Retirement Living Apartments - be careful before buying

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in_my_wellies said:

After two years I have just sold my mothers retirement apartment. Since she purchased it in 2014 the market in her area has been flooded with these sort of apartments/flats so the prices have dropped through the floor. She lost 25%, I feel very lucky that the sale went through. There are approx 30 flats in the block and 9 are for sale. By looking on agents sites and talking to estate agents this is about normal for all the retirement living flats in the area. Hers was one of the oldest purpose built and it was very nice, built 2007. Six new complexes have been built/opened since 2015/6.  All have suffered similar price reductions. 
I would be very careful to research local plans before buying.  It's not the same everywhere, she sold a similar flat about 15 miles away which has just sold with an increase of 25%
Also be aware that there is often a 1% of sale price transfer fee to the Management company, a 1% of sale price transfer fee to the landlord, over £400 fee on top of this for completion of 'management packs' and £1000 contingency fee (hope to get this back in September) This was in the T&Cs but a reminder to look carefully
Of course service fees and ground rent had to be paid when she wasn't living there at about £3000 a year. 

Prices are a result of supply and demand. A lot of people who have bought property this year are going to see the value of their homes fall next year.

Given that these are retirement flats I would expect that there will be a relatively high churn as people get moved into care homes or die.

As you have seen prices can go up as well as down.

Service charges and fees for management packs apply to nearly all leasehold properties. I had to pay to sell my (not retirement) flat and you have to pay service charges if you own the lease, why shouldn't you?

Sorry but you're rant is not really justified. I have not axe to grind and nothing to do with retirement properties by the way.

getmore4less

When considering any property purchase a key factor is resale and the best way to look at this is to look at  the second hand market for that type of property and how easy it is to buy(even if you will still go new) and what hoops you may have to go through.

Shared ownership, housing association and retirement(age restricted) all have issues especially if you can't sell in the open market

It can change over time if there is an influx of new builds but generally the resale marker should be the start of any research.