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??

Clarion Housing (the largest HA in the UK), apparantly take self referrals as well as those nominated by various councils.

"Apply to us directlyClarion advertises a percentage of its empty homes onRightmove and Moving Soon. Please visit these sites regularly in order to view new Clarion adverts. You can express your interest in our vacancies via these websites and then submit an application for the property.
Applications will be prioritised and shortlisted in accordance with Clarion’s Allocations Policy. "

https://www.myclarionhousing.com/find-a-home/rent-a-home/social-housing-explained

Southern Housing do not take direct applications. Clarion it’s bed sit style for the over 55’s.

Genuine question, what would this housing reform look like? Governments (current and successive) will be unable to build the amount of housing that will be needed on a YOY basis. There will be people who own their properties - can’t force them out of them and people who have council properties - again can’t force them out.
Meanwhile more and more people will be entering and increasingly competitive rental market because they won’t be able to afford to buy.
My head just can’t make any solution out of this guaranteed mess.

@Andanotherone01 I have absolutely no idea.

There is going to be millions of people who are in private rentals retiring on little more that the state pension. Some of them won’t have a pension and will be on pension credit. Won’t be able to afford private rent even with housing benefit once they stop working.

I know older people in social housing who still live in the family home. They would downsize because they would welcome smaller rent and utility bills but don’t want to be in a high rise flat which seems to be the only option round here. I don’t blame them.

I think this situation could be what finally breaks the country. Even if we (as a society) can afford to pay out all the pension credit and associated housing benefits the physical homes won’t be there for people to live in.

There will be people who own their properties - can’t force them out of them and people who have council properties - again can’t force them out.

One option which I think may need to be seriously considered is a property tax. It really would incentivise more efficient use of the housing stock we have.

So as a very simple example instead of the current council tax, everyone pays 1% of the value of their home per year in tax. This would make single people living alone in large houses reconsider their position. And it would encourage houses to be rearranged and adapted in ways which would make them more efficiently-occupied.

It's hugely controversial and riddled with difficult questions about how to administer it, but to my mind it makes a lot of sense.

Please be boring about it this is the sort of info I need. If the capital from our house sale was enough to buy another house believe me I'd have done it! If it's not though what do I do?

Two ideas, possibly neither of them realistic.

1. Talk to a mortgage adviser about equity-release mortgages. They are usually a means for someone who already owns a house to borrow against it, not to pay any payments while they are alive, but for the outstanding amount to be recovered when they die by the sale of the house. As a rough guide you can borrow about half the value of the house depending on your age and life expectancy.

If the amount of cash that you have from the sale of your previous house could be a deposit for half the value of a new one, then it might be possible to cover the remaining half with one of these mortgages. There would be no monthly mortgage payments for the remainder of your life but when you die the entire value of the house would likely pass to the lender including the half which you contributed.

This may not be feasible but it could be worth asking.

2. Depending on whether you live in a part of the country with a lot of leasehold housing, another creative option could be to use your lump sum to buy something with a dwindling lease. For example, if a lease has dropped down to 40 years then the price will be pretty low. Most people won't want it because at the end of the 40 years the place will revert to the freeholder, and the value will continue to drop as the years go by. But if you are 70 that probably isn't something that is going to bother you.

I have a lifetime tenancy in my HA home so I’m lucky that I don’t have to worry. Pensioners are also exempt from the bedroom tax, although if that changed I could get a lodger.

As a pp said, the issue for me in terms of downsizing is not wanting to go back to a flat (been there, done that). I have a lovely home and garden. Nice neighbours (no noise or anti social behaviour) in a really nice area. And the rent on a lot of flats is only £10-£20 a week cheaper than for my house. So not a huge saving. Some even cost more! I’m also currently 5minutes walk to the nearest tube and I get free travel once I’m 60. Which isn’t that far off now.

The advantage for me renting is that I won’t have any housing repairs costs in old age. My mum got an inheritance at 60 and bought a small house. (She’d always rented before) and last year she had to replace the boiler, apparently all her guttering etc now needs replacing (which she can’t afford), she says herself the house is falling apart. My HA are a bit crap with repairs, but ultimately I don’t have to pay extra for them.

Not having a car to run, and not having to pay for any house maintenance will save me a lot and mean I can manage on less than I’d otherwise need.

My dad is in private rented and manages fine, his take home from pensions is more than my monthly wage! It's an NHS one, plus 2 others plus state pension

But a regular 3 bed semi on the outskirts of London can be £650-£700K! Where would the average family (and believe me, it is average families living in those properties!) find £7K a year on top of their mortgage? Impossible

Like I said, riddled with difficult questions!

Two possible answers:

• The idea might well not be too increase the overall tax take, so for example the money raised by a property tax would be used to replace council tax and perhaps some income tax - the family would pay £6k in property tax but would save thousands elsewhere.

• Houses for ordinary families would not cost £600k any more! The tax would cause the market to adjust. Controversial and problematic for anyone who has just paid that, but probably the direction we should be heading in anyway.

