Views on Selling Up and Moving?

Flats, rented or bought iften have extortionate service charges attached. That would put me off. If you definitely want to move why not search around for other areas you never know what you may like. As to what do do about disposal of property, why not form a Trust for a charity you admire.

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So much uncertainty with renting.
The owner could decide to sell at any time.

Far better to own and be the master of your own destiny (as far as one is able).

Maybe look for a nice retirement village for the over 55's that is in a location you like (note the annual Charges though)?
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1. why do you want to be closer to London? Which part? if you are a theatre-goer for example then North (St Albans or even Peterborough is 45 min), or South Bank into Waterloo - after all Brighton is just an hour. Shopping then perhaps West - even Swindon is just an hour to Paddington. (Southend to Liverpool St is under and hour too).
2. How big is your home? Could you split it and sell off part? Could you handle the hassle? How would you feel about such close neighbours?
3. Moving any distance means change of support structure like doctors, libraries, hospitals, chemists, U3A, not to mention friends - have you spoken to them?
4. If you want to spend your equity you could just do an equity release, but this, like moving, does require some research.

I was coming on to say that you need to be aware that there are less and less rental properties coming up in popular areas. I would be very concerned about the insecurity of the landlord deciding to sell up and being unable find an alternative home, particularly as you became older. However, I see you have decided against doing this now and are looking at retirement flats.
I do think this could be a good option for you. The main negative is that (I have heard) they lose value and are more difficult to sell in the future. However, if you have a nice home somewhere you want to be now and not concerned about money being available for descendents later, that is not a problem for you.
I see you've now said it's St Albans you're interested in. I lived there for 13 years. It's a very unique place and I really love it. Are you good at building new friendships because you do need to bear in mind you will be leaving the links you currently have behind. You don't want to find yourself isolated in your new home. I would suspect though that retirement flats have a sense of community and there are numerous leisure opportunities in St Albans of all sorts. Remember that any where you are going on by memory, will have changed. St Albans will undoubtedly be busier than you think with some unpleasant aspects. However, that seems to be the way of everywhere now and, in my view, still a wonderful place. I hope it works out for you whatever you decide to do.

In your situation with no heirs I would definitely look at equity release (taking expert advice first). It might mean that you are% unable to afford residential care in the future but in my experience even if paying you get the same care as others who are state-funded.

Good luck to you.

We downsized four years ago into a flat in greater London and are very happy. We'd previously lived in London before moving to a city in the west country for a few years.
We're very happy in our flat which we own. It has large gardens which are well-maintained and we have a decent sized balcony with a nice view, room for a big table and plenty of pots.
The one point I would raise is Management Charges which have gone up a lot since we have been here. However these do cover everything including all outside maintenance, heating and hot water, decorating, parking and security. You may be able to find a flat with lower charges but this could be because it covers less of the running costs. Beware of flats with very low charges because you are likely to be presented with large bills to cover outgoings such as exterior decoration.
We also have a small rental flat which we rent to an elderly man and we have no intention of ending his tenancy, though I know that this is a very real risk for many as the government seem to be trying to force private landlords to sell up.
Personally I would not want to buy a retirement flat, I prefer a mixture of neighbours and (as our flat is share of freehold), people living here have a little more control over the level of charges.

My opinion for what it's worth is DO NOT RENT if you can help it. Extortionate rents in my are 40 miles from London.
I have a family member that has no option but to rent. £1700 a month rent..they are 25-30 miles from London. 3 times a landlord has wanted their house back for various reasons..1st one doing a small amount if decorating relet for another £250 a month.
If your thinking a flat there will ve service charges on top of rent.

We downsized and bought a 2 bed flat in the same town. Been here 18 yrs now.
Very lucky our service charge barely higher than when we moved in.

Think long and hard before renting..

I’ve seen advertisements for retirement flats with the option of rental. Could be worth researching.

Since you have no one to inherit your property, have you consider equity release?

You can then use the money to take many trips down memory lane to Herts and London and treat yourself to a world cruise and holidays.

Not sure about retirement flats, the yearly maintenance will be a great concern to me.

St Albans is very nice. I hope you find something to suit you in that area Connie 16.

Make sure you read the conditions very carefully and get independent legal advice. I don't know that much about retirement properties (though my Mum was at one time considering one - got cold feet in the end, which is a shame because she became isolated in her village as she got older and there were few amenities). Is there, for instance, a cap on how much monthly charges can be increased? I think it is worth spending time researching everything thoroughly.

