AIBU to wonder why a pensioner struggling financially would not use housing equity?

[Powerbungalow]

I'm not being unsympathetic

Theres a lady on the news at the moment, saying how times are tough and shes only cooking one meal a week - imagine she's eating cold food.

One thing that stood out though "I own my own house and it costs in maintenance" Depending on where she is, would you not get a life time mortgage or sell and rent? She has a big asset, why not use it to have a better life? I know I would.

She may be holding on to it for inheritance, but she didn't say - if so, then can her family help. It just seems totally crazy

My ideal down size home would be a bungalow in the small town where I currently live. Apart from being too big with stairs our current home is perfect. We can walk to the shops, GP surgery and dentist. If a bungalow went on the market here we’d be all over it - so would dozens of other people. As it is we’ll stay put and install a lift if it becomes necessary.

I think this is key. I think a lot want to remain detached because neighbours are annoying and it might stop them making noise they like to make. They want a garden, maybe not as large but still a private garden. They want 3 bedrooms as a couple because they no longer share a room, so thats a room each and they might have a carer or a visitor stay. So suddenly they are trying to downsize to a 3 bed bungalow which costs more than there current bigger place.

Theres a lot of flats but its a compromise on every single front. So people wait and wait until they have to and then cant cope with doing it.

My mum downsized from a small terrace to a flat so it wasnt such a gap for her.

People need to be realistic about wants vs needs as they get older.
And they should be encouraged to downsize earlier.

My lovely grandparents are in their late 80s and have a 3 story townhouse, bought about 10 years ago - relocated to a town my dads brother lives in but they were happy moving all their lives.

It is only in the last year that my grandad has twigged that it probably wasn't the most future proof home for them. They have moved to the middle floor now but they wanted extra rooms for family to stay over. I don't think either of their spare rooms have been used more than once or twice. Most of the family only live about a 45 min drive so we just go home once when we visit.

We all told them a bungalow is the best option but they didn't think they were good value so hear we are.

Oh I think they will get by in Frome as it’s chokka full of younger and middle aged families. One thing he made clear was he didn’t want to be surrounded by old people.

Same in places like Torbay. They’re being sank by adult social care

Yes it’s one reason my FIL didn’t want to go anywhere that felt ‘old’ - luckily he does have plenty of cash to cover off any social care needs- at moment( touching wood) has none- not even a cleaner

Part of the problem with downsizing is the amount of stuff we accumulate. Dh and I are considering downsizing in the next few years - once he stops work, probably - and we are acutely aware of the amount of stuff we will have to purge from the house, in order to fit into a smaller place.

Given that I am disabled, and can’t stand for more than a few minutes, it is hard for me to do decluttering on my own, so I rely on Dh to be the muscle, whilst I am fairly good at being ruthless about what goes. Even so, it is such a massive task that it looks almost impossible.

I can imagine how, for someone on their own, or for older people (Dh and I are in our early 60s), it must be an almost insuperable task.

Do it a room at a time. Maybe a week to a room. And try not to be sentimental. It’s hard.

You’re right, @Differentforgirls - and it’s definitely better to do it now than to have to rush through it, in the months leading up to a move.

But I do think that the job of decluttering may well seem too big for some elderly people - both physically and emotionally - and this may be a factor that puts some people off downsizing.

Two bedrooms, (there are two of us) sitting room, kitchen/kitchen area, walk in shower or wet room. Ground floor, or with lift access.

I’ve just come back to this thread and see it’s descended into some strange nostalgic poverty porn. What today’s fiscal policies relating to provision for pensioners has to do with whether or not some of you had indoor plumbing in the 1970s I’ll never understand. Get over it. Childhood memories don’t pay the bills. And this country’s pensioner bill is increasing exponentially.

Exactly. Downsizing should not be a response to a crisis, it should be a proactive decision made at a suitable time. I find it so strange that so many people seem amazed by the concept of ageing. What did they think was going to happen?

My friend's parents moved to something very like that - it was a retirement complex owned by a charitable foundation and they had flats for full sale, part rent part by and full rent. You needed to live in or have a connection with the London borough it is in. It was ideal for them and she was really grateful they moved there when they both developed terminal conditions that impacted their mobility in their late 70s.

oops sorry quoted the wrong post - mean to quote @Seymour5

Agree.

No it doesn't. If my house was worth 2million and I was broke I'd sell it, but a small flat for a quarter of that and live off the fest

Most peoples houses aren’t worth 2 million though. And since yours isn’t, you have no idea what you would do if it was.

I was a housing officer for a local authority before I retired almost 20 years ago. I have seen the benefits of moving into the right type of housing, and also the problems faced by those who won’t or can’t. The provision of the kind of housing your friend’s parents moved to is patchy across England, they maybe were fortunate. I can’t speak for the rest of the UK.

There is little information or support for low income home owners in relatively inexpensive housing. The affluent have lots of choice, and social housing tenants are helped to downsize by their local authority or other housing provider. Not everyone has the same options.

I love some of the opinions of younger posters, perhaps when they are aging, getting frailer, and with no support they may take their own advice and downsize. Perhaps by then there may be an adequate supply of suitable accommodation that everyone who wants or needs it can access.

@Differentforgirls Of course the house will be yours - what an idiotic thing to say. You live in it and as a bonus if you fall on very hard times you own an asset you can sell, borrow against, rent out or release equity from to help fund your lifestyle - how is that not owning it?

Cash poor/asset rich people have been doing this for generations - which is why the widowed landlady/boarding house owner is such a common trope in Victorian and early twentieth century literature.

@Seymour5 completely agree and I think there is a big role for HAs and LAs in building this sort of housing for exactly that type of person - lower income homeower.

My friend's parents got lucky. They had to sell their property a few years previously to clear a debt and had been renting privately. They had enough for a deposit but not enough to buy even a bedsit outright in London and were reluctant to leave London as all their friends and family were there. In the end my friend this charity and they had a flat they could apply for and they go accepted on part own, part rent.

You need to downsize in good time. 60’s, not 70’s.

My parents did it when they were 80 and 82. It was fine.

I met a man on a cruis

You need to downsize when you are ready. That differs for everyone.

Fair comment, but in your seventies there is a reasonable risk of death (20-25% over 10 years), stroke, etc, and also economic risk. A housing recession can easily last 5 years.