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😳🤷

@Blimeyherewegoagain

Studies have shown that older people living in houses keep better health that those in bungalows. The going up and down stairs helps keep your muscles and heart healthy. X

What rubbish. My mum has stayed in a bungalow since she was in her early 30's. She is 87!

@godmum56 that’s a good reason to buy a bungalow, not because you’re supposed to just because you’re 60+. Hope your knees thank you.

@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 ?

Baby boomers is the official (and older than me, a millennial) name for the generation!!! 🤷🏻‍♀️

I have absolutely no issue with people not wanting to downsize but I have an issue with people sitting in their big family homes with 2 or more spare bedrooms and kicking off about "all these new builds".

My town is especially bad for this. My street is all 3 bed semis (some 4s if they've had extensions on) and there are only 4 families on the street. The majority are occupied by one or two elderly people who have lived here since the houses were built in the 60s. We are a 3 minute walk to the local first school and nursery. There is a new estate being built in the fields behind our estate and the uproar from the locals is insane. The school would have space for the extra children, as a good portion of the intake doesn't live in the catchment because they can't get houses!
Not to mention the locals blaming everything on the "new folks".

Studies have shown that older people living in houses keep better health that those in bungalows. The going up and down stairs helps keep your muscles and heart healthy.

Is it the bungalow causing the lack of health though, aren’t people in poor health more likely to move into a bungalow? For example, my DH’s grandparents (in their 80s) moved into a bungalow because his grandma has a problem with her knee which prohibits her walking up the stairs. She’s had an operation on it but she still finds it painful to walk anything more than short distances. The fact she cannot walk very far at all, and can’t do stairs, is why they’ve moved into a bungalow, but it’s also presumably contributing to any general ill health from generally moving around less. Her DH is I assume also affected by this to a certain extent because they no longer walk together (to the shops etc), they drive, so he isn’t walking as much either.
So they may live in a bungalow, and maybe suffer from not moving as much, but the bungalow is a symptom, not a cause.

A reaction to a comment in another thread about selfish boomers "hoarding" family houses.

Meanwhile they probably also expect you to have enough rooms where your grandchildren can nap while you look after them because they don't want to pay for childcare. Funny that.

Apparently “bungalow legs” is a thing. If you don’t climb stairs very often you lose the ability to do it. I can believe it. Stairs are good for you as you age.

@Nothappyatwork

I have a friend who is an loss adjuster and honestly like the effort and time and expense they go to to not pay out with blow your mind. I wouldn’t be hopeless I just move into another house and then get it fixed 🤷‍♀️ Obviously car insurance is the law so you don’t get a choice as to whether to pay for that or not but I’ve had my car stolen written off and they didn’t pay out on that, despite loss adjuster friend actually writing out the claim 🤦‍♀️ kind of puts me off any insurance that’s voluntary.

Utter, utter tosh.

You are bonkers, I'm afraid.

@EinsteinaGogo - you dont need to be afraid dear. Would you like to see the ombudsman’s report about how the insurer doesnt need to pay out for astolen car ? Pm me hun 🙄

@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😳🤷

If upstairs access is on your mind, what about installing a lift? Stiltz do ones that go from one room through the ceiling to a room above. More expensive than a stairlift, but much more practical. Then you won't have to think about a bungalow.www.stiltz.co.uk/home-lifts/

@Blossomtoes

Apparently “bungalow legs” is a thing. If you don’t climb stairs very often you lose the ability to do it. I can believe it. Stairs are good for you as you age.

no it isn't and once again I'd like to see where the research is for that please?

There you go @godmum56.

www.chilled-out.co.uk/bungalow-legs-a-condition-suffered-by-the-elderly-is-growing/

no it isn't and once again I'd like to see where the research is for that please?

I have heard same thing. So, it might be a thing.

And here…

www.sciencetimes.com/articles/30994/20210504/bungalow-houses-stairless-homes-hasten-decline-associated-aging.htm#:~:text=While%20many%20people%20move%20to,maintaining%20balance%20and%20preventing%20falls.

