Telling OAP's to sell their home.

Also living in greater London my partner and I have a freedom pass which saves us alot of money, I still have my car, but to my partner who is fit and healthy, it is a Godsend, as he uses it alot.
People need to see the whole picture before advice like move is dolled out. My daughter, a single parent, one child bought a apartment in a very sought after area, pays the higher rate of tax, but with her mortgage, she also pays a service charge which is very high, so downsizing to a flat is not always a cheaper option and it would not help me. My daughter moved to the area with excellent Schools, green space, and she has my ex and my support if she needs childcare. It's a choice and comes with a cost. The flats round where I live are very expensive and I would gain no monetary value by doing so.

If you can afford to live in a big house that is fine. If you can't afford to keep up with the running costs one needs to downsize. It is simply not fair to expect the tax payer to subsidise you to live in a bigger house than you need.

Should you wish to downsize, for any reason , that would be entirely different

If there were any suitable properties on the market in an area where you want to live.

Just looked online again today - one bungalow new to the market today but yet again with a very strange layout.

Pensioners in large houses may be property rich but cash poor. I am in greater London/Kent border.
I cannot down size I have a two bedroom house, mortgage paid, it is worth quite alot more, than houses a but further out, but if I did move I would not have the support of my daughter, nor would I keep as much contact with friends, something that helps alot with my mental health.
I have lost my wfa, and can manage without it, but it was helpful. I have new state pension plus a occ pen. It's not that easy to just move, and some pensioners rely on their family for support so do not want to leave the area.
I am not a martyr, and would like my wfa back, people on PC get this allowance, rightly so, and it will not affect rich pensioners, it is the squeezed middle who will suffer those of us who have worked, paid into the system and saved for a good retirement.

Obviously a bigger home entails more running costs.
That's all it boils down to.

Septimia

We have a house larger than we normally need. We don't use all of it all the time, but it is needed when we have visitors.

We are heavily involved in local activities, the community and church. If we moved we'd lose all that. Nearly all the other houses in the village are as big (and expensive) as ours, or bigger, so no chance of moving locally.

What's the point of isolating ourselves by moving?

Indeed, Septimia,
Why should you isolate yourself by moving.??
Why should you aplogise for living in your own home that you no doubt slaved to buy in the first place.
I deplore the propensity in some quarters of trying to make older people feel guilty about absolutely everything including occupying houses of a reasonable size in their home location.
Should you wish to downsize, for any reason , that would be entirely different.

Yes, we've had a few hiccups along the way. All seems fine until you suddenly find it's all too much.
Family coming to stay is another consideration too.

Someone said "Tell them to get a B&B" - all of them for a month or six weeks?

Allira

^A friend says she's read that you should start to plan to downsize around the age of 70, leave it much later and it's all too much!^
V3ra* yes, it certainly is!

The problem with that is when your husband has been ill from his mid 50's (which happened to my husband), then that goes out of the window. We had it all planned to spend 6 months of the year abroad and 6 months at home then he got an incurable illness and for the next few years I was his carer until he died aged 68. I had no idea what day it was never mind thinking about moving home, it took me three years to come to terms with it then after that I could not bear to move from the home that had been ours since the 1960's when we married.

I can afford the upkeep of my home, I can afford to keep warm and eat healthily and as far as I am concerned, I am as happy as I can be under the circumstances.

Long may it last.

TopGunner

TopGunner

Me too.

Sorry, this was meant for the post. Damart vests.

I think I need two, one with long sleeves, plus long johns, today!

Allira

^A friend says she's read that you should start to plan to downsize around the age of 70, leave it much later and it's all too much!^
V3ra* yes, it certainly is!

I agree with that. I was 74 when I moved. Lockdown and then losing DH postponed the inevitable but I’m glad I made some of my plans well in advance.

TopGunner

Me too.

Sorry, this was meant for the post. Damart vests.

Me too.

A friend says she's read that you should start to plan to downsize around the age of 70, leave it much later and it's all too much!
V3ra* yes, it certainly is!

Our house is arranged such that we could have a lodger but I don't think they would be happy to move out while one of the dds come for the weekend.

Oh Primrose, that is such a sad post. I hope that your BIL pleases himself and tells his daughters to keep their thoughts to themselves, and that he lives to a very great age, or at least long enough to spend all of his money.

But IMO it’s quite unreasonable to expect to be subsidised by the taxpayer, in order to stay in a house that’s much too big for you.

What is needed in such cases is evidently someone else to undertake all the PITA faff of estate agents/solicitors/removals men, not to mention helping to decide what of all the maybe much-loved contents will have to go.

I dare say it’s often adult children who undertake all this. Maybe the lack of any such help is why a lot of elderly people don’t move.

