If you're retired but never brought a house do you struggle?

[Poolnoodlepoodle]

Just wondering. I once owned a house but got divorced and couldn't buy again on my single salary. I feel like I'll never manage it again. I always thought when I retired I'd have a paid off house but I don't know if I will. Is it possible to have a decent standard of living if you're still renting??

Depends on your pension income. Only receiving state pension and private renting then i would say no. Plus the uncertainty of renting and security in your older years. If you can secure council / social housing then yes.

Good question as its something I always worry about as been renting 25 years now.

If someone retires and only has state pension then they would likely get a good proportion of their rent paid for them through housing benefit. If a pensioner qualifies for guaranteed pension credit then their rent is paid in full up to the local authority rate and council tax all paid. there are loads of pensioners getting all their rent and council tax paid. If you have state pension, private pensions and savings then you won't get so much help. It really depends on your financial situation going into retirement. It's the same with everything. If you have saved you likely have to pay for your rent, care fees etc if you haven't it's mostly free.

Sorry I should also add that if you are retirement age with a younger partner under retirement age then things are no longer so good as instead of claiming housing benefit, a mixed age couple need to claim Universal credit instead and unlikely to get so much help with rent as state pension is deducted from Uc pound for pound. I guess the younger of the couple are likely still to be working but if not then these couples really struggle until both reach retirement age and can claim housing benefit as it is so much less generous.

It really depends on your pension and if you rent privately or social housing.

Yes I guess it will depend on all sorts of factors. It's depressing to think if I save like mad I could end up worse off. It feels like a bleak future. Maybe I'll be able to afford one of those wired retirement only homes in 20 years 🤦‍♀️

Thanks for the replies xxx

It's not just pension and income that matter, although obviously they are very important. I am actually more worried about issues of security of tenancy, and the suitability of the private rental sector.

I can't really imagine 85-year-old me on an assured shorthold tenancy, being given two months notice, and having to join the fray with the twenty somethings competing for another six-month tenancy in whatever's available. I can't imagine many landlords really wanting to take on an octogenarian in failing health.

Something is going to have to change when our generation reaches that point.

(My worry is an incentive to euthanasia!)

Yes good point you won't be able to constantly move about as you can when younger.

What do people in this position now do? Are there any? There must be???

Apply for social housing surely?

I think some over 55 accomodation is for rent rather than for sale, retirement flat type things. So I guess that's an option although I imagine they charge a fortune for them

I imagine if you were 85 and went to the council for help you would probably get moved into a nursing home whether you needed it or not which is rather depressing

The council would much rather give you social housing than pay £700 a week to be put people into 24 hour care. As a healthcare professional, it is nearly impossible to put people into 24 hour care when they need it, never mind when they don't!

I think this is a ticking time bomb.

With the shortage of suitable houses, prices rising, more people renting and people living longer it’s a problem that’s going to get worse. Major housing reform strategy is urgently needed.

I am going to be in this position and am putting extra in my pension now so it will hopefully be comparable to my current salary, when added to the state pension. My ideal outcome would be to have enough to buy a small retirement flat outright with my 25% lump sum but that depends on house prices and pension pot growth.

No council would put someone in a Nursing home unless they actually needed Nursing care. There are quite a lot of over 55's local authority properties although does depend on area.

That's interesting I do have a decent pension and some money from the house when we divorced maybe this is an option for me. Interesting.

Our parents are in this position with no savings and have social housing. They don’t get much choice tbh but it’s decent and warm. Housing benefit pays for everything.

I know a local pensioner who has never worked, has a full state pension, council flat in an old stately home, full housing benefit and goes on long haul holidays at least once a year often twice. Zambia this year. She hadn’t even lived in the UK until she was 65. So it can’t be that bad! Im paying a mortgage and won’t have a holiday this year!

There's always one! It's hardly likely she lived outside the UK for 65 years and then moved here on a full state pension, social housing and a private pension. Apart from anything else, her private pension would negate housing benefit, she wouldn't have a full state pension if she didn't live here until she retired and she'd have no recourse to public funds so no social housing either. Unless there's a really complicated reason why all the usual rules don't apply to her.

Her husband was British so she got a British passport. Was living in the southern hemisphere for ten years after he died then realised she’d be better off in the uk.

I think those retirement homes seem quite fun! I’ve visited a few of them.

A FB OAP friend is in exactly this position; was happily renting a tiny cottage in rural Devon with beautiful garden, with her partner and cat, and now landlord is selling under them and their options are almost nil.
It’s not even about the money really (though it is).
There’s very little social housing at all.
They've no transport.
She’s in the middle of complex NHS treatment.
It’s a nightmare

Just to be a bit boring about it, if you have capital of some sort then it's far more tax efficient to provide yourself with housing by using the capital to buy something outright (zero tax) than to invest the capital (maybe within a pension) and use the income to rent somewhere (almost certainly income tax at minimum 20%).

The actual calculation depends on a lot of things, but that's likely to always hold good to some extent.

Plenty of flats including retirement complexes. Just not the 3 bed semi with a garden dream home