Future proof your home? Or is it too depressing?

All newbuild housing was supposed to be built to take all generations.
That's why I can never understand how many are three storey, with narrow doorways.

I think Apricity has outlined key issues perfectly here. I would just add "get rid of too much STUFF! ". DH and I are currently staying in a static caravan, as we await our new home. We had a mega clear-out when we left our three bedroom house. Gave all unwanted stuff away to charity shops and Freegle. So glad we did this - we can look forward to bright, and uncluttered home. My advice is: do it while you are able to!

We moved into a newly built bungalow four years ago, everything is planned well, even the doors are wide enough for a wheelchair, especially into the bathroom, we have a smaller toilet for visitors, all in all it was well planned, the only thing is I wish I could have taken my old neghbours and friends with me when we moved, I miss them and am not happy in this new area, out in the scrubs!

My husbands has parkinsons and neuropathy, with loss of balance and mobility, and I am always on the lookout for things to make life easier.
We have had helpful advice from the council and NHS, but I have also done a lot of hunting online.
Some things that have made a huge difference to us....

Handrails each side of the stairs. This made the stairs safe to use for a lot longer, and I still use them. Also a handrail for the landing at the top of the stairs.
Bath changed to walk in shower with lots of handrails....we hadn't dared use the bath for ages, because of not being able to get out!
Various handrails by doors, as advised by OT.
Easy grip cutlery, large zip pulls, bed grab rail, Stander poles by the bed and loo, and raised toilet seats. (Don't know if I am allowed to say that Complete Care do a huge range at reasonable prices) Some little things can make a big difference.
Our major purchase was a Stiltz through floor lift. This cost almost £10000, so took a lot of thought. We had seen a stairlift in use, and thought my husband would find it difficult, and also wanted to be able to continue using the stairs as much as possible. We reasoned that as it would give us the use of another floor, and would be cheaper than moving to a bungalow, it would be justified, and have never regretted it. I try to carry on using the stairs myself, but use it if I feel rough, or want to take vacuum upstairs.
We are lucky that we can manage to pay for the things which have not been provided, but we can't go on holidays and outings, and compared with the cost of a care home..,,,

oopsadaisy12
I would not recommend removing a bath to replace with a shower. Should you wish to sell your property a shower and a bath could get you a quicker sale than a property with just a shower. Many folk prefer to bath though a shower is easier on your purse Nice to have the option.
Even if you have a stair lift to accommodate an invalid & also needs a walker then double up with a walker for upstairs and a walker for down stairs and a 'grabber'
for upstairs and a 'grabber' for downstairs.
Its a case of making life easier all round not just for the invalid but those who care for the invalid.

We moved last year to be nearer to family and uppermost in our minds was to choose a house that would be suitable in our old age. The stress of moving is horrendous and doing whilst still fit and able and with mutual support was our idea.

No one can "future proof" anything but having worked for many years in aged care and hospital and rehab discharge the number of people who have never given a thought to their later years was a never ending frustration. So many people could have gone home as they wished if they had just given it a bit of forethought and done some planning.

At a personal level I have also had to deal with the messy and time consuming complications sorting out my late father's affairs - physical, legal and financial. Literally years and years of work. I will not leave a burden like that to my children.

The details will vary in different countries and jurisdictions but the basic list is:
If you are planning/hoping to stay in your present house for as long as possible make sure you have a bedroom (at very least a room that can be used as a bedroom) on the ground floor.
A bathroom with an accessible shower (not a bath with overhead shower) and a toilet on the ground floor.
Have a valid Will, and relevant Powers of Attorney, (financial and medical).
Have discussed end of life issues with your nearest and dearest. ie. how much recusitation or active medical intervention you want when crunch time comes.
Have registered or discussed with your family or nearest and dearest re issues such as organ donation.

We have lived in our 3 bed detached house since it was built over 30years ago.We have been forced into thinking of the future since I was diagnosed with PD2 years ago. It was a devastating blow as it is progressive & incurable. I also have severe sciatica which is very painful & restricts my walking.We have a downstairs loo which our builder has converted into a shower room with a corner shower & an outward opening door into the hall. When I can no longer use the stairs we will use the dining room as a bedroom. It is very much 2nd best but less upheaval than moving. We shall keep the upstairs for visitors & they will have to make up the beds themselves!

It's all the flipping stuff, though!

DH used to work with the elderly & he saw many people who's homes were mouldering around them. We're both in our 60s and are currently in the process of "future-proofing" by down-sizing to a suitable new home, which will make our lives easier both now and in the future.

I'm with Jamila. Why do older people (ie near retirement) not think about the future? Friends have just moved from the centre of a small town with good public transport (which of course can change for the worse) to a small village with one shop (again, can change) and a poor bus service.

Smaller garden, fewer bedrooms than a family home, downstairs loo I think are basic requirements. All that TV lifestyle stuff about a guest bedroom, space for entertaining etc is just showing-off.

This might be a controversial view and I don't mean to offend but I think it's a bit of a pity really that your MIL is choosing to remain in hospital, taking up a bed that someone else might desperately be needing, because she'd rather not make some necessary changes to her home.

The NHS may decide that she needs to be transferred to a care home which could lead to her home being sold eventually to pay the costs.

We had a downstairs loo and shower put in and on several occasions we have brought a single bed down to the dining room and turned it into a bedroom eg when my husband was too ill to climb stairs and when my mum came to stay.
Our main problem is the steep drive and the steps up to the front door. Some people have had lifts fitted at the front of their houses but eventually I think we will have to move. I never thought about this issue when I was in my twenties and pushing a full size Pram up the drive and hoisting it up the steps!

