my house are much less than rent would be and would definitely not consider selling up and renting.

You would not need to live in an isolated country location Rowsie. There are many small country towns where you could buy a lovely house within walking distance of shops and other facilities and on a bus route,

How often do you go to London museums , art galleries and theatres? Surely this could still be possible if you moved a hundred miles from London to a place with good transport connections?

Just a quick point. If you sell up and have no or limited assets, you will be unlikely to go into a council run nursing home-they are very few and far between these days. It is true that funding is capped and your choice of homes would be limited though! Get some independent financial advice and your Power of Attorney sorted out and enjoy the rest of your life as you see fit!

Varian there's something to be said for city living particularly, dare I say it, as we get a bit older. Stop trying to prise Rowsie out of London!

I'm within walking distance/short bus ride from museums, galleries, theatres, etc. It's just so easy to get there and back and is one less thing to worry about.

Many a time in the theatre you see rows of empty seats, then at an opportune moment or the interval a whole group of people appear, obviously their coach had got lost or some other problem. And people leave early to get the last train back to the suburbs/shires.

And if you want to go to an exhibition you can often just turn up on the day, no stressing about trains or is the weather going to be OK.