would you go back to renting?

laurence_2

Some explanations and clarifications.

We own our house.
We are not at deaths door yet, nor crippled.
We like owning our house but decided to go downsize to a 2 bed bungalow.
We do not want to go into a council OAP's home or whatever it is called.
We don't want to go on any council waiting list.
We are not going to sell our house and rent with the money we get.
It was a bad idea and I have realised that.
The first answer I got to my post put me off.
If we wanted a stair lift we would get one.
Just that the only bungalow we saw that we liked and was suitable was a rented bungalow and the estate agent we are using was the one who suggested it.
You have all been extremely helpful at putting me off the whole idea.

I have now decided to take my house off the market just long enough so that if I do sell it I won't have to pay my ex estate agent anything, hopefully, maybe, we shall see.
I now hate my ex estate agent.
What was I ever thinking off to even consider the idea?
Did I tell you I hate my ex estate agent.

Thanks all, you have made everything clear again.

On a low-ish income as a renter you may also qualify for some benefits - Council Tax benefit, HB/LHA etc.. worth asking...
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Diol1/Do...gory/DG_172666

And we wouldn't get any benefits anyway with all that money in the bank

And it took us 15 years of scrimping and saving to get out of our council flat and into a house of our own, we would never go back to renting from the council.

mudshark

laurence wrote: »

If I was to sell my house and put the money in the bank and used it exclusively for rent and if the rent never went up, I would have enough for 25 years of rent.

Are you considering the fact that you'd get an income from all that money? I would imagine you'd get enough return in the longer-term to fund your rent. There's no reason for other investments to perform worse that property, though there would be income tax to pay, but perhaps investing in the stock market is a bit risky for you; what sort of annuity could you get?

tawse57

With interest rates so low inflation would erode the value of your savings faster than you realise.

I sold almost 3 years ago to rent and it was fab at first as the interest on the house price paid for the rent BUT, in the past year with interest rates having crashed, I am now eating into my savings to pay the rent so I intend to buy again in the coming 6 months.

I am 20 years younger than you so at your age, with all respect, I personally think it is a bad idea.

I do know of people in a similar position as yourself who have gone into housing association houses - there are some really lovely properties around now - due to health reasons and have sold their own houses or rented them out. Such people have got into housing association houses due to health issues with the aid of their GP but simply by initially ringing up the housing associations and asking what is available.

The other thing to bear in mind is that you might one day need your house to sell to pay for nursing home care costs.

Have you considered advertising for a house swap or a partial house swap/cash exchange?

I am not a lawyer nor a financial expert so please seek out the advice of either if you want professional opinions :-)

Best of luck.

tawse57

laurence wrote: »

Some explanations and clarifications.

And it took us 15 years of scrimping and saving to get out of our council flat and into a house of our own, we would never go back to renting from the council.

Hardly any Councils own housing stock anymore - most is owned by housing associations.

In my part of the World the new build houses and flates are far, far superior IMPO than many of the new builds by private builders.

It is a little known fact that housing association houses and flats are built to a far higher build quality regulations than houses built by the main builders for people to buy.

Earlier this year the then Labour Govt tried to get housing associations to buy up large numbers of the glut of empty flats across the UK but the housing associations legally could not do so because many of the flats were not up to the standard required by housing association regulations - or so I read in th national press.

I think Labour changed the rules then.

I am not an expert in anything legal or financial or building-wise and this is not financial nor legal advice.

Doozergirl

tawse57 wrote: »

Earlier this year the then Labour Govt tried to get housing associations to buy up large numbers of the glut of empty flats across the UK but the housing associations legally could not do so because many of the flats were not up to the standard required by housing association regulations - or so I read in th national press.

It was about minimum room numbers and room sizes rather than building regulations. Building Regulations are Building Regulations across the board. New build Social Housing tenants aren't any safer than the equivalent owner occupiers.

There is an issue with kitchen/lounge areas as far as I remember - they don't count as two rooms despite serving two functions and this is a big selling point for private developers as people like it (despite the fact that it does indeed mean that you can fit more functions into a smaller square footage).

OP, I agree it's a terrible shame to give up what you have worked so hard for in exchange for no security of tenure in your older years. A stairlift when you need one or adapting your own home in other ways is probably cheaper than the EA fees for selling, let alone all the other costs assocaited with moving.

We had a thread on here absolutely ages ago about it.

dannymccann

What about the 'granny flat' developments that have popped up? They are flats with lift access and obviously the living accomodation is all on one floor because its a flat. Many have balconies and probably shared gardens for planting flowers and what not. Most are also close to shops for walking? I think you can buy or rent depending on circumstances and you have to be over retiring age to consider buying them so you wont get some BTL landlord coming in and buying 3 or 4 to rent out to students who get drunk and play loud music all day and night

SingleSue

My parents are facing the same quandry...they own their house outright but are finding the stairs difficult. Bungalows around here are either the right size but too expensive or the right price but far too small/in the back of beyond.

So now, they are looking at converting an area downstairs into a toilet/shower room and installing a stair lift instead as if worse comes to worse, they can always convert one of the reception rooms into a bedroom if needs be.

hazyjo

Well, sounds like you've decided to stay put... but with the market the way it is, it might be worth setting alerts on rightmove. If there's no major rush, you don't have to pick one that's currently on the market. Just set your alerts and wait. You never know, a perfect, affordable bungalow might just come up in a year or three.

Jx

laurence_2

In my part of the World the new build houses and flates are far, far superior IMPO than many of the new builds by private builders

In my part of the world the only new build houses/ bungalows are built by private builders. The only thing the council or whoever builds houses for rent now are building are loads of cheap flats and we are never going back to living in a flat.

My son lives in a flat and when we go to see him we have to tip-toe about in case we disturb the neighbours. They disturb us. Creaking floorboards, sex at 3 in the morning, I could go on but I won't.

He would love to get out and go back to peaceful living in a detached or semi. He had never lived in a flat until he left home and bought his. Biggest mistake he had made he said.

If only he had had his Mum and Dad with him when he bought his flat.