In regard to buying a retirement property absolutely don’t buy new! It’s easy to get carried away by a beautiful show flat but new flats really do come at a premium compared to resales.

Most retirement resales want to sell quickly because they need to settle a will or the owner has had to move into a nursing facility and they don’t want to go on paying the monthly charges.

So they are much lower priced than new and are often open to offers well under the asking price. Rightmove shows you how long they have been on the market.

I don’t know St Albans well but there seem to be several properties on Rightmove under K300, around the town centre. Bear that in mind as the outskirts can look appealing but easy access to facilities gets so important as we get older.

Monthly charges are always going to be higher in flats that have a lift and big communal facilities because of maintenance. We have a one near us that even has a swimming pool!
The costs of the apartments “manager” are not always worth it either. Some are only there 4 days a week in workng hours. Not much use if you need them really.

But in our town there are also a number of small bungalows and maisonettes where the service charge is for keeping up the outside of the properties and grounds and the emergency line in each property. And they are easily comparable to the costs of keeping up your own property.

Lastly re the noise issue. Noise insulation has improved enormously along with heat insulation. Anything built after 1990 should be fine.

You can see I’ve looked into retirement properties in some depth in my area and I’m pretty certain that’s where I’ll be when this house and garden become more than I want to manage.

Very interested in your plans. Keep us updated🙂

Connie16

I’m very grateful for all your helpful replies as they’ve led me to really focus on matters to me, as well as sending me down various new rabbit holes to research.

In a nutshell, I have come to the realisation that renting is not for me because I couldn’t live with the uncertainty of having to move out at some point. It would be a constant worry. I realise now that I want the security of a home of my own that no-one can take away from me.

Also, I’ve become interested in the suggestions made about retirement flats. To be honest, that’s not an option I’ve considered before because I took fright when I saw how much the service charges can be – one development locally by a well-known provider has a service charge on a one bedroom flat of over £10,000 per year which isn’t something I could manage. But I’ve found that there are other providers, some in the area I’m interested in that are more reasonable (the area is St Albans - not a nosy question at all Eloethan!). One bedroom retirement flats in a good area there seem to be in the region of £350,000, so roughly equivalent to what I would sell my house for. I also like the idea of not having to worry about the upkeep/repair costs of a property, and the maintenance of a garden I might not be able to manage any more. And, as pointed out, it’s an option as the resale value isn’t really a concern for me given my situation.

So that’s now becoming my area of focus – and any tips on purchasing/living in a retirement property, pitfalls etc, would be helpful (if I haven’t already bored you all to death!).

I'm glad you've come to the decision not to rent, I don't think that would be a good move in the current market.

I absolutely do think, given your circumstances, single without children, a retirement property might be a good option. Firstly, there are a glut of them, so it's a buyers market and you could negotiate an attractive price and find one that would suit you, maybe a garden flat. The disturbances I mentioned up thread, given the age of the residents certainly wouldn't be something that you would feel you need to worry about. There are discrepancies in the management charges, for example newly built ones such as a brand new McCarthy and Stone flat are massively over priced, second hand ones drop like a stone, they're not really great investment wise and those also tend to implement higher management charges. Again there will be discrepancies as far as those are concerned, but I think for £10,000 per annum I would be expecting a lot, such as extensive gardens, swimmng pool gym, some even have coffee shop/restaurant/hairdresser, for all of that you will of course pay top dollar, but if you can afford it and want to live out the rest of your retirement in relative luxury, well why not, it's your money. However, I would point out that you could get a nice, not brand new retirement flat without all those amenities and pay less for it than £350,000 even going near London. I have a little knowledge, after my father died my mother wanted such a flat after selling their house and lived in one until she died back in 2008, it really suited her needs and it was facing the sea! It took a while to sell, as I say, I don't think they're good investments particularly if you buy one brand new.

No you're not boring at all Connie and good luck with your future plans.

PS to I based stamp duty on your sale not my own.
You would pay less to the estate agent because you are selling for less than me.

Connie16

You probably know all the costs involved in moving house but in case you don't I hope you won't mind me giving you a breakdown.
I'm in the process of moving myself so I'm familiar with current costs in my area, Oxfordshire.

Stamp duty on £350,000 £7,500

Legal fees for selling+buying. £4,000

Removal costs can be £5,000 upwards

Estate agent varies according to % charged.
I shall have to pay almost £7,000

There are a few additional charges which crop up too.

Best wishes for your eventual move.

