buy rtb or swap flat

stu12345_2

I have the right to buy a decent flat in a decent area, I wish to move to a large distance from my home for personal and work reasons, i swapped from a 2 bed to a 2 bed many times, took about a year to 2 years to fins a swapper and it had to coincide with new job,Very hard to do.

prob is im now in a 1 bed and if i try to swap it has to be a 1 bed as when i swapped from a 2 bed before the council said it had to be a 1 bed as no kids.
that restricts my movement about uk, very few 1 beds.
I refuse to give up secure tenancy for risk it in a private sublet.
i have considered the only way to relocate is either buy with rtb and sell up , 5 yr wait concerning repaying discount, but if i got a seller i could line up job after sale easily.
but if i just swap and dont buy i could wait years also nad it has to coincide with new job, very hard,
also if i swap i can swap to a flat of higher value in better town without any extra costsm maybe a bit higher rent, but if i sold i can only sell to equal value property which restricts,
any advice, i am 45 and wish to retire between 55 and 65, i have a final salry pension at 65 which i can transfer at 55 to a dc and live of funds till their exhausted rem,ain in council flat, get state pension age 67 and housing benefit.
if i buy i will just get weekly final salary pension at 65 and state pension and have to pay full service charge and major works as a pensioner.
my goals is to move, but not susbsides my own benefits via a final salry pension(its small),
do i rtb or swap council flat, live of final salary pension at 65 and pay rent or buy sell up, buy again, or rent transfer db to dc live of it for 10 yrs. confused

stu12345_2

my main goal is to move home, either in a flat
sale via rtb( 5 yr wait) or secure tenancy move via a mutual exchange, which is hardest, and also rent with housing benefit by using up final salry pension or buy with service charges etc as apensioner.

stu12345_2

on a side note it will cost me £65000 in rent with inflation till i reach 67 or £60000 if i buy( interest,20 yrs service charge and major works), then no help bar small priavte pensiona nd state pension, or rent full help, if ive used up db pension fully.by converting to a dc pension.Im at &70% max discount at mo.

stu12345_2

my wages can cover council rent or rtb, but cant cover private rent or open market purchase, i can cover open market purchase only via profit from rtb after 5yrs discount period.
I only have 21 yrs potential mortgage lending available. my small final salry pension wont be big enough to pay private sublet when retired, (90% landlords say no housing benefit even if small, hence councils do take housing benefit, but i dont want to be subsidising my own means tested benefits when im 67 via my pension. many a happy pensioner in council property these days, state pension and indexlinked non taxable housing benefit, but i need to move house as this isnt the town i wish to retire to.

Mokka

The whole point of encouraging people to buy via RTB is to get them off housing benefit, forever, isn't it?

If you are not happy with this, don't buy!

In my area most of the flats are 1 and 2 bed, so it depends on where you want to relocate.

You can rent your property out while waiting out the 5 year discount repayment period, but your lender would have to consent to this (so called consent to let).

You can get some help with Major Works if you are on benefits and really cannot afford to contribute, but if your finances are so tight what is the point of buying anyway?

stu12345_2

the point of rtb is not to get folk off housing benefit, it is to aid social mobility, leave an asset for your children or pay for your care fees.
The gov encouragement for rtb is so that you can not live under a landlords rules, which is nonsense in a flat, leasehold, the main reason is too aid workforce mobility, sell up for new job, but these days people dont want to buy ex council proerties, hence read my ink on rtb buyers trapped.I think the clever ones amongst us can see through the advertising of rtb as a secret way of not paying housing benefit for pensioners, we aint daft you know.
and if you have a small pension this eradicates housing benefit when retired, note article in the guardian, i read, saying a small pension cancels out any pensioner benefits.
renting social landlord does cos problems relocating for new job etc, you have to find a mutual exchange and when you have a 1 bed it is so much harder to find another 1 bed swapper.
hence buying may aid, but i have read an article by a university that many rtb are still in the same street in same town years later, unable to sell as buyers are preferring expensive new builds.

I'm asking, do you think it would be easier swapping or easier selling to relocate!

I do not want to move and sublet my flat, risky with bad tenants, and im not a experienced landlord.i just need to move 600 miles to north of scotland.and hence will have problems finding a swapper.my wages can cover rtb purchase or the rent for next 20 years.
but unsure what happens if i retire, eg costs are met if i rent or will my small db pension cover major works, council said if i dont pay even as a pensioner my lease will be forfieted.

