Who still rents in their 40’s/50’s- What is your plan?

[Myhouseismyprison]

I live in the South East, for various reasons we have never managed to purchase our own home.

I am now in my late 40’s and DH is 50. We still have children at home who all have their lives here so unable to pick up and move somewhere cheaper just yet.

We have some savings but nowhere near enough to buy here for the house size we would need. We have rented the same house for several years but know this can change quickly and have no idea how we would afford current market rent.

I just wondered what plans people had in place for retirement? What savings accounts would be good?

I’m 48, single income and live in the South East. My youngest of 3 goes to uni next September so once her A levels are done, I am planning to move back to the north, where I am planning to buy a house. I will have to take a shorter mortgage but have a good pension. Not ideal but like you, my kids had life’s here and couldn’t just leave, but my kids are aware that I have to move next year. Their dad will still have a house here; and Ds and his gf will live there after graduation this summer as DS has a job starting in london in september. Their dad will be overseas for 3yrs with his job. I will still come back this way for work, but cannot afford to live here any longer.

We rented until our 40s and the only way we bought was with inheritance. Also in the south east.

Otherwise we'd still be renting, my mum in her 80s is renting and it's a bloody nightmare as she only on just above state pension and we are having to massively top up, with no end to the rent going up and up as she ages.

So I'd be doing anything I could in your position to save and buy for old age if nothing else.

I think that is a main concern. Our pensions are also only basic and not going to be bringing in a fantastic amount.

Not sure whether we should be putting all spare cash into our pensions or into a deposit for a house move north. I am a carer for DD so a move north may not be feasible in the future.

I'd be saving for a deposit, as you don't have long to pay off a mortgage.

Then you can switch to pensions or downsize if you can move from south to north and release any capital?

Am 48 rent in London. Have inherited a house I'm selling and intend to use the money to buy a flat with along with my savings. Just need the damn thing to sell.

A couple of years ago I looked at shared ownership but I earned too much to qualify, which was ridiculous given what the monthly payments would have been.

49, living in a relatively expensive city in the north, (grimly) house sharing. I’m waiting for my share of the proceeds from a family honeymoon that’s been sold, but that would only give me a 30% deposit on a two bed flat here. I would also be buying alone. I bitterly regret wasting so much money when I was younger and that’s why I’m in this position. I can’t face renting or paying a mortgage in my 70s and beyond, and have no kids to support me, so have few realistic options. It’s all hugely worrying, tbh.

I'm a similar age, with a DH of a similar age to yours, also in the south east, but we don't even have the savings 😭. Both will have reasonably decent pensions which will help but no real plan for the future except inheritance when the time comes (assuming it hasn't all been eaten up by care costs!). We can probably combine households with my single, childless sister at some point to share costs but otherwise I guess I need to start buying lottery tickets!

I own, but if I didn't, I honestly would buy the tiniest studio flat to ensure I owned something (as soon as your kids leave home).

I know someone who is 60 and rents and has never owned. He was settled for many years in a nice little house with a garden, before the landlord wanted to sell and he was left scrabbling about for somewhere else. He's ended up in a first floor social housing flat with noisy neighbours and no garden. He will have to work until he drops dead to afford his rent.

Not owning a property leaves you very vulnerable as you get older.

I own, but if I didn't, I honestly would buy the tiniest studio flat to ensure I owned something(as soon as your kids leave home).

This sounds sensible, but ideally I’d live in a house. Shared ownership is a way to get there but the properties I’ve seen are overpriced. Maybe I’ll start looking at one bedroom flats a bit further away (averaging £70K).

I rent a council property and as a single parent to four on a low income I’ve never had the means to buy. It’s unlikely at nearly 50 I will be able to buy in the future. Even if I could afford the mortgage payments I would struggle with having enough in savings to afford maintenance and repairs.

Im not really sure what I can do at this point except carry on renting here and hope I get a bit of help with it once I retire. I don’t have any private pensions, just the NEST one. I’ve never had spare income to put into a private one.

I'm 50, single and rent. I don't worry about it anymore tbh, can't change it so just accept it. My rent is too high to get a deposit together. My pension will be good, so I'll be able to afford rent when I'm retired, although I'm not planning on retiring until as close to 70 as possible, I dread the thought of not working.

Once you retire you can get help with your rent, if you're on a low income. For those in SH, it could cover up to all of the rent. For those in private rental, it could cover a decent chunk. There's also more SH options for older people, once you're over 55. There's various schemes about and there's less of a shortage due to the age limit. Especially if you're open to moving areas, if you currently live in a more popular area.

If you're in the position of being in your 50s and renting, you really need to do your research. Possibly get your name down on the SH register (which anyone can do at any time). It's not like it costs anything to do that, but if you're not on the list you won't get anything! Plenty of benefit calculators you can use to crunch numbers to see if you're likely to get any assistance etc.