I broke my ankle 12 years ago (while I was still at work) and was so glad that I had a downstairs toilet..! I also have a large living room, so was able to have a single bed moved downstairs for a few weeks.
It really made me think about this subject, and I have since had my bathroom completely changed - bath removed, large shower installed - as I have arthritis in my knees and it was becoming painful to climb in and out of the bath. I've also had grab-rails installed next to both toilets. I have a walk-in pantry between my kitchen and downstairs toilet which could easily be converted to a wetroom - but I'm not ready to pay for that just yet - it's in reserve...

When I worked in an old people's home I was astonished how many people had ended up in therre because they couldn't use the bath at home.

Future proof and enjoy doing it.

I have lever taps, a double size shower room and a deck with wide step to make garden access easy. I have also given in and had some heating installed so at the press of a button I can be warm, the wood burner can be hard work.

I have a variety of conditions that make life tricky at times and am gappy to spend money on making sure I can cope and minimising risks.

I found an electric throw absolutely fantastic for keeping warm and helping arthritis pain and so cheap 2p a day to run, I have ket my ordinary sofa but have chair raisers on it, there are so many affordable things now that it is easy to make the changes needed to stay in your own home.

I think it’s like Insurance, you have it and hope you never need it. I just think that it’s bad enough to be unwell, without having to think about the expense and upheaval of moving and if you find yourself in hospital and are unable to get home due to it being unsuitable, then it’s even more essential to think ahead.
We moved into our bungalow because we had sold and we were unable to find anything else in our price range, close to where we both worked, we hadn’t planned to buy a bungalow, due to ill health we ended up staying here and it’s really the best home we have owned, large garden, in a quiet village and plenty of accessible rooms.
I still think it’s depressing though, I hadn’t even thought about decluttering yet!

Pleas ,please, do consider the move seriously while you are young and fit enough to do it.
We have a reasonable sized house which is why we have been able to make provision for a bed downstairs for my H.
I don't see him going upstairs again without a chairlift, but he is 82 next month and the expense does not really justify it.
I myself am 80 and so wish we had moved years ago but really love our house. I just couldn't think about it now. 42 years of "stuff", the family will truly bless us when we are gone.

I moved a year ago to a one bedroom flat so all on one level. Bathroom has a shower over the bath DD2says if Ibcant climb into the bath in the future they will change it to just a large shower cubicle . I was 63 when I moved I had divorced and rented a 3 bed roomed house for 2 years before that and then when I moved here had to do a big clear out even though I'd had to furnish the rented hOuse from scratch because my ex husband had been so unreasonable, I'd only taken personal stuff from the family house. Moving was really stressful even though I wanted to so I would say if you need to move do it sooner rather than later I would not like to move again. The flat has a lift although I do use the stairs as well to help keep me fit andI am mobile and healthy at the moment

When we cannot manage in our current house, we will move to somewhere more suitable.

Neither of us has any problems managing and maintaining our house currently but we have thought it through, we have both scouted out properties in our village, which has a lot of facilities, that would be suitable, if they came on the market at an appropriate time and have also identified areas of 2 nearby towns that suit us.

We are lucky, our parents set us excellent examples, both sets, in different ways, future planned and made sensible solutions at the right time and we do not intend to anything differently.

After I posted yesterday a local estate agent rang my husband (presumably had his name on file from the last time we put it up for sale) saying they had someone looking in our road and were we still up for sale? We took it off the market back then and did a lot of work so thought we were settled but he's now gone and arranged for a valuation and started the whole 'shall we move, where shall we move to'? debate again At 64 and a year from retirement I know it makes sense to future proof but after 31 years here the whole process fills me with dread.

Annsixty I'm sorry to hear your husband is in hospital - I hope you get a care package in place for his discharge

My husband fell off a ladder and broke his back when he was 49. From then on most of the stuff we did was built around his disabilities.
When we moved here to a bungalow, it was because he had developed ataxia and was falling down stairs. The council put grabrails in for free as he was disabled. I don't recommend waiting until that happens.
We never even thought about the fact that he would end up in a wheelchair. Fortunately the doors out of the kitchen are double doors. Lots of the time he needed to go out in a wheelchair he had two hefty ambulance men to take him.
As well as the house, you should make sure the car is suitable for all eventualities. We had been in the middle of buying a car when he fell off the ladder. We had to change our minds, as the original one he would never have been able to get in and out of. Not that he could for a few months anyway.

Downsizing is obviously the way to go if you can't future proof your home but the elephant in the room is the actual move. Finding a suitable property, selling your own, decluttering, packing etc., is one of the more stressful things that life throws at you. Doing it when you're in your sixties or seventies is a really big deal.

We moved from one end of the garden to the other and believe me when I say I wish I'd booked a removal firm to do it.

Are we the first generation to really be concerned about future proofing? My mother lived in a bungalow and left all her de-cluttering to me when she moved into a care home. My aunt moved in with my grandparents to care for them.

I have friends who are really hung up about it.

OH and I live in a four bedroomed house which should be much too large for us , but all the rooms are full of junk useful stuff . Recently, a three bed bungalow came on the market in our road so we went to have a look but it wasn't right for us. It has made us think though about the time when we can't easily manage the stairs.
We have a downstairs room which could be used as a bedroom and , like marydoll, are now planning to build a utility room next to the kitchen and install a wet room in the garage , where the washing machine etc are at present. So if necessary we could just live downstairs and not have to move house.

Farnorth, we will start to try to get it done with her agreement , part of the problem is that the floors would have to be dug up for drainage, I guess when you are in your mid 90s it’s a big upheaval, having said that all of her children ( all now in their late 60s and early 70s ) have started to think about their own homes and lack of downstairs facilities.

I have acres of garden and Anne's post made me think that in the not too distant future, the absence of an outside loo could mean a commode (on wheels) might be a good idea.

We don't have neighbours