Moved to a Bungalow early!

[WinterVibes]

We are a couple late 40's early 50s. We've taken the plunge and moved to a lovely bungalow in a quaint village with beautiful views. We are still close to a lovely vibrant market town and have 2 lovely country pubs within a 2 minute walk.
Bungalows seem so sought after and hard to come by (and mostly overpriced due to this fact, especially in good area's). We decided to take the plunge now, rather than wait until we are a lot older. I've witnessed so many older family members struggling to afford one but now have health/mobility issues etc. and would be much better off on one level. My elderly Mum is terrible on her feet and I really wish her and my Dad had moved to a bungalow years ago, but she feels too old to uproot now which I understand, plus the area's she would prefer are out of her reach price wise now.

This will be our forever home and we've done quite a lot of renovating to put our own stamp on it, its all open plan living and kitchen with a lovely log burner so even heating will be cost effective as only one main room - I feel like we are ahead of the game now rather than having to face the transition when we are old and it's much harder for us. It's great for us now, but equally I could happily see us here when we are old and frail - if we are lucky enough to reach old age 🙏

Do you think we are bonkers?
Over-Planning?
Has anyone else done this to be ahead of things and future proof?
Bungalow chat a-hoy 👵🧓😂

So the only thing you'd change is to essentially make ot a bungalow?

I was pointing out that not all flats have communal entrances and no garden etc. But yes, if I had a spare half a million I would love a bungalow

This is such a depressing thread! You are talking about preparing for old age before you are even mid fifties. You need to enjoy your life now and think about old age when in hits you. I am probably 20 years older than you. I am in training for a 10 hour walk at the moment. There is no way I would move in to a bungalow. My mother, in her nineties, manages the stairs and you can always get a stair lift. Yes, infirmity could strike tomorrow but I won’t spend every day thinking about it.

Weird thread all round

I bought a bungalow a few years ago (no difference in price to a house the same size), I'm in my thirties.

I use loads of different steps and stairs throughout the day while I'm out of the house.

I can't imagine people who live in a house with stairs are running up and down them all day everyday anyway lol

Bizarre

If you love it now then it's fine and fair enough getting one, you won't necessarily need one as you get older though. My grandparents are 85 still living in their two storey house with no problems and no plans to look for anything else.

Sorry, reading too quick. I read it as you saying that bungalows and flats are different and the only thing you'd want to change would be to have no upstairs neighbours! I apologise.

I moved to a bungalow in my mid forties as a single parent.
Not wildly rich at all, but the bungalow I moved into needed a lot of work decoratively.
I wasn't a well paid full time worker, but bit by bit, I replaced the bathroom and kitchen as they were my priorities.
Everything from the ceilings (covered in either old fashioned artex or those polystyrene tiles stuck up with superglue) down to the carpeting which when pulled up you could see through it coz it was that threadbare!
However I was actively searching for a bungalow coz like you, I didn't want to struggle in old age, and I felt that maintaining the place would be more practical for me, as cleaning the windows, guttering etc, I'd be able to manage without calling in services to attend it.
Also, I hate moving home, for me it's a stressful time, with not only the logistics of moving day, but the worry of the moving "chain" of buyers and sellers.
So I feel that it was a very good idea for me.
Must admit I've not heard of "bungalow legs"... I do keep fit, and if I'm being honest, I have better fitness now, than 20+ years ago when I was in a house with stairs.
I've been doing squats and weights and rebounding for quite some time... going on seventy now, but I've lost weight, and there's a huge forest within walking distance.
PP are generally right about bungalows being expensive, but as mine needed sooooo much attention it was underpriced.

This is such a British post

Enjoy your new home OP

No worries, I probably didn’t word it very well!

I rented a bungalow after my DH died cos I couldn't live in our family home.

The kids had the downstairs rooms and shared a bathroom - they loved it.

I had the upstairs room with ensuite.

If I could have bought it, I would have, but it wasn't for sale.

