Downsizing. Have to but don’t want to

Lilypops, moving is exciting - rather than something to be dreaded. Your house is ideal for a family, yet impractical for an elderly couple.

Don't wait too long to make the change. It's best to do it while you're mobile and well. You'll have the opportunity to explore your new surroundings.

If you died first, your husband would be unlikely to stay - so would have to make the move by himself. Would he be able to cope?

One lovely old house that I viewed had been adapted for an older person. The three receptions were now used as one reception, one bedroom - and a huge, luxurious bathroom.

It had a spacious kitchen diner and conservatory, too, so it was quite possible to live on the ground floor. The upstairs could just be for guests.

Unfortunately, though, the garden was on a steep slope with a lot of steps, which put me off.

I do think stairlifts are very ugly, so I'd have a vertical lift in a corner instead (should I ever need one).

I believe the warnings about 'deprivations of assets' on here are overly pessimistic (or excuses) as we are free to give our children any amount - unless we can 'reasonably predict' that we'll need long term care.

So, unless we have a sinister diagnosis or illness, it simply doesn't apply. Most of us won't need long term care. Similarly, inheritance tax rules only apply if you should die within seven years of giving. Ok, any of us could - but still, for most of us, it's unlikely.

hetty, my sister and her husband would have a vertical lift if needed. I think they are ugly, unless installed out of sight, I would not want a hole cut through the ceiling either

Unfortunately, big houses, when only the ground floor is heated and ventilated can deteriorate very quickly upstairs and that area would still need to be maintained at considerable cost

A friend on mine, a few years back, had her very elderly Mum come to live with them in their largish, beautiful Edwardian house, and they had one of those vertical lifts going from a corner of their hallway right into her bedroom. Worked brilliantly, and did not involve their stairway. I really do not like stair lifts - not only are they ugly to look at, but can cause problems for other stair users.

I was very surprised at how speedily, following her Mum's death, the ceiling was re-installed and no-one would ever have known there had been that hole there.

I really dislike any kind of lift in a house. Ugly things and of course you’re stuck if there’s a power cut. I don’t find stairs easy due to arthritis and that will only worsen so one day we will move to a ‘single storey residence’ (hate the word bungalow despite having been brought up in one). Difficult to find one that doesn’t make you feel you’re in God’s waiting room along with all your neighbours though.

Difficult to find one that doesn’t make you feel you’re in God’s waiting room along with all your neighbours though.

I said that to DH the other day about an area a few miles from here. He was horrified!

I quite like the word bungalow - it makes me think of the tropics with single storey houses surrounded by a verandah!
Of course, most are little boxes here.

They are like that here too. And like that old song, they all look just the same. I did see one on Rightmove yesterday that was very individual, but not in an area I’d like to be. One day …!

re stair lifts etc, fingers always crossed that nothing is needed. I like my stairs, can still run up them for exercise

Stair lifts can be a boon to many and it's probably what I will get for my house, if that is what is needed. I will never be able to afford a bungalow, where I live they are way beyond my financial reach. So ugly or no, a stairlift it would have to be. I would be driven mad living in a flat, couldn't face it. A mid terraced is noisy enough, noise above and below I couldn't cope with.

Flats don’t have to be noisy Pepper. My son has a flat in London and hears nothing of the neighbours unless they are all out on their balconies when it’s like having neighbours in their gardens. A modern flat will have good soundproofing so don’t rule it out without looking around.

Stairlifts can be removed if the house is sold.

not always good soundproofing in new build flats or conjoined houses. Neighbours in a flat with 2 flats above, they were driven to distaction by sound travelling through pipes and any solid inter-floor construction. Sound insulation is only placed between joists etc. They could hear the washing machine, toilet flushing etcThey stuck it for three years and moved out. Our new townhouse was terraced and we could hear neighbours teenagers stomping up and down stairs. Hence me choosing detached house now, surrounded by gardens and a drive, older established people no children by me

The DGC love playing on the stairlift at GGM's house!
They aren't pretty but if they save you from losing your upstair's floor they are incredibly useful.

Flats v bungalows: Another thing going for a flat can be warmth if you have a flat below you. My df lives in a the upper conversion of a large stone built semi and loves it. The downstairs will be on the market soon and I asked him if he wanted the whole house. Certainly not! He is warm, has stairs but could install a lift and has a great outlook.