Retirement properties

You can’t always rent them out I don’t think.Make sure you read the small print. If YOU can find one to rent rather than buy Id definitely do that.

Or if you HAVE to buy buy second hand.

Rent it. People move in far too late I.e mid to late 80’s and that is why it doesn’t work if you buy.

Dont ever buy one when you are in your 80’s.

Late Mum had one. Best thing she did. When she went into care we just stopped the rental.

Can he rent one? I think there can be a lot to recommend them if you are renting and avoid buying. My friend had a terrible time when her mum needed too much support to stay in her retirement flat, but they couldn't sell. She desperately needed a care home, but council wouldn't fund as she had a property asset.

Which is one of the things that makes them hard to sell - the market is flooded with shiny new ones heavily marketed by the company, so fewer people want a sligtly tatty second hand version being privately marketed.

My DM moved into one after my DF died, she lives over 70 miles away from any family and wanted to stay in the area due to established friendships. For her it's worked out well, she has communal lounge if she wishes to socialise with those in the block of flats, gardens which she doesn't need to look after and for us it's peace of mind too. She is currently fit and healthy, but our view was to consider what's important for her to give her a good quality of life and give us reassurance that there's people around if needed. We have already discussed the chance any inheritance will likely be swallowed by care home fees one day and have never viewed the flat as an investment/inheritance. At the moment any flats that come onto the market sell quite quickly so hopefully that will still be the case when the time comes.

Look up extra care housing, as there's quite an assortment available and it's a bit area dependent.

www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/care/housing-options/assisted-living-and-extra-care-housing/

Some housing associations have them available to rent so you'd avoid all the problems associated with buying one.

If they haven’t closed down near you, look at Abbeyfield homes. Great places where the resident has their own room but meals provided if they want them. Sadly quite a few have closed down but it is ideal in your FiL situation, like living in a large house, not a care home.

You can't have a blanket view because different retirement homes are different. Jus go in with your eyes open.

Number One rule of any contract: before you get into it, find out how you get out of it..

I believe there are also some rules as to the level of care needs you can have to live there. So if health/ mobility declines you are forced to move, rather than say, opt for a live in carer

They are popping up everywhere around us, someone must be buying them. But there aren't enough flats and small houses for younger people. I'd avoid if you possibly can.

As others have said above, really really think twice about buying a retirement home and the costs of it not selling later on.

There are a number of properties like this up for sale where I live. Just having a look at the service charges, they are £1,445, £2,184, £2,264 and £3,679 per year.

Although no care is provided and these are marketed as "over 55 retirement communities"

MCCarthy Stone- what's your view? www.mumsnet.com/Talk/elderly_parents/5077869-mccarthy-stone-whats-your-view

Have a look here. They're a rip off for all the reasons above, impossible to sell, over priced with extortionate service fees. The ones by us have a clause to exclude them being rented and there is a 1% charge on resale - the potential buyers also have to be vetted to see if they're suitable. You can't have overnight visitors unless you rent the guest suite even with the 2 bed apartments. Complete scam

They are not great inheritance wise, but they are often really good for the retiree. They get a small community of people close by, some degree of care as they age and no concerns about property upkeep etc

ultimately it’s their money and their quality of life so that seems fair enough to me.

@Meadowfinch has it. We owned MiL's. She was very happy there for around 8 years but then a fall followed by a stay in hospital and rehab meant that she went back with care and it was not great til she moved to a nursing home. We put the place on the market the day after she died and it took almost 12 months for the sale to go through. The real kicker was that when you sell, you have to give 1% of the sales price back to the owner. Added to the fact that Retirement Homesearch were the most abject bunch of lying bastard EAs, so much so that they ended up halving their commission due to our complaints. Peveril took months to hand over the lease information to our solicitor. I could go on...

The service charges are high because there is a live-in Manager, Careline and a lift. The Manager was a nasty vindictive person who only worked 2 hours per day and never at the weekends. When you work on a secure site where mobiles are banned as DH did at the time, communication was nigh-on impossible. Careline was good, but MiL hated the idea of potentially being watched or listened to and never wore the pendant. She did once pull the cord for something which was sorted.

There isn’t any shortage of older people looking for this kind of living space

You're wrong there. I work in probate and these flats are a nightmare to sell for all the reasons as per Meadowfinch's post and more. People have got wise to the shocking Ts & Cs for a start.

Richard Osman's mother lives in what sounds like an amazing retirement village but it's lucky he won't need to rely on any kind of inheritance...

My Fil lives in a retirement apartment - in England - with all the downsides listed above by Meadowfinch, but without the care staff around, except for a Manager of the building (organises maintenance, etc) but only in office hours. There is a communal sitting room where they have occasional coffee and a laundry room, but that's it - nowhere to eat together. That might be more "assisted living" - there are apartment blocks with more care available. My Fil has carers come in every day, and so do a lot of his neighbours.

Not sure about Scotland but here, the retirement flats here are unpopular because
a) outrageously high service charges
b) the deeds preclude them being rented out after the old person dies or moves into a home
c) because of a) and b) they are notoriously difficult to sell
d) the service charges continue to rack up even if the apartment is empty, so inheriting one means if you can't sell it, you either end up owing thousands in service charges or you hand it back to the management company free, just to get rid of the liability.

I know someone who paid £264k for a beautiful apartment. Her son sold 7 years later for £58k.

I'm in my 60s and will look for my retirement property in the next few years. It will be a small freehold house or bungalow, with no service charges, no lease, no management company.