To live in a Travelodge

Would you consider rentals for over 55 s? There may be more available and more secure

Absolutely nuts. I've done it. Expensive beyond expectations. £1050 a week. Better off in a caravan like gypsies and travelling around. Done that too. Just don't talk much to other people about your life. If you want to save then you can speak to a financial adviser. 21k seems exorbitant and rent shouldn't be more than £850 pcm.

I'm a guy that can relate to this issue. My wife and I lived 9 months in a boat of similar size and accomodations. Neither of us would repeat that experience.

Also YANBU - facilities are good and you don’t have to clean

YANBU at all OP

i read about a couple who did this - and it worked for them

Sorry, quoted myself earlier, by mistake......😁

And off topic but the Cheese and Grain has great bands..........😁

@Teenagehorrorbag absolutely !!

And I'm the 60 year old with a younger DH! Go us......😃!!

@Teenagehorrorbag ooh you sound my kind of woman - we are 63 and 60 over in Bath- FIL newly moved to Frome at 85!! I agree I'm very much middle aged at 63 - no 'late' about it - !!

OP I live near Frome and it's lovely, but pricey for our area. Keep looking - I'm sure you'll find something.

I have friends who live in a camper van in Portugal and have done since taking early retirement years ago. They love it! But maybe it's cheaper and easier to move around and find affordable sites out there - plus they seem to eat out all the time, for not much!

One point - we are 55 and 60 and I don't consider that to be late middle age!! Surely that would be late 60s at the earliest.......😂

@oakkiln honestly the secret is to set yourself a search on RM and put in the whole county so for instance Berkshire or Kent etc rather than specific towns - you can get some good suggestions that way of things you would otherwise miss if you set yourself price parameter and leave bedroom
Numbers'open' - just wanted to give you some hope that if you can get a decent deposit together there really are some options out there -so if you have to compromise on a small 1 bed or a studio flat or an over55 for a while it really won't be so bad -

@oakkiln

Here's another couple of examples that might be quite you - but in the south ( Dorset and Somerset) - just want to give you hope that if you get that deposit together there genuinely are non dumpy things out there - if you use Heylo though it can't I believe be auction properties and they have to be immediately liveable - worth bearing in mind - both of these in beautiful towns - room for bees and veg patch . Indeed Frome is very bees and veg patch territory!'

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/147859229#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/155626622

Also if you do manage to buy you can then downsize to a much cheaper area when you retire so you don’t need to get a mortgage over the short term you mentioned. Brokers will help you with this.

I've done some research into mortgages and have a good grasp of the figures and budgeting so all should be good. It's mostly a matter of saving as much as I can for a deposit. I like your idea of speaking to a mortgage advisor though as they might be able to spot problems I may but have thought of. So thanks, I'll get onto that.

You really do need to speak to a mortgage advisor- that's the bigger companies like Nationwide- and also brokers. Brokers can shop around and get deals that aren't obvious and bypass some of the negative barriers you may encounter.

If you need a deposit of £60-£80K, can you say how soon you'll reach that?
The usual deposit is either 5 or 10% so it sounds a LOT! Unless you're trying to reduce your monthly payments with a higher deposit.

ie a house costing £250K you'd expect to pay 5 or 10% deposit.
In the 'old days' before house prices rocketed, the guide was that your outgoings for a mortgage (or rent) should be no more than 30% of your net income. And mortgage providers wouldn't lend more than 2.5 times your gross income, 3 at a push. That's changed but it has resulted in a lot of people being really pushed to repay their loans and some repossessions.

I assume you've done the basic calculations of what you'll earn over the next 10 years (£50K x 10) , how that looks as net income, and the value of houses you' re looking at.

At least the Travelodge wouldn't feel damp!

You can’t live on a holiday park, despite what the sales rep tells you!

There's always allotments.

Air bnb might be even cheaper

No idea where you want to be OP but I can imagine something like this might work ( see below) - area dependent of course !! With Heylo your home it has a calculator and can tell you what size deposit ( would be about 60k on this) and how much you can go up to depending on income - max is usually about£550k if earning about £80k a year - I think it's around £320 on your income.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/151151114#/?channel=RES_BUY

@oakkiln I totally understand that which is why I suggested it as a way of keeping your costs down in the immediate but totally get it may not be your forever solution - and doesn't have to be either. The housing 21 page was good for them as is anchor.

We are actually quite high earners but too old now for getting a mortgage within a decent timeframe to make it affordable in areas my H will consider - many reasons we ended in this position but mainly as we had a business failure and once back in a healthy position without the busted credit record-we were beyond the age levels - hence why I know about Heylo but also about shared ownerships in general in relatively nice areas - but not necessarily that rural as we will need to buy a percentage outright !!

@oakkiln the other thing with Heylo is you do benefit on any price gains and can sell on open market too