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?

Op buy now, whatever you can get. If the dc have to share one room, or move out then so be it. Can they contribute with part time or full time jobs? You have a window of opportunity now, and securing your old age is vital.

I think the government ‘help’ is going to vastly shrink in the next decade, and people need to be prepared the days are going to end when there is support. Those on benefits are going to really really struggle.

You have the chance to work your way out of this situation, if you choose the right house/flat/whatever you can afford.
You have done as much as you can for your dc, this way you have something to leave them at least.

It's not actually that subsided any more. We pay £540pm for a second floor two bed flat which is roughly the same as a private rental nearby.

Why is there this idea that you have to leave something for the DC? Even if you have to struggle to do so?

@HardenYourHeart I’ve never had a mortgage but from my (possibly naive) perspective, it’s better to buy than it is to privately rent:

You don’t live with the worry your landlord can chuck you out when they want to via section 21 or selling up

You’re likely paying towards an asset that’s accruing in value

Eventually there may be an option to downsize

You have the option of overpaying on your mortgage, thus decreasing the loan and the interest on that loan

You can leave and rent elsewhere but get tenants in to pay your mortgage, hopefully making a profit

In an emergency situation you could sell your property with one of those we buy any house companies

One day, hopefully, that home is YOURS.

Totally agree with this. I sometimes think that I should simply put the money I've saved into ISAs for my kids so that they have a deposit although given the high earnings to borrowing ratios now, it seems that unless they get jobs that earn £90k plus, that will be difficult.
We need better housing planning in our country that goes beyond "build more". I'm in a tourist town near the sea and there is a correlation between the reduction in properties for private rent and rise in AirBnB. People with no connection to the place buy a second property and leave it empty or AirBnB it. On the handful of occasions I travel away myself, I refuse point blank to rent AirBnB on principle.
People living overseas and buying housing in UK should be prevented or limited in some way. A friend lives in a large victorian conversion and the landlord upstairs lives overseas. They are a nightmare to get hold of to effect any repairs and they don't care about anything other than getting their rent.

And the same should be true in reverse. Brits should stop buying cheap overseas properties unless the local demography encourages it.

Why would they want to though? They already have a secure tenancy, with maintenance and repairs done for free.

I think you fail to understand the current precarious situation of us who rent. We are currently "making sacrifices" to pad a private landlord's pension so we cannot make sacrifices to save for a deposit in a lot of cases. Every 4-5 years we are asked to move due to houses being sold from under us and given 2 months notice meaning that with the ridiculous cost of rent plus finding several thousand to move a family every few years, buying is an impossibility. Deposits required are extortionate and rents in my area (E. Midlands) have also doubled in the years since COVID. The option of buying is no longer a reality for many of us, even in full-time working households such as mine.

I could only buy because of family inheritance, and then only a teeny tiny house that wouldn't even nearly accommodate all my children if they had to come home. I rented until I was 59. No money, no pension, living off my earnings but only just and I only managed to rent because I'd been in the house 30 years and the landlords had basically pegged the rent. I was beginning to fret about what would happen when I retired, and the landlords were making 'are you thinking of moving, now that all the kids are grown up?' noises. My plan was to buy a van and live in it on someone's drive, because that was all I could afford, but my mum died and left enough to just (I had to borrow on two credit cards to make the entire payment because I would never have got a mortgage) buy the world's smallest house. And this is in Yorkshire, but in a village, so moderately expensive, but I didn't want to move because all my kids are settled nearby.

Continue to rent.

I have a housing association property, lifetime tenancy.

It's 4 bedrooms and 500pcm. If I'm ever an empty nester (I don't think I will be) I can exchange to a smaller property of my choice.

I don't live in the UK, so I am a bit better protected. My landlord can't just kick me out. Furthermore, my landlord can only raise my rent by a certain percentage every year. It's still rising faster than my wages, but it provides some protection.

Also, if I am a landlord myself, I am still responsible for the maintenance, which I already said I can't afford. The mortgage, taxes and insurance would leave me with nothing to spare.

I would also never be mortgage free. I would take me at least 30 years to pay off a mortgage and by that time I would have moved again due to needing something more walker/wheelchair friendly

i worry about this
i'm 56 rent private
i have £24000 in savings
earn 1800 a month
do i keep my savings for when i retire i don't have a good pension
or buy a small flat but would i get a mortgage at my age
it really plays on my mind

I’m in a similar situation, renting and I’m almost 41. Myself and my partner are hanging on until he gets some money back out of another property he still owns with his ex, and I’m hanging on until my mother departs. Are you likely to inherit anything in the coming years? It’s pretty much my only option frankly, myself & partner both earn relatively low, and cannot save anything while paying rent.

