Retirement Village living

bellaquidsin

We are thinking about selling up and moving into a retirement village.


We are both turned 70 and have realised that continuing in our present home with a large garden and large windows etc. will not be sustainable in our declining years.


This move will swallow up all of our carefully preserved capital but in return we will get a modern, warm and secure environment with extra care on hand should we need it as we get older.


Has anyone got experience of living in such a place? If so I would love to have your comments.


Bella.

Butterfly_Brain

I think that they are a total rip off and a very high risk investment, our local one is part ownership, part rent so two sorts of outgoings plus heating costs, council tax and water all need paying.

I would rather downsize and pay for someone to come into help

[Deleted User]

The problem with buying into something like an over 55s complex is usually the yearly maintenance/service charge,which is often increased with little warning and can prove to be a very high outgoing on a pension or reduced income. Also before making up your minds check what conditions are attached to resale of your property, just in case it proves to be not to your liking, as some companies will only allow the property to be sold either back to them or through their system ,sometimes taking a percentage of the sales price.

bellaquidsin

Thanks for that Mrs LW. We are aware that service charges come a bit steep and can increase annually. But against this household maintenance does not come cheap and the age that our house is, anything can go at any time. We would also need to pay a gardener, which while possible the layout of our property is such that he would not have separate access to the garden, and may also have to use the upstairs loo - no thanks.


A percentage of the cost of the property is taken by the company on resale but we are hoping that would be after we have no further use for our money. It would have the effect of reducing our children's legacy but as things stand at the moment, they are pretty well set up.


We have a meeting on Thursday where we will thoroughly ventilate these issues. Meanwhile thanks for your comments.


Bella.

trailingspouse

You might be right that a large house with a large garden might be too much in your declining years.

The skill is in knowing when those declining years are going to happen. At 70 you could be fit and active for another 20 years! My FIL was still cutting his own grass (and swearing at the dandelions) at 97. Personally I would prefer to stay in my own home for as long as possible, then pay for help around the house/garden so that I could stay there even longer.

I know that one of the plus sides of retirement villages is that the maintenance etc is done for you, so you don't have to lift a finger - but having nothing to do is one of the hardest parts of getting older. Much better to stay put and keep moving.

I'm assuming here that you're reasonably healthy and fit - if you have health issues that prevent you being able to cope in your own home, that's a different issue.

DawnW

Might not simply downsizing to a smaller house and more manageable garden be a better idea? If you need care later on, that can be organised separately.

bellaquidsin

Oh dear, more negatives than positives here. We have been considering this move for a long time and it all came to a head last week when we were washing the net curtains from the front bay window. I'm not very good up the steps as I have had three foot operations in the last four years so DH was doing the bulk of it - reluctantly. Half way through he had to sit down with a pain in his chest. I don't think it was anything serious but it got us thinking again about moving.


DH has also been grappling with a huge dogwood in the garden. He does not like gardening and only does it under sufferance, hence the dogwood had been left to get totally out of hand - some ten foot in depth with huge twisted dead branches in the middle. It had to come down because the shed behind it needed maintenance and is now down to ground level but the roots are still there in the ground. I know from experience that they will all sprout again so this was another factor in deciding to go for the move.


I used to work in geriatric care and know that it is the ones who have made the decision to move are the ones who settle. My mantra was always 'Do it just before you need to'. I am trying to practise what I have preached over the years.


Bella.

RAS

I think you need to disentangle your need for a smaller and easier property from the need to move into a retirement village.

As people have pointed out, there is a sizeable annual service fee if you move into a retirement village. They will continue to charge this if you have to go into care because your needs exceed their capabilities.

They will also continue to charge if you die. So apart from the portion of the sale cost they charge, the estate has to fund the service costs until re-sale.

And actually getting someone to buy a retirement re-sale seems to be very difficult based on comments on other forums.

Have you discussed your future needs with your family at all?

And thought about checking whether the Council has a list of approved handy/trades people in the short-term?

CH27

Have you thought about a council/housing association run sheltered accommodation scheme?
They tend to be cheaper & as you rent there are no sell on costs or restrictions.

touch*my*food*feel*myfork

a positive view
my mum lives in one of these and it offers her piece of mind, a social life and friends as well as a home.
Yes she pays maintenance yearly but she would need to pay out for upkeep if she owned a property
Her contents insurance is very cheap and building is included in maintenance costs, she had no gas but her electric is cheaper than it was and she actually very rarely puts on her radiators as the rooms stay warm
My husband has already said we are moving into one like it when the time comes!
HTH

bellaquidsin

A very big thank you to all who have replied to this thread. We were very much aware of most of the issues but it's good to get the input from others.


We have a long list of questions to ask when we go to the meeting on Thursday and have added a few more from the comments here.


Bella