Extra Care housing costs

diystarter7

carefullycautious said:

Local Authority sheltered accommodation? She could rent a small apartment or bungalow in her area. Check with her local authority for how to apply. 

Paying all those service charges for a depreciating property would be an absolute no no.

Hi

Some local gov part fund our did with a HA an extra care scheme. This is slightly different to shelter schehems  as most shelter schemes have had their wardens removed years ago, well around where I worked
New, plus, extra care schemes came online and offer a lot more support on site inc carers, cooks - the ones i saw, the reception areas looked like hotels. Everyone I met in those places were happy. 

There for extra care shleter has most of the support on site inc at times dedicated or on-site nurses I was advised but could vary from area to area. The places I saw had computer centres, hair dressing places, etc.



Good it if you want more info,

Thanks

skyblues87

eddddy said:

skyblues87 said:

That seems a hell of a lot, especially when everything offered seems to be another charge on top. 

When you compare service charges etc at different properties, it's worth comparing what's included in the service charge at each property.

For example, a retirement property leaseholder told me that all the following were included in her service charge (with no extra costs to pay) ...

• Maintenance, repair and replacement of storage heaters - she'd had two replaced in the time she was there
• An engineer coming to fix her hot water
• A plumber replacing bathroom fittings, unblocking the sink, etc
• An electrician to fix electrical problems in the flat
• They said they would even change blown light bulbs, if she was unable to

So whilst service charges are high, there are no heating engineer's bills, no electrician's bills, no plumber's bills and no handyperson's bills to pay each year.

Plus the facilities they provide include:

• A warden who visits each flat twice a week to check on residents
• An emergency pull-cord and intercom in each room - which is answered 24/7
• A lift (because many residents can't manage stairs)
• Communal laundry facilities
• Communal areas for 'gatherings'
• Plus stuff like entryphones, electric sliding entrance doors etc

But obviously, the properties you're looking at might have different terms.

It seems that for the place in question the mountain of charges includes pretty much nothing. There's notes in their literature that you're liable for the maintenance of everything in the property, including a requirement to replace any built in kitchen appliances should the need arise 

The place is certainly nice but I'm not really seeing anything about it that would mean the charges and terms should be the way they are. The overall impression I get is they charge for absolutely everything they can think of but provide the minimum they can get away with with most things including an extra PAYG charge

skyblues87

jonnydeppiwish! said:

Can she stay where she is? Adapt the current accommodation to suit needs as they develop? My parents (78) have just changed the downstairs to allow them to stay downstairs should the need arise this staying in the area they love without costing them the sale of a house and purchase of a new place.

Its not out of the question but its a big house for one person, it was a big house for two of them!

Part of the issue is she won't entertain having any 'old peoples' stuff in the house. When my Dad was still living there I made several appointments for occupational therapy to visit and see what could be done to make things easier but they'd even cancel the appointment or ignore the advice. When my Dad was in hospital there was a suggestion that he might be able to come home if the dining room was made into a bedroom for him and she wouldn't even consider that

Also concerned with how she will cope with the workload. She has no particular health issues at the moment and is already passing a lot of the jobs onto me and to be frank I'm not in a position to be running two houses, I struggle to find time to do the things that need doing in mine

Don't think there's an easy answer here. Suspect she will end up staying there due to lack of, in her eyes, acceptable other options and I'll have to work around that unless, as happened with my Dad, something happens and its deemed not safe for her to go back

I know I'm far from the first person to encounter this problem but it's been an eye opener how few options there are, especially considering she lives in an area largely populated by the elderly 

skyblues87

carefullycautious said:

Local Authority sheltered accommodation? She could rent a small apartment or bungalow in her area. Check with her local authority for how to apply. 

Paying all those service charges for a depreciating property would be an absolute no no.

That's exactly my thinking the more I look into it. The prices on these properties seem to have a huge premium for being relatively new and in a larger retirement village, we're talking double similar sized properties in the same area. Although of course you're not getting the value back anyway as you only get back the price you paid less considerable deductions.

There's some nice maisonettes near where she is now, not really much on site but does have emergency pull cords in the room and the properties themselves are a more manageable size but she's already found a reason to rule those out

skyblues87

ManuelG said:

Does that area include Willenhall? Because if not... I'd probably give it a miss.

Basically Finham, Styvechale and at a push Earlsdon. Given there's virtually zero retirement properties in Finham and Styvechale and Earlsdon is increasingly a student area you can see why I'm having trouble finding options 

skyblues87

diystarter7 said:

You may want to ring the council or look it up, and the housing department as they should have lists of all shelters, extra care homes etc and a bit more. The council I worked for had info on all of these schemes in our area. Th coucil will tell you of any schemes they are involved with and waiting lists etc and more info/leaflets etc

That's very useful information. I've not thought of the council as I'd assumed anything related to them would be means tested and therefore a non-starter 

Marmaduke123

Also concerned with how she will cope with the workload. She has no particular health issues at the moment and is already passing a lot of the jobs onto me and to be frank I'm not in a position to be running two houses, I struggle to find time to do the things that need doing in mine

Can she afford to pay a handyman or similar to do necessary jobs, or are you talking about admin tasks? I was widowed last year and am very wary of asking my sons to do anything time consuming in the house. 

 I've employed a handyman a couple of times . I don't need help with admin as I always did that anyway

ManuelG

skyblues87 said:

ManuelG said:

Does that area include Willenhall? Because if not... I'd probably give it a miss.

Basically Finham, Styvechale and at a push Earlsdon. Given there's virtually zero retirement properties in Finham and Styvechale and Earlsdon is increasingly a student area you can see why I'm having trouble finding options 

Well... she's looking for the nice bits of Coventry then

If checking out the place linked earlier, I'd Google separately Remembrance Road and Robin Hood Road Willenhall first, and check out the news section before making a decision, if she doesn't know the area...

diystarter7

skyblues87 said:

diystarter7 said:

You may want to ring the council or look it up, and the housing department as they should have lists of all shelters, extra care homes etc and a bit more. The council I worked for had info on all of these schemes in our area. Th coucil will tell you of any schemes they are involved with and waiting lists etc and more info/leaflets etc

That's very useful information. I've not thought of the council as I'd assumed anything related to them would be means tested and therefore a non-starter 

Hi

Manes tested is the rent/payments nothing else.

This may be outdated as I left a few years ago but you could move into shelter housing even if you still had your own place - not sure re extra care at the time (one borough at the time allowed this as long as you allowed your home to be rented, anoter where i worked just allowed it as long as you sold it - it varied then and may have changed furhter.)

The schemes can belong to a charity, HA, LA or shared I think it varies from county/area to area - best to ask.

There will be long waiting lists for the best places inc the extra care retals and honestly, the two I saw were like hotels
with concierge reception in a smart suit/dress suit.

Good luck (NB: There is an elesment of luck about who you speak with as some are more helpful/knowledgeable than others)

diystarter7

BTW

There are numervous gadgets, throught floor lifts, stairs lifts, large and compact, ways to inproces accress to and from the property an garden, easier access to bathing and alarms etc for safety, panic, times of trouble, and home help packs you can adjust to needs. As times goes on, may want to move and can

Buying a place, mum will be pretty much stuck there if not lkig it.

The rentals, you can visit a few times to get the feel, chat with the manager, have food there at extra care, see the comms rooms and other facilities the different rooms and asl about costs etc, but they have waiting lists.


Good luck