I moved to a ground floor south facing flat and found it very hot in the summer although winter benefitted from the warmth. I missed wandering out to the garden as the flat had no direct access. No noise problems but service charge substantially increased yearly. I sold it after 6 years and purchased a 1 bed house with small garden and now very happy. I wish you happiness in whatever you decide to purchase.

IMO the main potential snag with private renting, is that your landlord/lady may suddenly decide they’d like to, or need to, sell, so unless it was to another LL who was happy to buy with a tenant in situ, you’d have to move.

No Connie, not on je…. Typo.

No on je, you havnt bored anyone.
Have you lived in a flat before? It can be noisy from all sides, above below and next door especially with uncarpeted flooring.
If no garden you will want a balcony I imagine, well I would, so make sure it’s facing the right direction to get the sun 🌞 be that am or pm.
Bear in mind that charges can and do increase dramatically.
I hope you find something that works for you.

I’m very grateful for all your helpful replies as they’ve led me to really focus on matters to me, as well as sending me down various new rabbit holes to research.

In a nutshell, I have come to the realisation that renting is not for me because I couldn’t live with the uncertainty of having to move out at some point. It would be a constant worry. I realise now that I want the security of a home of my own that no-one can take away from me.

Also, I’ve become interested in the suggestions made about retirement flats. To be honest, that’s not an option I’ve considered before because I took fright when I saw how much the service charges can be – one development locally by a well-known provider has a service charge on a one bedroom flat of over £10,000 per year which isn’t something I could manage. But I’ve found that there are other providers, some in the area I’m interested in that are more reasonable (the area is St Albans - not a nosy question at all Eloethan!). One bedroom retirement flats in a good area there seem to be in the region of £350,000, so roughly equivalent to what I would sell my house for. I also like the idea of not having to worry about the upkeep/repair costs of a property, and the maintenance of a garden I might not be able to manage any more. And, as pointed out, it’s an option as the resale value isn’t really a concern for me given my situation.

So that’s now becoming my area of focus – and any tips on purchasing/living in a retirement property, pitfalls etc, would be helpful (if I haven’t already bored you all to death!).

We are near London and it's easy walk or 5 min bus ride into town. Decent flats also ...

I think if you move to a nice cozy town just outside the m25, that's OK isn't it

It depends how near to London you are thinking of. Even Chelmsford - which is about a half hour's drive away from East London - is quite expensive. I think it would be unwise to rent or buy a flat because the additional, and ever-increasing, charges are becoming a problem for lots of people.

I think if you are willing to downsize quite a bit then there are some areas you would be able to afford to buy in In my view, the plus side is that you would be likely to have far better amenities - public transport, convenient shops, clubs and places of interest, etc, etc.

The suggestion about a retirement property might be a good one because, although I believe they are difficult to sell, that would not be an issue for you if you have no close family to consider.

Is it too nosy to ask the general area that you were considering?

As a person who grew up in outer North London, near the end of the Northern Line underground, I could no longer afford to live there, the cost of any property now being so eye-wateringly expensive. I now live on the Bucks/ Beds border and, if I need a cultural fix, can get a fast non stop train into London taking half an hour, quicker than the tube from my child hood home. The village I live in is a fantastic community especially for the retired, so many things to do plus lovely open fields to roam.
Many of my friends here have downsized to small terraced houses of which there are many. We have buses , doctors, library and two good village general stores. Have a good think , what would you do if you moved to (in my opinion ) inhospitable suburbia and with whom.? Let common sense lead you, not your heart.

St Albans - around 150,000

Letchworth/Welling slightly cheaper

🙂

Thank you for replying to my query why you wanted to move. I’m sorry if it was impertinent 😳

I was wondering if you were moving because of travel time into London because when I moved out I found the fast train to the centre from 60 mikes away was quicker than the tube from the suburbs!

But I totally understand that feeling of ‘belonging” somewhere. Would you consider a retirement flat? I know the charges can often seem high but they often sell very cheaply because of that.

Around here it’s possible to buy one for well under £100,000 because people worry about difficulties of resale and ongoing charges after their death - but that would not be a worry for you and it would give you security of ownership and extra support as you get older.

Just a thought.

I wish you well. I also moved back to where I grew up a few years ago. Although for the opposite reason- housing is very cheap here!

I love living here and have never regretted my decision, although some people thought I was crazy as it has a reputation. They were wrong, I have never felt safer than I feel here so I say go with your instincts and trust your own judgement!