To live in a Travelodge

[oakkiln]

Inspired by the other poster who started a threads about liquidating their assets and living in luxury hotels in their old age (but, for us, sadly without the assets!)

My husband and I are in a desperate situation. We are both late middle age and still rent. We are doing everything we can to save for a deposit for a house and live very frugally.

Rent, rates and all house costs etc come to £21k a year. But we could live in a Travelodge for £11k. Storage for furniture etc would be £2k

Are we crazy to consider it for just a year or two?

Absolutely not. Whatever it takes.

Have you put yourselves on housing list for social housing? If not now is the time to do so as waiting lists are long

I think I might be too late because it looks like you've probably changed your mind already, but have you factored in the huge fluctuations in price over the year? Our local one is £30 per night at the moment but goes up to £100ish in the summer, Bank Holidays etc and that's not somewhere people traditionally spend holidays, but is a convenient stop off for the lakes. One we stayed in last year is also £30 at the moment but we were paying about £160 a night in May last year, again not a traditional holiday area but a convenient stopping off place for west coast Scotland. I would also warn that Travelodge is not the most comfortable of hotel chains. I always sleep very well in them but, as a person of a certain age, finding somewhere comfortable to put myself in the long evenings, is very difficult. There is next to no clothes storage (no drawers for undies etc) and as lots of contract workers use them, you would have to get used to people above you banging around at 5am, thumping on each other's doors, clattering down the stairs and yelling to each other. I really hope you do find a solution though. You sound like you have more than paid your dues.

we were in a similar position to yourself 10 years ago and worried sick how we would keep a roof over our heads. Fortunately things worked out for us in the end. Have you looked at Anchor homes (my sister in law rents one of these and pays just over £500 a month, her husband passed recently but she’s in it for life or until a nursing home. There’s also Sussex Weald where you can part buy part rent on over 50’s. Otherwise there’s Trusted Housesitters and we would have probably done a mobile home. My brother in law got a cottage on an estate where his job was the care taker/ driver and his wife carried on with her own job. These are usually advertised in The Lady. I don’t know if your husband can drive but HGV drivers are in short supply. Good luck with it all, you will feel so much more secure and happy when you’re settled.

@Behaveyourself88 I posted about Anchor on an earlier post too - along with housing 21- it just depends really if you are tied to a region - Anchor have nothing on immediate rent in the area I live( Bath and north east Somerset) and little around London too -but lots in midlands and north east etc . It would work even as a couple of years solution if it wasn't for them and maybe save and buy shared ownership in a development that suits more- problem is if OP wants rural , older house and full house etc then they are going to struggle to get a mortgage to buy at that level - which is why o also mentioned Heylo - but they would need 25% deposit in ready cash

Honestly they're not the cheap and easy option people think they are.

Firstly most sites have rules stating that old vans have to be replaced at a certain age so the chances of getting a cheap one are slim. Secondly the ground rent can be pretty high, and they can put it up when they want. My DF was paying £350 a month ground rent (residential ones will be even more expensive) then he had to buy gas bottles on top which were expensive. Then when it closes for a month they all have to move off which is a massive pain.

I'm puzzled why @oakkiln hasn't been back.

The crux of this is figures.
How much deposit needed, how much is a house, can they actually get a mortgage offer at their age on her income?

I hope you're reading OP because there are posters here who could help if only they knew the figures.

@DesperatelySeekingDan I agree - I gave various suggestions but am having to go on random guesses have no idea if OP is tied to an area, maybe wouldn't consider an over55 development ( even if shortish term for a few years to get more cash together ) A bit more meat on the bones wouldn't be outing and can help those of us who know the market target our help a bit better- for instance Heylo that I suggested is great if they would consider shared ownership on open market but it has to be a house and they have to put 25% down - may be great and possibly doable if looking at say a small cottage in wales - in the under£180k market - may be totally irrelevant if they are tied to south east etc and would struggle to buy a house under £380k as an example

Thanks everyone, some brilliant thoughts and suggestions, I really appreciate you all taking the time to help.

@DesperatelySeekingDan I've done some research into mortgages and have a good grasp of the figures and budgeting so all should be good. It's mostly a matter of saving as much as I can for a deposit. I like your idea of speaking to a mortgage advisor though as they might be able to spot problems I may but have thought of. So thanks, I'll get onto that.

So many great ideas on here. I love the link someone gave for shared ownership on ANY house, not just a new build . That would be perfect for us.

I've read every message you've kindly posted and will go through all of them again and make some notes and see if we can come up a plan. I really appreciate the ideas, but more importantly I really appreciate you telling me I'm not completely crazy for considering it!!

I love your idea of Heylo! I think that may be the way we go when it comes to actually buying so thanks so much for this tip.