I sold up and bought a 3 storey house instead so my DS could have a floor to himself. I rue my mistake everyday!

I think you've made a smart move.

The stairs in my house are probably the stairs i use the least. I rarely have occasion to use them in the day and often going to bed is the first time i go upstairs. I'm fine!

ooh I've just been telling DH that we need to do this sort of move while we're young and not wait til we're older. Both of us have parents currently struggling with stairs in their houses but also adamant they don't want to move. Years ago they used to talk about moving but clearly a window has been missed. I do understand; they're comfortable where they are and they don't want to change at this point. It's definitely something they should have undertaken 10 years ago.

All this going on about bungalow knees though, honestly 😆 It's better than (warning for sad subject matter incoming, but this topic is a personal one for me) being found at the bottom of your stairs days after your fall. There will be a day when your body won't keep working the way you want it to, and it's better to prepare early.

Not at all, my parents are desperately trying to sell their house to move to a bungalow. In the time they've been on the market bungalows locally have shot up in price but houses have not, and they are struggling to find anything decent in their price range. They wish they had done it years ago.

Thank you. I don't know why it is that Brits imagine everyone in the world lives the way they do, in poky little houses with narrow stairs - it looks like a version of hell to me! Most people here live in what they call a bungalow also, and our muscle strength is fine.

As for this ridiculous nonsense about "bungalow legs", I've never heard anything so silly. There is no great virtue in having stairs.

Why are bungalows considered only suitable for old people?

My parents bought a bungalow in the 1960’s when they got married. It was (at the time) £200 cheaper than the 3 bed semi houses around it.

It had 3 bedrooms and we all grew up there (I have 2 sisters) and it was plenty big enough, no-one ever thought anything about it being an ‘old people’s home’. Although in the late 70’s they did a loft conversion adding 2 bedrooms upstairs, sacrificing the smallest room downstairs to house the stairs.

My Dad still lives there now!

We live in a bungalow and love it! Large plot so we have a very generous garden and it's just big enough for us all to have space, but also be close. And the bonus being it should see us well into old age with only a few adaptations required.

Missing the window as someone else said. That's the rub. Downsizing at 60 from a large 4 bed 3 reception with huge kitchen/utility with zero help from OH nearly broke me. It's not just the packing up but the sorting, recycling of furniture, books, ornaments. Plus disposal of a skip worth of stuff.

Plus liaising with solicitors, estate agents while your partner who's older is running around like a headless chicken faffing about emptying three sheds and a barn containing all his come in handy shit.

Seven years on he still witters on about a bit of missing wood, jar of screws etc that must have been stolen, lost or thrown by me in the move 🙄

Anyone else feel that the word "bungalow" is objectively hideous?

We are 35 and 36 with 2 young children (6&3) and an 11 year old DSD and are two years into building our own bungalow!!! We always planned to build our own house but when this land came up in the perfect location it had planning already for a bungalow. So here we are. It’s bloody massive and the back garden is a field and I can’t wait to live there!! Xx

It's from India or somewhere i think. It's not an English word

Bungalows are quite common where I live - defiantly not just for the elderly. Lots of big four and five bedroom bungalows and renovated one story cottages.

there is a row of four across the streets from me and all are lived in by families - the plot is bigger so good sized garden for the kids.

We moved into a semi-detached bungalow last week. My husband couldn't manage the stairs anymore. If we'd had the space we would have had a lift installed (which only cost around 2k). But I love bungalow life.

I’ve lived in my bungalow since I was 25. Been here 12 years and still love it . It’s semi detached but my neighbour is elderly and deaf which is a blessing as my son has autism and can be quite vocal at times . All the neighbours are elderly which has never been a problem .

It's definitely our plan. We live in a Victorian terrace so the stairs are awful IYKYK. As a 5ft body long woman I struggle with them with my little legs. We used to live in a ground floor flat and I think that got me prepped and ready for bungalow life!

@Mummytotheboy I'm 5 foot and love my steep Georgian stairs!