My Dad didn't cope at all well after Mum died.
He lived hours away from all the family.
He neglected himself and ended up in a care home.

Eventually the decision was made that he should move to an extra-care apartment near me.
My sister organised the purchasing of this, and the sale of his house.
I cleaned and ruthlessly tidied the house ready for the estate agent's visit and photos!

My husband and I helped Dad decide what he would need to bring to be comfortable and feel at home in his new apartment.
We mainly brought some of his furniture, some kitchenware, some clothes, some books and later his car.

My brother helped Dad bag up what clothes were staying behind, including Mum's clothes.
(My auntie, Dad's sister, later sorted the bags out sensibly for the charity shops!)

Some big furniture went to family members, quite a lot stayed as the house purchasers wanted it.

Anything else left went via a house clearance company.

Mum and Dad had lived in their 4-bed house for 47 years, since we children were 14, 12 and 9 years old.
He downsized to his 1-bed apartment when he was 87.
He's told me he feels safe living here.

Moving him wasn't something we could have done in a weekend, it took a lot of planning and needed to be done in stages by a team of people.

A friend says she's read that you should start to plan to downsize around the age of 70, leave it much later and it's all too much!

Poppyred

No one is making you move house. Suggesting that you rent a room is only mentioned as a solution to those that are MOANING about not being able to afford to heat a large house on a small pension.

Your decision/ live with the consequences.

Anybody thinking of renting a room from me would be well advised not to do it! 😂

paddyann54

*karmalady*where are all these young families who can afford large homes vacated by older folk? Not here ! The answer is more council houses though I understand council tenants are considered second class in some parts of the country.When I got married almost 50 years ago we were lucky enough to get a brand new 3 bedroom semi with garage and heating included in our council rent It gave us the chance to get on our feet and start our business and 8 years on we bought a flat leaving the house for someone who needed it.
That is in my opinion,the Way forward ,more good quality council homes .Council homes that by the way,earn their keep and are used as collateral by councils .Instead Thatchers sale of them with the proviso of the profit(if there was any) couldn’t be spent on more building has left many areas short of essential homes.In my area we have newbuild council and housing association homes springing up all across the county

I agree we need more Council/social housing but in fact, surprisingly, there seem to be many young couples who can afford the type of house we only dreamt of when we were young.

The only reason we have a larger house is because we moved from a very expensive area where we could barely afford the mortgage for a very small house to a cheaper area.

No one is making you move house. Suggesting that you rent a room is only mentioned as a solution to those that are MOANING about not being able to afford to heat a large house on a small pension.

Your decision/ live with the consequences.

Exactly, merlot. Our house is far bigger than we actually need until family arrive when it suddenly shrinks alarmingly. Family arriving gives us a real boost and helps our mental health - presumably that will matter more and more as time goes by.

Allira

I've just bought some Damart vests!

I’m wearing mine. 😂

The disadvantage of downsizing can be lack of accommodation for visiting family and friends which can be a vital mood lifter when you are older. Sometimes you need somebody to stay over if you are ill or recovering from an operation and extra space can be a godsend.

Those who suggest selling up as the best option often have no idea what older age actually means.

If you can afford to stay in your home and have a reliable support network then staying put is the best option IMO.

watermeadow

If you are managing alone in your big house that’s good but nobody should expect help from the government so they can do the same.
I shall miss the winter fuel payment, I’m just over the limit, but I’m very willing to go without and be a bit chilly to held mend broken Britain.
Don’t we all want our social services, NHS, education, police etc funded adequately? They’re not going to ever improve if every single person affected objects to any change.

Sick of this mantra. Money spent on countries that don't need it, China and India to name two. Millions spent on illegals crossing in boats, they won't have to pay to keep warm will they.
Now they have the cheek to expect us to rent out a room to them. No way.
Our pensioners, veterans,hard working farmers, small businesses are the back bone of this country, making it what is was.yet they are still expected to stump up more and more to keep the bloated public sector afloat. Apparently what they take from farming families ,will keep our WWHS afloat for 10 hours. Whoopee do, destroy farms for what. Oh yes we are paying for the train drivers too, well hope their NI contributions is commensurate with their pay,that'll hurt. When actually it needs a rapid overhaul of its expenses.
Yes I am angry,it's always the litte man, never the big corporations.

paddyann54, maybe not that many young families, but maybe older parents with older children, who may well be moving out of a smaller house or a flat, and thus making that available further down the line.

Though having said that, I do agree that more social housing is urgently needed.

I would take equity release if I needed to and wished to stay in my home.I had to downsize 10 years ago and it cost a lot of money in Stamp Duty,legal fees and then upgrading the property I moved to.I won't move again unless I really want to.