Moving to Assisted Living/ Retirement Village Flat

I have a work colleague whose partner's parents bought a McStone retirement flat. They both died, he is executor. The "estate" is required to pay service charges until the flat is sold. The problem is that nobody want to buy 2nd hand. And apparently the flat cannot be rented out. The partner is being taken to court to pay the service charges. There are very few estate agents who will take on this type of property. I couldn't after what I have heard recommend at all that anyone buy one of these properties. The contract terms seem onerous.

I also know through my own parents network that often "promised" amenities are considered to be too expensive to include long after contract purchase and the building of a development. eg lifts. (Most elderly people will need to use a lift if multi-story!) or on call support.

It is really worth looking at the structure of what is being offered.

All the flats in DM’s complex have sold quickly in the last year. Not sure whether lockdown had an impact as residents had social contact even in lockdown or whether people were moving closer to relatives.

If you are moving to a new area they do give you an instant social group of a similar demographic, which you might not get if you move into an ordinary flat

Bear in mind the service charges are excessive, get a normal flat, buy in services, murder to sell too

I took mum to see a retirement bungalow that was for sale locally just so she could get a feel for what it would be like. Was really useful and successful as an approach.

I’d say ring up a local place and ask to look round - my mother did this recently and was so totally won over she went from “maybe I will move in 3 or 4 years” to going straight on to the waiting list. She is now keen as mustard to move in but there are no spaces so it’s a waiting game.

My mum moved to a retirement flat near to us when DF died. Her service charge etc are not too bad. She is in a one bedroom flat which is quite snug, so really have to declutter. She loves it.

Hers has a warden but only office hours, and emergency cover the rest of the time. A number of people do have carers come in, but there are some people who really should have made a move to somewhere with caring services on site. So if they do move somewhere check what services are available.

There are quite a few activities available and so she has made a number of friends (didn't know anyone in the area apart from us). She is reasonably independent. All flats have a patio or balcony so can have a small container garden and the residents also have a gardening committee who potter about the grounds sorting out borders etc. So if want to still do some gardening that is possible, or they can sit and watch others do it! They are usually located near shops and other amenities.

I should have said, my Mum absolutely loves hers, it's honestly given her a new lease of life. At her previous house she was really isolated and lonely as she struggled to get out and about independently whereas now all she has to do is go down the corridor from her flat to the communal lounge which is always a hive of activity (bingo/card games/pub outings/music events/film club/book club/sport on the big TV being just a few), plus there's a restaurant and cafe for meals and coffees where she can sit and chat with friends and her diet has improved as she can grab a meal in there whenever she fancies (all cooked on site) whereas before she was reliant on what and when carers would show up to feed her which led to a lot of 5pm dinners and ready meals etc. She was skeptical too at first saying she thought it would be 'like a care home' and 'full of old people' but it's been great, she's made a lot of friends. It's a modern development and really nicely done so it feels more like an upmarket hotel than an institution and the management do a good job of being around to help and support without it being intrusive. There's a nice range of people and 'abilities' for want of a better word in there, there's some relatively young people in their 60s who still drive and are very active as well as more disabled or frail types and the younger ones are often very kind and helpful with involving the older ones and giving lifts to church/shops/pub etc! It's good for me too as I can relax a bit knowing there's someone around 24/7 so if anything was to happen help is available...

Hi, are they looking to buy or rent, and will they need any care/assistance provisions when there or are they largely independent?

If they are fully self-funding and don't have significant care needs then you can simply call up local places and ask when their availability is. Different places run differently, some are housing association owned and operated so you may need to apply to be on a housing waiting list for these, others are private and providing there's availability and you can afford to buy in then that's it. The one my mum is in is a mixture, she owns her own flat but there are also some let on a social housing basis. My mum's is also what they call an 'extra care' facility, which means adult social services assessed her needs to ensure it was an appropriate facility for her and the on-site carers visit 4 times a day, this is part-funded by SS on a means tested basis. She has quite high needs though and was already receiving some care at her previous home, the majority of residents in her complex don't have this level of care or have things like a cleaner, and some take their meals in the on-site restaurant etc, this can all be arranged via the management and included in their monthly bills to make it straight forward financially to manage. If you are unsure if your parents would be eligible for any assistance it would be worth a call to your local authority adults team to get an assessment started...

Do make sure you ask about how resale provisions work after they no longer live there if they are looking to buy, these can be very restrictive. Also check the service charge and by how much this can increase, some of the more 'luxury' villages have absolutely sky high charges - to be fair this is to be expected if there are extensive gardens, gym, swimming pool etc but your parents need to know they can afford for the foreseeable future and don't want any nasty surprises!