Question on Renting in Pension Years

pingu2209

Could someone answer a question for me which has bothered me recently due to a situation a friend is in. If you rent a council house during your working years and then retire on a state pension only, your council house rent is paid or reduced drematically.

If you rent a private property during your working years, what happens when you retire and your income drops? In my area, renting a 1 bed flat is still well over £700/month, which can't be afforded on a pension.

CLAPTON

if you meet the benfits' criteria, housing benefit is availble in both the private and social housing sector

Blacklight

That's was the biggest factor for me in making a decision to ever buy a house in the first place.

Renting is all good and well and I know a lot of people out there who think renting beats the burden of debt and 'why should they be tied down when they can live anywhere they like when they like', but what happens when you retire?

I'm aiming to be semi retired by 50 (working just enough to afford the bills and holidays once the mortgage is gone), which suits me fine. A nice balance between working a couple of days to keep an active mind and having time to do what I like.

Anyone renting doesn't have that opportunity until an ever increasing state retirement age. Not for me thanks, I'll take the burden of debt.

abaxas

Blacklight wrote: »

That's was the biggest factor for me in making a decision to ever buy a house in the first place.

Renting is all good and well and I know a lot of people out there who think renting beats the burden of debt and 'why should they be tied down when they can live anywhere they like when they like', but what happens when you retire?

I'm aiming to be semi retired by 50 (working just enough to afford the bills and holidays once the mortgage is gone), which suits me fine. A nice balance between working a couple of days to keep an active mind and having time to do what I like.

Anyone renting doesn't have that opportunity until an ever increasing state retirement age. Not for me thanks, I'll take the burden of debt.

Weird thing is..

If you were rent social housing you'd be much better off as the rent is often lower than the actual upkeep costs of the place. It's only economies of scale that mean it isnt for the council.

New kitchen every 10 years? New roof?

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

abaxas wrote: »

Weird thing is..

If you were rent social housing you'd be much better off as the rent is often lower than the actual upkeep costs of the place. It's only economies of scale that mean it isnt for the council.

New kitchen every 10 years? New roof?

Or the council subsidises that spend through taxing the rest of us excessively.

I don't for one moment believe that the council can buy and fit a basic kitchen any cheaper than I can, or rather, they probably could, but I doubt they do.... Not by the time you include all the "administration" costs.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

CLAPTON wrote: »

if you meet the benfits' criteria, housing benefit is availble in both the private and social housing sector

That's a very big "if"..... And I wouldn't count on it by the time any of us retire.

Unless you have a very, very big pot of savings and retirement funds, getting to retirement age without buying a house is extremely foolish.

lostinrates

Is there really a new kitchen every ten years? Friends have recently sold a house for just shy of 2 million with a fairly standard country style kitchen about 20-30 years old. I hope when I've got my kitchen to never have to replace it, bar maybe door handles/worktops.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

lostinrates wrote: »

Is there really a new kitchen every ten years? .

Yes, in some councils anyway.

But the kitchens are mostly cheap and crappy, so need replacing every ten years.

There is possibly a case for buying more expensive, and less often, but as so many tenants trash their homes, (council and private) that may not be wise.

lostinrates

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Yes, in some councils anyway.

But the kitchens are mostly cheap and crappy, so need replacing every ten years.

There is possibly a case for buying more expensive, and less often, but as so many tenants trash their homes, (council and private) that may not be wise.

Well the kichen here is from a standard kitchen retailer, as was the kitchen in friends house. Not the big deal things (we have corian, which noone in the family would have again and obviously boosted the cost of the kitchen considerbly.)

This is probably contraversial in Britain...but...fitted kitchens really are not, IMO, a necessity. I've lived without them. Tables at a good height make worksurfaces, and storage can be dealt with in a plethora of ways other than fitted kitchen.

I also lived in a flat in milan with the original 60s fittings through out...including kitchen The kitchen was frustrating at times, I have to admit I was nervous of the gas cooker for a long while, but the kitchen....that sort of composit wood/chipboardy stuff with plasticated covering....was fine, and would have been very cheap originally.

Thank god the boiler was up to date: that I would consider a necessity for safety.

IveSeenTheLight

regardless of the rent / mortgage situation going into retirement, I'm wondering about the Council Tax burden.

My family home in the UK has council tax for approx £2,700 per year.
That's a large burdon for someone only receiving a pension income.

Could people be drived out of their family homes of 40+ years because of the council tax burdon?

Blacklight

IveSeenTheLight wrote: »

regardless of the rent / mortgage situation going into retirement, I'm wondering about the Council Tax burden.

My family home in the UK has council tax for approx £2,700 per year.
That's a large burdon for someone only receiving a pension income.

Could people be drived out of their family homes of 40+ years because of the council tax burdon?

Don't pensioners get some kind of relief from council tax in the same way that those on benefits do?