I'm surprised that people would get into their late 50s and not look into all the options. You can't just sit there passively saying "I don't know what I'll do". You need to be proactive.

We looked at shared ownership but the property we looked at was £2000 a month. The figures just didn’t add up.

We chose not to buy, having a property, paying mortgage plus all repairs, plus all the hassle selling sharing between kids, inheritance taxes etc etc. It's great lovely 3 bed house moved to in North east, pay 470 a month, just had a new boiler and heating system installed, new doors and windows next month and no cost to us☺️ we prefer it this way affordable and money left to do fun things

The very cheapest 2 bed house where I live is 180k. With shared ownership you still pay for your own repairs as far as I’m aware. Unless your DD receives very specific specialist care then could she not move with you when the time comes up?

I think you might have to face up to the fact that you can currently rent a house bigger than you can buy.

you might have to buy smaller

The rental situation in the UK is just not fit for purpose.

Successive Governments have tried to "fix" the system, but their efforts have just made things worse. I posted on a thread a few weeks ago about how the obsession with driving private LL out of the market and making every rental a certain standard has done nothing for tenants, I was called a "greedy landlord".

I'm not a LL, but I did rent for a long time and know the market. Yes, inflation means that rents will be higher, and wages haven't kept pace with it, however, making it illegal to rent out that converted garage on the side of your house isn't helping anyone. The housing "crisis" is entirely artificial. I have lived in some pretty sketchy places over the years, but I was thankful for the independence, despite the dodgy locks, damp rooms and mouldy cielings. But I had a choice, and I chose to live in those places because they were cheap, cheap for a reason, but you don't have that choice now. The Government has decided that you can either be homeless, or broke from paying the rent. No middle ground.

Being in your 40s and renting is precarious OP, I feel for you. I don't think pensions will be of much use when it comes to covering rent, not 15 or 20 years from now at any rate. You may be better off "living for now" and throw yourselves at the mercy of the local council when the time comes, there is a high risk that by attempting to be responsible and doing the "right" thing now, you will get yourself into a position where you have too much money to qualify for any help, but not enough to have any meaningful standard of living, or even being able to rent at all.

Married, adult DC, in my 50s, DH early 40s. We rent from the council. We'll never be able to afford to buy anywhere and we don't have any pensions (I won't even qualify for the state pension). Plans, you say?! 😭

In our mid 40s and rent but it's council housing. Due to my dh's disability and me on a low wage, we haven't been in the position to afford to buy. We are lucky to have social housing though. We actually live somewhere with a fairly high amount of social housing too. Quite a few of my colleagues, also live in social housing.

Yes indeed @Chiseltip There have been a few threads on here over recent years by pensioners who’re living mortgage free and have average private pensions but weren’t entitled to anything other than their state pensions and were struggling to pay for repairs etc from their savings.

I live in the north west and was only able to buy a very modest terrace (£160k 10 years ago) because of an inheritance. Trouble is the town’s gone massively downhill and it’s not really a place I enjoy living in. Surrounding countryside is nice enough but the town centre is abysmal and it certainly doesn’t have the plethora of social activities that a nice affluent place would have and which I read about in ‘retirement’ threads.
I guess my point is that nice parts of the north are pricey and increasingly popular too. l’d love to move somewhere just not as depressing but it costs.

That's my point, it's a shit situation to be in having worked all your life.

Sometimes, doing the "right thing" only helps others. Imagine having too high an income (pension or whatever) to qualify for any assistance, but not having enough to pay even the cheapest rent.

And at 60-65, not a good place to be.

As a single person I started by buying a shared-ownership flat in London in my late 30s then I sold it and moved to a south east coastal town at 50 to afford a small house and semi-retire.

In your case I would move to a cheaper location.

There is so much competition for rental properties and rents are so high that it is not a comfortable or safe position to be in if you have to rely on landlords once you reach retirement age.

there is a high risk that by attempting to be responsible and doing the "right" thing now, you will get yourself into a position where you have too much money to qualify for any help, but not enough to have any meaningful standard of living, or even being able to rent at all

This is something I also often say on pension threads and why I urge people to do their research. There's a myth with pensions that any pension is better than none, no matter how small. But if you're a renter, any "additional" income you have (above state pension) will be deducted from any benefits you receive or make you completely ineligible to even apply. So the money being paid into a pension now is just to pay rent later on! Even though you would have got it paid if you hadn't bothered! (certainly with SH). You can end up worse off in the end.

Obviously this only applies to people of a certain age. If you're young, you have time. You could argue there's a moral aspect, and that everyone should be contributing to their own old age. But purely from a financial perspective, it's something to consider.

That is always the worry isn’t it. When I left my job to become a carer to my DD, we suddenly became entitled to everything. Going back to work that worked around my daughter meant I ended up slightly worse off overall but due to renting I feel immense pressure to improve our financial position and the only way to do so is to get back into the workplace. I have been on the social housing register for over 15 years and still coming up as 70th in line.