Having to move for health reasons - mortgage???

grummps

ClaretHead wrote: »

Is there any way that you can access the investment funds before 2018? You may have to pay a penalty for withdrawing early, but surely that would be worth it if it allows you to buy a good bungalow.

Thanks

No not really, the £150,000 is invested through a Jersey based discretionary trust where neither of us has any legal right to the money until 2008.

bitsandpieces

If you're putting money in discretionary trusts etc. you will - I hope! - have taken advice on what you're doing. Would probably also be worth getting advice on how best to get the type of lifestyle you like (or close to it) while also trying to meet other goals around e.g. inheritance planning.

One caution - be careful that, in using trusts etc. for inheritance planning, you don't make a hard time for yourself in retirement. E.g. the level of care funded by the council may not be what you would like; likewise, as you're finding, accommodation options will be reduced if a lot of your money is outside of your reach. You can't take the money with you, and I'm sure your heirs would rather that you enjoyed life (even if that means they get a little less).

bitsandpieces

grummps wrote: »

over those 6 years I will have to pay out £50,000+ in rental payments, something that I find distasteful.

By the time you've paid for maintenance etc., I doubt you're seeing change from £5k/yr with maintenance and mortgage payments on the place you own. You've also got an extra £150000 tied up in the property. That could also be found distasteful

Whether you view this as financially advantageous or not depends whether you're expecting house prices to rise or fall over the next 6 years. Likewise, whether renting will lead to a more or less attractive lifestyle depends on your priorities...

nmm

grummps wrote: »

Our concern apart from the loss of our life savings that way, is that we dread what other renters have to do and move home every 6/12 months.

Sorry i can't help with the house buying, but i just felt that this is a very odd view of renting. We have lived in our current rented property for almost 9 years with only 1 rent increase, our previous house was rented for 4 years without any rent increase. If you were looking to rent, i would suggest a private landlord not agency and ask for a long let, many are happy to have long term tenants.

BigAunty

Apply for social housing. Being an owner occupier will not mean your application will be refused. Owner occupiers tend to have low priority but applicants with disabilities tend to take priority - find out about the social housing allocation system where you are.

You'd then perhaps be given a property suitable for your mobility needs with cheap rent that won't burn through your savings until your 150k is released.

Not sure I understand how trusts work, I suppose they are a way of legitimately concealing a benefit claimants capital?

grummps

nmm wrote: »

Sorry i can't help with the house buying, but i just felt that this is a very odd view of renting. We have lived in our current rented property for almost 9 years with only 1 rent increase, our previous house was rented for 4 years without any rent increase. If you were looking to rent, i would suggest a private landlord not agency and ask for a long let, many are happy to have long term tenants.

You are very lucky then.

All of the rented properties around here are through agencies.

The main private landlord is a guy called Wilson

He will not let a property for more than 6 months and at that time always ups the rent.

My daughter rents from him and in the past 20 years she has had to find and move 18 times!

He was at one time on Watchdog as being the worst landlord in the UK!!

Spamfree_2

I would certainly go for the stairlift, couple of hundred pounds, maybe a thousand?

seven-day-weekend

nmm wrote: »

Sorry i can't help with the house buying, but i just felt that this is a very odd view of renting. We have lived in our current rented property for almost 9 years with only 1 rent increase, our previous house was rented for 4 years without any rent increase. If you were looking to rent, i would suggest a private landlord not agency and ask for a long let, many are happy to have long term tenants.

I'm glad you are happy with your arrangements and hope they continue well for you. I know plenty of people are happy with renting and that is their choice to do so.

However, some people consider renting to be a complete waste of money, and if they have a choice, would not consider it if they could buy. The OP is one of these people (so am I). I would not want to pay someone else's mortgage if I could be paying my own. My husband and I even gave our son a hefty deposit so that he could afford his own flat and wouldn't end up renting for a lifetime.

Also, however long your tenancies have been, you CAN be chucked out every six months and I too know people who are always on the move. This is another reason I, nor the OP, would not want to rent if there was any choice in the matter..

I have suggested renting to the OP, but in a way that enables him to keep his own house. This is obviously important to him, so people (not you yourself) telling him to 'sell up and rent' is not very useful advice.

motherofstudents

We looked at shared ownership bungalows a while back for my mother. We saw two locations, both were quiet with lovely gardens. For me, they were better than a flat but that's just my preference. You could buy 70% and there was no rent to pay. There was however, a maintenance charge which covered buildings insurance, work to gardens, window cleaning and also an emergency contact scheme.

It might be worth having a look if you have anything like this in your area. It means you can get a better property. As has already been suggested, you could approach the council as they do have adapted properties and you might qualify due to health reasons. It would depend where they are etc but you have nothing to lose by investigating. Good luck, hope you find a reasonable solution.