Retirement Villages, aka Integrated Retirement Communities

No experience myself but, from what I’ve heard there is always a problem when it comes to selling them.

I think the problem is that they're leasehold - and extending the lease on resale can be prohibitively expensive.

You also have to keep paying maintenance payments until the property has sold, even though the resident has died or gone into a care home.. These can be £500 a month and more.

Stay away i would say.

There is a big (and expensive) retirement village near us and the owners are constantly holding coffee mornings and open days to try to attract people to look round and, hopefully buy. I hav ealso noticed that more and more dvelopments are offering rental accomodation, presumably as so many people are loathe to buy a flat that can be a millstone around the necks of their children when they die.

I am not sure I would ever buy one of these flats, but I can see circumstances where I would consider renting one.

There are two near us, one just along the road always has flats listed for sale and has never taken that sign down since they were built a good few years ago. A lady I knew looked at one when her husband died but was not tempted, especially when she was told she couldn't have her own washing machine and would have to use the small laundry room.
Another lot built about 3 years ago are very expensive and sold on part buy part rent terms. Expensive charges which have increased yearly. Built for retirees mainly from outside the area, few locals could afford them. They too are always on the market.

Renting of course adds up to the same amount to the occupier, the benefit is that you know how much it’s going to cost without any hassle when you leave, beyond maybe a months rent.
I imagine having to move out of a Retirement Village into a care home, would be financially complicated, not knowing how much the property was going to sell for.

Very,very big here in Australia and increasingly expensive. Some of them are huge villages, the one just down the road has 400 houses and they are building some high rise units just now adjacent to the existing ones. What they offer is security and ready made ‘friends’ and activities. Our local one has a private swimming pool, full size bowling green, huge activity building with a library, restaurant, hairdressers, doctors surgery.
Would I live in one ? No. Not my thing but I can see the attraction. You buy your unit and then pay substantial maintenance fees every month. Stop paying and out you go. They have limited car spaces ( 1 per unit) so hard to have visitors. Some love them, some hate them.

My only knowledge of these retirement villages comes from the books about the Thursday Murder Club, in which they sound wonderful and very, very expensive.

N ot sure if I would actually like ONLY having older people to meet. I belong to and am very active in my local u3a, and living centrally in a small town, nearly all their activities take place in halls, etc within 10 minutes from where I live - using my mobility scooter.

However, my favourite group is a much more mixed age knitting group which takes place in the local library (ten minutes from me) each week. I am the oldest attendee to this with the majority being 14-20 years youngest and it gives me different outlook.

As also within that ten minutes scooter trundle I have beach, High Street, parks, theatres, bowling greens, cinemas, GP - just swimming pool a little further away.. My flat on the first floor is very secure, self managed, no age controls, lovely people - so I probably have the best of both worlds.

The idea of retirement complexes with properties designed to meet the needs of older residents, and additional facilities close at hand (cafe, social spaces, medical space assistance available, transport, etc) is a good one. The fly in the ointment for many is the need to pay for ongoing company profits.
I looked atacouple when my mother was widowed. The local one looks very nice inside, but is sandwiched between a busy road and an even busier railway line. The idea appealed to me (reassured by care and warden on site for emergencies, a bookable bedroom and cafe on site for visiting friends,) but not to my mother, who had heard of the financial difficulties for descendants. The local complex too now has continuous letting and for sale signs.
There is a plan by a social enterprise to build a mixed village to include a variety of homes and facilities with ( separate) buildings for families, single adults, active older adults, and adults with support needs.

I have found that lots of posters here on GN are usually against these places, however speaking from personal experience - my mum moved into one of these last September aged 88. She absolutely loves it and wishes she had done it years earlier.

No surprises that there are drawbacks/ catches to buying into this retirment lifestyle choice.
However, what would really bother me, is if someone decided to latch-on to me. The thing where they want to be friends with you but actually the become fiends who you just can't escape from!!!
My idea of Hell! 😈

Jewelle

I have found that lots of posters here on GN are usually against these places, however speaking from personal experience - my mum moved into one of these last September aged 88. She absolutely loves it and wishes she had done it years earlier.

