62 years old, £77k cash, newly divorced, £33k wage... Suggestions for housing

RHemmings

Maahes said:

tacpot12 said:

Maahes said:

tacpot12 said:

Getting a mortgage at your age will depend on whether you have reasonable pension provision. What sort of pension income might you have when you reach your state retirement age? 

Not necessarily true. I got a 17 year mortgage at 61 and wasn't asked any questions about pension arrangements.

Irresponsible lending? 

Maybe but my mortgage is £1000 a month less than the rent I was paying in London.

I wish you good luck and that things work out. 

But, I have to agree that if you were lent money at your age (same as mine) and they didn't look into pension arrangements then that sounds as if it could have been irresponsible lending to me. Not because I think that things will turn out bad for you - but because it sounds to me as if the company hasn't done sufficient due diligence to ensure that it won't. And, even if you are going to be fine, I suspect there will be other people receiving loans under the same lack of care (as I see it) who won't be. 

I was offered mortgages some years ago. But, they were quotes for short mortgages that would have ended before retirement age which is officially 67 for me. But, one lender was just saying to me that people are getting mortgages that last into their 80s now. That doesn't sound to be a good thing to me. 

Murphybear

youth_leader said:

Could you possibly rent a Housing Association flat?  I live near a block of flats owned by Anchor and the residents all seem very happy with it.

There are a lot of Housing Associations for the over 60s.  I moved into one when I was 65.  We have a 3 bedroomed house    You don’t need to go through the council, you arrange it with them directly.  Best move I ever made.  If you want more details PM me 

Have you thought about Northampton?  We lived in a tiny village just outside, it was lovely.  According to the RAC it’s between 41 and 43 miles depending on the route 

RAS

If you buy, try to get a 2 bedroom, allowing you to rent a room, tax free. If local rents are higher, then look at only having lodgers for part of the year. 

Herzlos

I'd normally say try and get something with an easy non-car commute to work (walking, cycling, bus, train), because it'll make life a lot easier. 

But at 62 when are you planning on retiring? If you've only got 5 years of work left and plan on living in the same place longer at may be worth looking at whether there's somewhere you'd want to retire to even if the commute to work is a bit worse.