A worry is all these guidance about downsize to release equity, what happens if you own a 1 bed flat, you cant downsize anymore, except selling up and renting private, but what happens when the money runs out as a old pensioner and landlord says no housing benefit.this talk about pension freedom and spending and claiming benefit when old is confusing as 90% landlords dont accept housing benefit,
again, general advice is clear mortgage when retired and live rent free is inaccurate as you have service charges, major works, repairs even as a pensioner, and how do you do that with 100% equity and a state pension, asset rich cash poor and cant downsize as id own a 1 bed.it seems folk that rent and use up their wages, savings and reach retirement age on state pension, council and housing benefit seem to be as well off as those that own.

http://money.aol.co.uk/2012/08/28/saving-in-a-pension-you-are-as-well-off-on-benefits/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-10687718

my partners parents are in their 80s in a nice council house (adapted for wet room etc for free) and keep all their pension and benefits and noone has ever said to them you should have bought when rtb came out in 1980.
.they stayed in the same job in the same town for many years whilst the mother brought up the kids and the dad worked in same employer..And i would expect the same attitude to future retirees in social housing.

I also spoke to an IFA and i said i wanted to retire at 55 as i could transfer my db pension to a dc pension and draw it down at £200 aweek for 10 years approx then get my state pension, council tax and housing benefit. but the IFA have no understanding of housing benefit council tax benefit, they said if i didnt draw it down i could a db pension of £100 a week index linked for life at 65,this doesnt help me retiring at 55!
I was intrigued when i read websites stating oh i rent private and what happens when i retire ill be homeless,noone i know rents private , they own or rent council,there is 1.6 million pensioners in council/housing association homes getting housing, council tax benefit, pension credit and noone sees them as unemployed scroungers raking in benefits,did you know that a couple on jsa get half as much as a couple get on state pensions , but the pensioners get full housing benefit too.

harrys_dad

if you are moving 600 miles to the north of scotland "for personal and work reasons" the cost of renting will be much less up there (unless you are oing to Aberdeen). Have you investigated rents? Have you looked at availability of one bed flats?

stu12345_2

My family and friends live in scotland and i can transfer my job there, my flat is very cheap council at mo, but very few 1 beds from housing association or council in that part of scotland, it was easy to swap in past, ive swapped 5 times before, but rules have changed and with no kids i can only swap to a 1 bed.
the councils new rules make social mobility very hard for social renters.
hence consider buying and selling to make it easier. but there is little demand for ex council properties and banks dont like lending on 50 yr old council properties.
I used to have a 2 bed council flat in scotland and i swapped to a 2 bed semi in england, but when i tried to swap again to scotland, i was told by landlords 1 bed only, hence i swapped my 2 bed semi for a 1bed flat in order to make swapping easier. now i have the correct size property, but finding a match up north is very hard.
it was easy in past as 94% of social homes were built with 2 beds or more.
private rent is still expensive in scotland and if i lose my job its too worrying for me and landlord and i have to think of what sort of tenancy i will have when i retire.
I wonder with about the popularity or renting in germany, what do germans do when they retire,do german pensioners get housing benefit, i read their state pensions are much higher and are designed that the pensioner doesnt need to claim any benefits.
I have looked at council flats in aberdeen and the council does allow childless couples to rent a 2 bed due to the lack of 1 beds, i would be on a slightly higher wage in aberdeen and can afford council rent, but not private rent and the aberdonains are refusing to swap as they know the job market is good in aberdeen even if they know the south coast of england is more pleasant place to live in my opinion.

stu12345_2

on a side note, if you have worked right up to retirement age and have little savings you live of your state pension, council tax and housing benefit.
but if you retired early and took your pension as drawdown till you reached 66 INSTEAD of an annuity and lived of it, just in the same way as working and having a weekly wage and again had a little savings at state retirement age you get the same as a worker, eg state pension, housing and council tax benefit.
BUT, noone has considered a potential rule by future governments that ask the early retiree, what would the pensioner be getting a week if they took an annuity instead of drawdown and if so that could mean ablock on benefit.

this could potentially affect also a worker retiring with little savings at 66, why did you spend all your wages every week all your life.your not entitled to help.
AS THERE IS NO LAW TO STATE YOU MUST HAVE A PRIVATE PENSION, EVEN AUTO ENROLEMENT YOU CAN OPT OUT.

i spoke to my council and they said you can retire at any age you want and as long as you can support urself till you reach 66 then its the same as a worker using wages as it is for an early retiree to support themselves till they reach 66.eg live of savings ( pension drawdown), your absolutely have the right to claim any benefit on top of ur state pension a t 66