I do not think anyone here has said that the residents in these communities are not happy, nor that they regret moving there, all the doubts and warnings are related to the way the companies who run these communities shaft the owners nearest and dearest after they die or go into a care home.

Of course these communities are not for everyone. They are not for us, we are downsizing to a project house, except that we will pay to get the work done rather than do it ourselves. Our choice is other peoples idea of hell.

Oh yes Monica we (myself and my 2 sisters) have gone into this with our eyes open, we know about the potential pitfalls of selling again - but the benefits for our mum are great now. Fortunately we are in a position where we can wait until it sells (whenever that may be) and I realise not everyone is in that position.

Jewelle

Oh yes Monica we (myself and my 2 sisters) have gone into this with our eyes open, we know about the potential pitfalls of selling again - but the benefits for our mum are great now. Fortunately we are in a position where we can wait until it sells (whenever that may be) and I realise not everyone is in that position.

If your mother is happy Jewelle that is all that matters. You know and understand the problems that can be associated with these communities,in which case that is fine, but too many people do not fully realise the the financial tail that trails behind these properties and do not have the wherewithall to finance years of high maintenance charges untl they can finally sell the retirement property, often for a very low price.

Ilovedogs22

No surprises that there are drawbacks/ catches to buying into this retirment lifestyle choice.
However, what would really bother me, is if someone decided to latch-on to me. The thing where they want to be friends with you but actually the become fiends who you just can't escape from!!!
My idea of Hell! 😈

Mine too.

I would have a sign on my door saying, ‘Go Away’ whenever the events organiser is on the prowl. 😂

Unless you are very rich, stay away. This includes retirement flats, a recent one bedroom was going for 250,000, in a small seaside town on the East coast. Then there is maintenance, not being able to sell, Leasehold, definitely a no no as far as I'm concerned.

I have friends who love living in their retirement complex. The wife is a born organiser who is always on the go. Her more laidback husband is only too happy to let her get on with it. 😂 It seems to suit them both.

A widower friend is seriously thinking of moving into a retirement flat because I suspect he is starting to feel lonely.

I like my own company and my home is my sanctuary but I can understand why others may need to be constantly amongst others.

Each to their own I suppose,

That’s the thing with my mum though merlotgran she never goes downstairs to mix with the others, or any of the activities, and only goes out with us.

But what she loves about it is that she has people on hand should she need anyone (even though we all live 5 mins away and are round in a flash if she needs us) and there is always someone saying hello when we drop her off, so although she sits there in her lovely sunlit flat watching tv most of the day (she’s nearly 88) she feels safe there and looked after while not feeling she needs to mix with other residents.

Jewelle

That’s the thing with my mum though merlotgran she never goes downstairs to mix with the others, or any of the activities, and only goes out with us.

But what she loves about it is that she has people on hand should she need anyone (even though we all live 5 mins away and are round in a flash if she needs us) and there is always someone saying hello when we drop her off, so although she sits there in her lovely sunlit flat watching tv most of the day (she’s nearly 88) she feels safe there and looked after while not feeling she needs to mix with other residents.

Introverts well understand. I'd be happy just feeling safe with people on hand and not mixing if I were 88 and had no partner.

I think like every other choice in life certain solutions suit some people, but not others. Some things do not suit someone in one set of circumstances but do in another.

A friend of mine who turned down the idea of a retirement flat 12 years ago when her husband died when she was only 67 has had 11 years living in a lovely house with a garden and with her daughter a 15 minute drive away, but now her health is failing and her daughter is also in poor health, so she is selling up and moving to a retirement complex a few minutes walk from her daughter and family. When circumstances changed so have her decisions.

Imagine living with just old people - horrendous and unnatural.

Personally, I could think of nothing worse. I’d much rather live in a mixed community, with neighbours of different ages around me. The important point to consider is that there is adequate facilities nearby - shops, GP, pharmacy, dentist, church, etc. wherever you choose to live.

They are difficult to sell and very expensive to buy or rent them. I always think of Ken moving to one in Corrie that storyline was interesting.