To STILL not want to downsize?

[toconclude]

Live in Victorian smallish semi - technically 4 bed but three bedrooms are singles and DH uses one as a study and always has. Downstairs bathroom which we've managed with so far.
Ongoing options are: convert one bed to bathroom so one on each floor - then as we get older would improve safety (currently average age late 60s)
Or downsize to smaller bungalow. In our town that means almost inevitably spending more money as land is pricey, and getting rid of DHs bulky Edwardian heirloom furniture
Also would lose my lovely neighbours of many years and my lovely garden.
Have already given both kids significant lump sum towards buying their own house.
A reaction to a comment in another thread about selfish boomers "hoarding" family houses.
Don't feel like a hoarder but maybe we are😳🤷

Don't downsize if you don't want to. I'm a millennial and doubt I could afford your house! I'm happy in my 2 bed semi.

I wouldn't leave where I am happy. This is your home. Converting a bedroom to a bathroom sounds a very sensible idea. You will still have a spare bedroom. After reading so many treads here about bad neighbours I would be staying where you have all you need. Other peoples opinions about hoarding houses don't bother me. Your house your home bought and maintained by your money

I wouldn’t get upset about any hoarding comments. You won’t be hoarding it forever.

I think in your position I'd put in the extra bathroom but stay put - good neighbours and a lovely garden are very valuable!

DPs parents sold their 4 double bed detached and moved to a 2 bed bungalow when they retired at 60. This left them a decent lump sum which they used to travel. Sadly one of them became terminally ill a few years later quite unexpectedly, and that illness and the outcome was slightly more bearable because they had already downsized, the bungalow was easier for carers and the surviving spouse wasn't left rattling round in a huge home.

It's difficult though. I live in a big 5 bed semi and can't imagine living in anything less than a 3 bed preferably detached even when my DC have left home. DP has quite a thing about bungalows with dormers in the loft, we may end up going down that route (as he is more keen than me to downsize).

It’s your home and you have every right to live there.
I hate the term ‘boomers’ as much as I hate ‘karen’.
Is it possible that you could make a bedroom on the ground floor if necessary, that way, say you broke your hip and couldn’t get upstairs, you could remain in your home ?

You don’t owe anyone else a house!

The bathroom plan sounds like a good idea.

It's YOUR home. If you're happy living there, you keep it. It's sensible to make changes to make it more comfortable as you age, of course, but as long as you're happy there, don't move for the sake of it. It's a decision you can't take back once it's done, and you're likely to regret it.

@GeneLovesJezebel

It’s your home and you have every right to live there. I hate the term ‘boomers’ as much as I hate ‘karen’. Is it possible that you could make a bedroom on the ground floor if necessary, that way, say you broke your hip and couldn’t get upstairs, you could remain in your home ?

Yes we could go entirely to downstairs living if necessary.

Well that’s what my DM plans to do when the time comes, live entirely downstairs. She says the only time she is leaving her home is in a box 🤣

The lack of appropriate housing is a systemic issue which needs systemic change, individuals downsizing won't do anything.

It’s the little things, though. What is your access like from the street to the front door? If you are almost immobile, can you sit in the sun in your own garden?

If you have two reception rooms downstairs, then one can be turned into a bedroom seeing as you have a bathroom downstairs already. Do you have two reception rooms? Will that bathroom take a wheelchair?

Does your toilet have the space for someone to be manhandled onto it and off again, including turning them around and into a wheelchair again? If there isn’t enough space, it’s bloody hard.

If you need carers, can they park outside your front door? I don’t think carers get paid until they are inside. (Happy to stand corrected here). Are they getting paid to walk x number of minutes up and down the street having had to search for parking?

I agree that good neighbours are a blessing but they live their own lives with their own priorities.

These days, those mobility scooter thingies are so useful in maintaining one’s independence. But can you park it, charge it and get to it?

My DM planned to live a long life but died of cancer at 64. Prior to that, we had elderly, frail relatives. A lot of lessons were learnt and I will not forget them. If you are unsure, a discussion with a geriatric occupational therapist (do you have them in the uk?) will perhaps guide your thinking.

It is your house. Convert a room to a bathroom upstairs for your convenience. As you get older a stairlift may be the way to go. Alternatively if you have a room downstairs that can be used as a bedroom even better for when you get older. It would be cheaper than moving. Make your house work for you and do not worry about it being sold in the future someone else will make it work for them

Bungalows are not that practical in my opinion.

Firstly they often have the bedroom at the front which for me personally is a no no, I dont want to be sleeping at the front of the house on the ground floor, no matter how set back from the road I am

If the bedrooms are not at the front, they are likely to have any sun room or conversatory off the bedrooms at the back, this I wouldnt like.

I dont think Ive seen one bungalow layout that I like to be honest and Im on right move all the time as a bit of a hobby, picking random areas just to have a snoop (sad life but there you are).