It needs a huge deposit though so just going to go through everyone else's tips on here. Travel lodge? Camper van? Bedsit? Canal boat? Holiday park? So many ideas. Whatever we decide it's certainly going to be an adventure!!

@oakkiln aw my pleasure - it's what we will do when we inherit!! ( we are early 60s) 50% down on somewhere nice.

I honestly wouldn't discount a housing assiciation place for over55s for a few years - it doesn't have to be a forever and ever situation but got to better than a bedsit or the travel lodge!!

@oakkiln the other thing with Heylo is you do benefit on any price gains and can sell on open market too

Housing Association over 55s is an option. We are going to consider everything and keep options open.

It's not ideal though as my husband wouldn't like the ones in flats and would love something rural. It's also my dream to have a vegetable garden. I love the idea of keeping bees. Not sure it will ever happen but nice to dream!

Thanks again for your advice

@oakkiln I totally understand that which is why I suggested it as a way of keeping your costs down in the immediate but totally get it may not be your forever solution - and doesn't have to be either. The housing 21 page was good for them as is anchor.

We are actually quite high earners but too old now for getting a mortgage within a decent timeframe to make it affordable in areas my H will consider - many reasons we ended in this position but mainly as we had a business failure and once back in a healthy position without the busted credit record-we were beyond the age levels - hence why I know about Heylo but also about shared ownerships in general in relatively nice areas - but not necessarily that rural as we will need to buy a percentage outright !!

No idea where you want to be OP but I can imagine something like this might work ( see below) - area dependent of course !! With Heylo your home it has a calculator and can tell you what size deposit ( would be about 60k on this) and how much you can go up to depending on income - max is usually about£550k if earning about £80k a year - I think it's around £320 on your income.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/151151114#/?channel=RES_BUY

Air bnb might be even cheaper

There's always allotments.

You can’t live on a holiday park, despite what the sales rep tells you!

At least the Travelodge wouldn't feel damp!

That house is so beautiful! Just our style and I love Whitby. I think I might need to employ you as our "house finding agent" when the time comes!

Sadly the five hour commute each way might be a bit much! It looks like I'm going to need a deposit of £60k - £80k. A huge challenge, but not beyond the realms of possibility if we get our thinking caps on.

Thanks again for your help

I've done some research into mortgages and have a good grasp of the figures and budgeting so all should be good. It's mostly a matter of saving as much as I can for a deposit. I like your idea of speaking to a mortgage advisor though as they might be able to spot problems I may but have thought of. So thanks, I'll get onto that.

You really do need to speak to a mortgage advisor- that's the bigger companies like Nationwide- and also brokers. Brokers can shop around and get deals that aren't obvious and bypass some of the negative barriers you may encounter.

If you need a deposit of £60-£80K, can you say how soon you'll reach that?
The usual deposit is either 5 or 10% so it sounds a LOT! Unless you're trying to reduce your monthly payments with a higher deposit.

ie a house costing £250K you'd expect to pay 5 or 10% deposit.
In the 'old days' before house prices rocketed, the guide was that your outgoings for a mortgage (or rent) should be no more than 30% of your net income. And mortgage providers wouldn't lend more than 2.5 times your gross income, 3 at a push. That's changed but it has resulted in a lot of people being really pushed to repay their loans and some repossessions.

I assume you've done the basic calculations of what you'll earn over the next 10 years (£50K x 10) , how that looks as net income, and the value of houses you' re looking at.

Also if you do manage to buy you can then downsize to a much cheaper area when you retire so you don’t need to get a mortgage over the short term you mentioned. Brokers will help you with this.

@oakkiln

Here's another couple of examples that might be quite you - but in the south ( Dorset and Somerset) - just want to give you hope that if you get that deposit together there genuinely are non dumpy things out there - if you use Heylo though it can't I believe be auction properties and they have to be immediately liveable - worth bearing in mind - both of these in beautiful towns - room for bees and veg patch . Indeed Frome is very bees and veg patch territory!'

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/147859229#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/155626622

Oh boy, YOU ARE HIRED!!

I love them both! The thatched cottage is stunning, and oh the garden in the one in Frome is just perfect (and crying out for a couple of beehives!)

It is a long way down towards the west county but actually only 1 hour and 20 minutes from work and an hour from our son's care home. That's possibly commutable? Maybe? The house is much cheaper than our local area so less working hours to make up for the commute? So much to think about! Exciting though!

Right. Off to look at Rightmove and research beekeeping! 🐝

@oakkiln honestly the secret is to set yourself a search on RM and put in the whole county so for instance Berkshire or Kent etc rather than specific towns - you can get some good suggestions that way of things you would otherwise miss if you set yourself price parameter and leave bedroom
Numbers'open' - just wanted to give you some hope that if you can get a decent deposit together there really are some options out there -so if you have to compromise on a small 1 bed or a studio flat or an over55 for a while it really won't be so bad -