I'm lucky enough to rent a lovely housing association house, in a village with a great community. I have no aspiration whatsoever to buy, cannot see the point of it in my situation. Youngest is still in primary (I'm 50), but if it ever gets to a point that both DC are settled and don't need to boomerang back home at points, the right thing to do would be to swap it for one of the HA retirement bungalows in the village.

I just wish every single person on this thread was cheaply and securely housed too.

I feel for everyone who is and will be struggling. I do own a house with my DH now mortgage free, retiring from my job this year a few years before eligible for state pension as the stress will possibly kill me before then! I worry about things like having to replace the boiler or other big repairs. I’d like to downsize when my DS and his partner move out this year but will struggle to find anywhere we could afford that’s not a doer upper. For those of you planning to move ‘north’ take a look at prices. I know north is usually cheaper than south but there is ‘north’ and much less desirable ‘north’. Semi detached where I live can go for 200k to 400k plus and I’m not in a particularly desirable area. A bungalow or flat with outside space somewhere reasonable can be 500k plus. I wish I knew the answer, certainly more social housing needs to be built. Good luck.

Might be worth looking at Almshouses, if there are any in your area. They all have their criteria eg for older persons, single persons, retired army personnel etc . There’s even one for people who can show they have Huguenot ancestry ( that ones in Kent) www.almshouses.org/what-is-an-almshouse/

If you’re lucky enough to be fit and healthy or if you live that long

This situation is the best option if it’s possible. People skinting themselves to buy a house. Retiring then still have to find money for the upkeep.

There is over -55s social housing which is usually in a lot less demand so when both of you are of age, you may be much higher on waiting list for that.

It will be small though - one bedroom flats usually, maybe some two bedrooms. So it won't accommodate your adult children.

Will your daughter always require care and never live independently?

Agree about more social housing needed and get rid of the right to buy, at least until there are some replacement builds.

For cash strapped local authorities, there are some great pod houses coming on the market now and also container houses, all cheaper and easier to set up than conventional builds. Container houses in particular are capable of doubling up and going up a storey, so could be suitable for families.

I think that online buying has so radically and permanently changed the High Street in most towns that the empty shops should be converted to dwellings. This would also bring the “dead High Street” back to life and help businesses like cafes and pubs.
I have seen some great disused mall conversions too, with the effect of a small indoor village.
Multi generation houses also sound like a good idea, if you all get on! As someone said upthread, built in childcare, mutual support. I remember reading about one in Margate, set up by the council in one of those big seaside town houses.
I know I am lucky to have my house, but if I didn't, I would look into buying jointly with friends. I have lived in squats and communes previously and I have an idea about what works and what doesn't.

As per my previous post - I could have bought my flat for £17,500 15 years ago. The mortgage payments would have been negligible and it would've been paid off by now. The amount I'd have saved every month on rent would have covered maintenance costs with hundreds to spare. I'm now paying £540pm rent when I could have been mortgage free with an £80,000 flat. So it's very easy to see why people do it.

I could never, personally. And I think RTB should never have been a thing in the first place.

Renting is forever though a mortgage actually ends so cheaper and better in old age

This is us. Zero plan. Dont really have a pension either (because we’ve been trying to buy for the last 15 years)

We are saving to buy but the deposit is quickly out stripped by house prices rising.
all I know is there will be a lot of people in the same boat and the tax payers bill will be massive.

It does however leave you with more limited options in older age: if you want to move to live nearer to your grandchildren, or because you can no longer manage the stairs very well, or live in an isolated area with not many amenities, you’re beholden to finding somebody to do a mutual exchange with, or going onto the waiting list for another property - which can take years in many LAs nowadays. You also don’t have the option of releasing equity to finance living a little bit more comfortably day to day by downsizing. There are definitely many positives to remaining a social tenant, and for plenty of social tenants who can’t afford to buy it’s indeed their only option; but for those who can it’s always worth considering.

I hear you and I’m sorry you’re in the same situation. It’s shit isn’t it.

our last move cost us over 5k, we had 6 weeks to move from notice after 8 years. It triggered a mental breakdown. You live every day dreading the post on the mat.
it’s not how family life should be. Never having pets, being able to decorate their room, plant bulbs they will see flower.
that’s before you look at school catchments, and your children still going to school with their friends.

I rent from a housing association. I plan to go part year, cash in my pensions and spend them funding being part year, buying a decent car and travelling when I can before I claim my state pension so I'm under the £16k savings limit , then claim housing benefit.