Do what's right for you but imo it's better to downsize before you're ready as often people wished they did it eg after health scare but it's too late.

We're not downsizing either. It's interesting that the tax system does not really encourage it. Where we live is expensive and every transaction is very expensive in terms of stamp duty. Stamp duty encourages people to stay put.

If we do want older people to free up larger houses then they need either a carrot (some stamp duty exemption) or a stick (annual property tax as a percentage of the value of the home - that would have us out in a jiffy ).

I am in my forties and single and live in a four bed that I love. I have a downstairs loo and intend to live here as long a possible.

I am but personally responsible for solving anyone else’s housing issues.

If we do want older people to free up larger houses then they need either a carrot (some stamp duty exemption) or a stick (annual property tax as a percentage of the value of the home - that would have us out in a jiffy

I don't understand the reluctance to pay SD if downsizing as the vast majority will have made far more than that in gains over the decades.

The property tax is interesting and normal in other countries.

Agree with those saying the word 'boomer' is so insulting.

I'm mid 50s, so actually miss out on being a 'boomer' by a couple of years or so - but frankly people can fuck off to the far side of fuck if they think I owe them my home after all my years of work.

The idea that old people who won't fuck off and die or crawl off to somewhere smaller and let others have their home once they are deemed as old and useless is the MOST selfish and entitled attitude I've ever come across.

My parents (mis 80s) are still alive and in the large family home they've lived in for 50 plus years. They have no intention of going through the stress of moving house to gratify some entitled stranger who is eyeing up their home.

@TheSandgroper

It’s the little things, though. What is your access like from the street to the front door? If you are almost immobile, can you sit in the sun in your own garden?

If you have two reception rooms downstairs, then one can be turned into a bedroom seeing as you have a bathroom downstairs already. Do you have two reception rooms? Will that bathroom take a wheelchair?

Does your toilet have the space for someone to be manhandled onto it and off again, including turning them around and into a wheelchair again? If there isn’t enough space, it’s bloody hard.

If you need carers, can they park outside your front door? I don’t think carers get paid until they are inside. (Happy to stand corrected here). Are they getting paid to walk x number of minutes up and down the street having had to search for parking?

I agree that good neighbours are a blessing but they live their own lives with their own priorities.

These days, those mobility scooter thingies are so useful in maintaining one’s independence. But can you park it, charge it and get to it?

My DM planned to live a long life but died of cancer at 64. Prior to that, we had elderly, frail relatives. A lot of lessons were learnt and I will not forget them. If you are unsure, a discussion with a geriatric occupational therapist (do you have them in the uk?) will perhaps guide your thinking.

One of my friends is an OT and she thinks it's fine

If you downsize you'll be buying a smaller cheaper house that a first time buyer would be more likely to be able to afford so to me it wouldn't make any sense. Anyway you bought and paid for that house so you can 'hoard' it all you like

Live however you want but do agree a bit of future proofing is wise.
I'm that respect, having a downstairs bathroom is great.
If you don't want to lose a bedroom, is there a large former airing cupboard or space that might accommodate a toilet and sink?
We have a downstairs bathroom which we prefer but managed to fit a toilet and basin in a cupboard on landing that is only 1m by 1m. Door opened outwards which helped
It did need a macerator for fall height but for a pee in the middle of the night it's made a great different without sacrificing a bedroom

@fogglez

If we do want older people to free up larger houses then they need either a carrot (some stamp duty exemption) or a stick (annual property tax as a percentage of the value of the home - that would have us out in a jiffy

I don't understand the reluctance to pay SD if downsizing as the vast majority will have made far more than that in gains over the decades.

The property tax is interesting and normal in other countries.

Because you still have to live somewhere and the prices of those properties have also risen. As I said, price of small bungalow around here is higher than value of our house

My parents (mis 80s) are still alive and in the large family home they've lived in for 50 plus years. They have no intention of going through the stress of moving house to gratify some entitled stranger who is eyeing up their home.

Will you inherit anything? Will your parents circumnavigate IHT? Personally I think that's a big issue, some inherit lots but others don't & for many an inheritance is the only way to get on the ladder. Plus against the backdrop of very high taxes I do understand why the young may feel resentful tbh.

Nobody needs to downsize if they don't want to and you are lucky if you don't need to. We are making our house bigger while we can afford to in our 30s with the express intention of downsizing in our 60s as we refuse to work until we are at deaths door.

@Calmdown14

Live however you want but do agree a bit of future proofing is wise. I'm that respect, having a downstairs bathroom is great. If you don't want to lose a bedroom, is there a large former airing cupboard or space that might accommodate a toilet and sink? We have a downstairs bathroom which we prefer but managed to fit a toilet and basin in a cupboard on landing that is only 1m by 1m. Door opened outwards which helped It did need a macerator for fall height but for a pee in the middle of the night it's made a great different without sacrificing a bedroom

Sadly no. It's really a small "artisans dwelling" with two modern extensions the 'landing' is a short narrow corridor