One company does some decent let's at not HA levels, but not McCarthy and stone levels either- always worth a look and they are long term over55s

Here's an example. (Cheltenham). They are called Girlings

girlings.co.uk/property/?id=29059

Lots of them won’t take pets either

I'd never heard of that kind of mortgage but how interesting! Food for thought!

Also been googling canal boats this morning off the back of all this but you need to be quite fit to live in one I think.

I can see similar problems here in Ireland in the years to come once people reach either a certain age or if they can no longer work due to ill health. They need to earn X income in order to pay rent and bills. A state pension or say disability or illness benefit and some help with the rent means that have to move to the cheaper end of the rental market.

I know people who decided they want a house and lived cheaply as possible to do this. They saved hard, drove old banger cars, put having kids on hold, had no holidays or nights out and had small weddings because becoming a home owner was important to them.
I know other people then who stayed renting and dispite having low rent never saved or made plans to buy a place. They had money for car payments, nights out, holidays but made no attempt plan for the future or saved in order to get out of the rental market
The same people are now complaining that their landlord is selling up. They are now finding out that local rent is higher then they were paying up to now and it somehow other people's fault that this is happening to them.

I know other people who due to no fault of their own now find themselves in a poor or bad situation re housing. They are aware of their situation and are looking into their long term options. They are making plans, are saving or are changing jobs in order to boost their income or get a better pension down the line. They are looking into cheaper areas, over 55 accommodation ect. In certain areas the population is getting older but all the housing stock is for families. Areas need properly designed smaller places suitable for single and adult couples who are 55 plus and accommodation that can still work well for them in their 80s.

Some of the narrative here re saving and house buying comes from a very privileged position. It makes me feel uncomfortable - almost implying that people get what they deserve (belief in a just world fallacy). Not to diminish people's hard work and sacrifice who have bought a house, but not everyone has the same options.

My friend's mum who I posted about, for example, grew up with an abusive parent, was forced to leave school young with little education and always worked in minimum paid jobs (e.g. cleaning) while looking after a child and eventually her own mum. She also entered an abusive relationship, with an alcoholic, and stayed with that person for many years. They bought a small flat, but she lost in the eventual divorce, not too many years after they bought it. She was in her 50s by this point. She moved into rented and never had the opportunity to buy again.

So I think the assumption that people who end up renting in retirement 'didn't try hard enough' or they 'wasted money on holidays' is unfair. Some people have less options and opportunities than others, and they need to be provided for. There are many people who are poor - pensioners included - through no fault of their own.

Agreed. It seems quite incredible and disgraceful that as a very wealthy country we cannot organise ourselves so that everyone has a secure and adequate home, especially the elderly and the vulnerable. Whether you own it or rent it should be no more relevant than whether you have your phone on a contract or SIM-only.

Wow, you should be in government with Leo. You seem to have such a good grasp of the Irish housing crisis...

I lost my own (mortgaged) place following a life crisis. I'm now in a Housing Association 'old people' flat. It's very far from the retirement I imaged - but, life 😬

While the intervening years were grim, reaching 60 suddenly opened up a more reassuring picture. I'm State pension dependent and get help with rent & council tax. My flat's safe, convenient, energy efficient, maintenance is handled by the HA, and there's no danger of losing it.

There are other options: schemes to help you stay in a home you're buying, group purchasing and shared ownership. The future provision of 'old people' homes is a lively issue, and I know housing associations are very focused on it.

They say they don't but Southern do. I'm working with someone who has one!

Well i dont know how you would apply as it states quite clearly on their home page they dont.

This. How generation rent is going to manage to keep paying rent in retirement is worrying.

Housing benefit.

100% this. ^ There are some very rude and sanctimonious comments on here from several posters. As I said, there is this 'I am better than people who rent' attitude from SOME people who are buying. Like they have worked harder, and are more deserving. Nothing could be further from the truth.

As I said (and you did,) some people don't have the same opportunities as others, and some peoples lives don't go as well as others. This 'looking down their nose' thing some people do makes me sick to be honest. 'There but by the Grace of God' and all that!

Also, as I said earlier, not everyone WANTS to buy, and be tied down with a mortgage, and multiple 1000s of £££ in repairs and maintenance over the years. And some people want to enjoy the freedom and simplicity that being a 'renter' brings... So there SHOULD be more social housing available - a LOT more.

As I (and others have said,) many other countries have many MANY people who rent - (long term social housing type of thing) - and no-one bats an eyelid. And no-one bloody looks down on anyone! It's only this country (the UK) where people are obsessed with having to OWN a property! (And where some people look down on those who don't own!)

We rent a bungalow in a small sheltered housing scheme.
We get our state pensions and PIP and guarantee pension credit.
I also have a tiny private pension.

Our rent is paid, as is most of the council tax.

I'd say we have a good income. For various reasons we never bought a house.

Move somewhere remote! That's what we did.
There are plenty of empty council houses in our village.
Middle of nowhere, Scotland!
It's lovely here.