[quote Blossomtoes]There you go @godmum56.

www.chilled-out.co.uk/bungalow-legs-a-condition-suffered-by-the-elderly-is-growing/[/quote]
sorry but that is not valid reseachg, its someone's opinion.

Zadar’s link has proper scientific studies.

[quote Nothappyatwork]@EinsteinaGogo - you dont need to be afraid dear. Would you like to see the ombudsman’s report about how the insurer doesnt need to pay out for astolen car ? Pm me hun 🙄[/quote]
I work in insurance.

I'm also a generally intelligent person.

For a homeowner to not have buildings cover because 'their friend told them it's worthless' is genuinely hilarious.

Goodness me, you are a very silly person!

yeah and here's the conclusion
"Despite the above-described limitations, to our knowledge, this is the first report to identify an association between home type and IADL of community-dwelling older people with a large-scale prospective cohort study. Although a barrier-free house is recommended for older people, our findings suggest that living in a home with stairs may have the benefit of IADL maintenance for older adults who are functionally independent."

basically all they can come up with is while you are able to do stairs then stairs MIGHT be a good idea.

Ive heard this about bungalows but does it take into account that you're more likely to move into one if your health is failing anyway? Therefore it might make sense that people who live in bungalows or single storey living have worse knee problems anyway

@EinsteinaGogo

OP,

You should absolutely not move out of your home that you've loved, unless you want to or have to.

Blimey - stair lift, mobility scooter, hoist - eff me, the list of things some posters are saying you need to plan for 🙈🙈🙈

Let's put oxygen masks and hospital beds in every room and be done with it, shall we?

Let's put oxygen masks and hospital beds in every room and be done with it, shall we?

Best comment ever...hahahahahhahahaha
absolutely brilliant
I think I will say where we live we should always wear an inner tube around our waists at all times so we don't fall in the lake and drown.

All this silly talk about ‘bungalow legs’ - how ridiculous!! What about people who live in apartments, with lift access? Do they also have ‘apartment legs’? People can become unwell or disabled at any age, so their homes might need adaptations to enable them to remain. Or they can move into something more suited to their needs.
It’s important to think about your future needs once you get to retirement age. It would be pointless to wait until you cannot manage in your property, and then try to organise an alternative urgently. These things take time.
We bought a beautiful bungalow in a mixed development, so there is a complete mix of young families, older people and everything in between. Shops/public transport/GP/dentist etc., all available locally. We did lots of homework before making the decision to move, as whilst still very healthy and active, things could (and did) change quickly.
If 9 years of bungalow living has damaged my knees, I wouldn’t have spent Saturday night on the dance floor.

@EinsteinaGogo

OP,

You should absolutely not move out of your home that you've loved, unless you want to or have to.

Blimey - stair lift, mobility scooter, hoist - eff me, the list of things some posters are saying you need to plan for 🙈🙈🙈

Let's put oxygen masks and hospital beds in every room and be done with it, shall we?

I disagree, @EinsteinaGogo, you do need to plan for mobility limitations if you plan to stay in a house forever. My Mum fell down the stairs as her health deteriorated (a stairlift would've been great for her) and my step-Mum had a stroke last month after having a checkup at the doctor's the week before - they said she was in good shape. Her mobility is now limited, it's happened literally overnight I think it's naive to assume that things like that won't happen after a certain age.

I completely agree with you on home insurance though! A few years ago, neighbor's tree fell onto our garage during a storm. The insurance company was great, the $7,000 repairs were completely covered after the deductible (we're in the US). It's bizarre to not to have insurance.

There is a housing shortage in this country. I live in a place where my street is filled with elderly couples in big houses, with 2-3 unused bedrooms each, and yet they are the vilest sort of whining nimbys when developers want to build houses for others to live in. The elderly hoarding housing stock is much less of a problem than 2nd homes and properties bought for investment and left vacant, but let’s do what they do in many European countries and have council tax as 1% of a house’s value a year. That might bring minds into focus sonewhat. If you want to live in a big place, be prepared to cough up and help society out.

I think we are paying enough tax as it is.

We are an incredibly low tax economy.

And what we do pay is filtered through to private companies in terms of handouts for the elite.