Housing worries later in life

[Gohackyourself]

Just wanted to ask if anyone feels worried about the/their housing situation in the future.
I’ve been renting for past ten years- I used to own a home but divorce etc had to give that up.
Moved on met a new DP, but both of carry debt from previous marriages/divorce.nothing that isn’t sorted in a year or two but that will make me 45.
At that point, I’m put off of buying a property, the cost in my area for what I need is likely to be 350k, saddling myself with a 25 year mortgage :-(
But I’m aware that later in life if I had a house, paid up, my pension will see me through comfortably, whereas with renting, I still need to pay that cost.
But I get worried that what if I get to 60 plus an can’t work to finish that mortgage off?! Or I have paid it off but it gets taken by the state to pay for care home costs an I have nothing to pass on to my children.
There’s so much do I/don’t I around property buying later in life- especially after 1 failed marriage an a 2nd partner cheating- I don’t feel confident to do it on own an it needs two wages .... argh anyone else stuck as to what will be for the best- will they afford it etc

the cost in my area for what I need is likely to be 350k, saddling myself with a 25 year mortgage :-(

Move somewhere cheaper?

I worry about this as am renting in my 40s in London and will be moving somewhere cheaper and hopefully getting a mortgage (aiming for lower number of years though). Even if the mortgage plan doesn't work out, I think this will still be a better financial plan for me longer-term.

19lottie82- that’s not always an option, elderly parents, children, siblings, not to mention my job which is paid enough to try to get a mortgage-
Not everyone can move to places they want to live.
I also meant how to you address that worry, that if your renting an don’t have a house for whatever reason, how do you think it’s going to pan out for you- do you have a plan?

No it’s not always an option, but it is a lot of the time. Even in your area, do you really need a £350k property? I doubt it.
I’m not meaning to be bitchy here, just trying to debate between housing needs and wants.

I’m in a fortunate position that I won’t have similar worries, but I stay in quite a cheap area (my 4 bed in a nice enough area cost £141k 2 years ago and I have now paid my mortgage off).

19lottie82 Not debating needs vs wants on house sizes/prices/areas - just debating how you plan to deal with housing later in life if you rent vs buy - if you have been unlucky enough not to get on housing ladder or fallen off it.also you say you won’t have those worries but do you ever worry you may have to sell it for care An you don’t really gain out of it?

If you get to pension age and can't pay your rent then it just gets paid for by housing benefit.

That's a bit of a time bomb, there will surely be loads of private renters reaching retirement age in the next few decades. All that housing benefit will be a huge bill.

I’m not so sure babyroobs if it does?
What if you get to pension age an have got enough to cover rent by the governments standards at time but it leaves you not able to eat/keep warm etc :-( scary thoughts

Watching with interest

Your rent will be paid by housing benefit if you have just state pension but the more private pension income you have etc will taper down what hb would pay.

Still, if you have a mortgage you can't pay there would be no help so you'd be ina worse position.

Pensioners are as entitled to housing benefit as anyone else is if your income is low enough. I see it a lot in my job.

It is difficult but do remember, if you continue to rent, you wont have much to pass on either so
that shouldn't affect your decision.

Yes but I have recently seen 2 elderly people have to sell their homes to find care :-(

I googled this and there is a predicted ten fold increase in elderly people needing housing benefit in 2035- the figure is something like 3.4 billion will be needed to pay this pot?!?!

Yes I suppose many people have no decent private pension pot so they will need housing benefit help.

I do wonder whether housing benefit might become a political football at some point- it’s already being tinkered with (bedroom tax, capping).

So I would worry if I was relying on housing benefit in my retirement, that I would be forced to move to another area/property either at the beginning of retirement or later when benefit changes came in. That could be really stressful/damaging.

I’d think of it this way- I might not need to sell up to fund care home fees (most of my elderly relatives have managed to stay in their own homes bar maybe a week or two in hospital at the end) but I would definitely need to pay rent (whether assisted by housing benefit or not).

So there is a better chance of being able to stay in my own home and a better chance of being able to pass something on.

But it wouldn't matter if you needed the care as it's still your housing costs effectively. Obviously I want to leave my house to my kids if I can but if I were renting instead then it would be the same outcome.

It would be cheaper for the government to build blocks of HMO style bedsits for pensioners reliant on HB. I wonder if this will happen. Healthy Pensioners don't need spare bedrooms

Maybe we can start a rebellion an take over student halls of residence

Lapsed, that's what I was thinking, it would seem cheaper to move retired people low cost areas. This may well be cancelled out by the increased care costs from moving people away from support networks but that's probably not going to be taken into account.

@19lottie82 £350k mortgage gets you a flat in a most of London - you might live in a nice area of your town or city but not all jobs are available in all towns, and often there are family reasons not to move. In a cheap area there will often be fewer jobs for most people, so the benefit of a cheap house is offset by the risk of being out of work.

For the op, if you can get a decent mortgage you might be better off getting it soon and paying that instead of rent and then focussing asap on getting both of your debt paid off - You Need A Budget is something I learnt about from here, and has saved us a ton! So long as you aren't overextended or paying high interest, even if you haven't paid it off when you stop work you may well be able to rent out or a room or at least sell it and release the equity. Our new mortgage is far lower than our rent was for the same type of property.

Agree with pps that current levels of benefits are not necessarily going to be available in 15-20 years as there are so many more people likely to be claiming, plus pressure on nhs and fewer workers, it's just not sustainable.

There’s so much scope for false economies or abuse of vulnerable people Snuggy.

It would be cheaper for the government to build blocks of HMO style bedsits for pensioners reliant on HB. I wonder if this will happen. Healthy Pensioners don't need spare bedrooms

You mean like the workhouses?

Please don't give the Tories ideas!

Housing benefit in private rentals (LHA) often does not cover the full cost of rent. It is set at the 30th percentile of rents, so even if you're entitled to the full amount it may be far lower than you have to pay.

As an example, the one bed rate in my area is £94 a week. There are no one bed properties to rent though, and the cheapest two bed is £600 a month. That's £50 to find each week to top it up.

Bombadier it’s exactly what I mean-