Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Money matters

Find financial and money-saving discussions including debt and pension chat on our Money forum. If you're looking for ways to make your money to go further, sign up to our Moneysaver emails here.

Original poster

Bastard retirement village payments

214 replies

Makemineamediumone · 13/07/2021 21:13

Can't sell it as no-one wants it. Can't rent it as not allowed. Not using it as live elsewhere. Still have to pay the bastarding service charge EVEN THOUGH THE HOUSE WAS INHERITED and watching the equity slip away. Fucking bastarding money grabbing bastards.

OP posts:
catmg · 13/07/2021 21:19

Sympathies!

Can you not sell it back to the retirement village itself, for then then to sell on? Appreciate they would probably rip you off - they week definitely rip you off if you sell to someone else anyway - but presumably you'd be making some money out of it considering it was an inheritance?

titchy · 13/07/2021 21:28

Yeah they're a nightmare aren't they? Auction? We-buy-any-house types?

bilbodog · 13/07/2021 21:43

Have you dropped the price enough to attract a buyer? We had to do this with MILs flat - it took 2 years to sell and although she had paid around £250,000 for it 4 years ago we eventually sold it for around £190,000. I would never advise anyone to buy one of these retirement flats again - a money looser!

mayblossominapril · 13/07/2021 21:47

I can only suggest a significant price drop.
I don’t understand why they keep getting planning permission, there are loads springing up and the houses and flats cost more than a normal detached bungalow!
I hope you manage to move it on soon.

Original poster
Makemineamediumone · 13/07/2021 22:18

Thank you for your support it's just so bloody annoying. While the bastarding company reserve the right to buy back the properties they don't have to or want to and won't in my case. The price is rock bottom as it was bought for £185k and it's gone down and down and is now on for under 70k. Fucking robbing bastards. feelabitbetterforgettingthatout

OP posts:
LaurieFairyCake · 13/07/2021 22:21

God that was horribly overpriced when they bought it Shock

Souther · 13/07/2021 22:24

I'm sorryFlowers

Original poster
Makemineamediumone · 13/07/2021 22:36

Difficult to know really as that was the going price that was paid by the ones that bought then. It just seems immoral. It's not like the services are even being used. although I am tempted to go there to fill the bin up every week with my rubbish and eat as many non brand hard individually wrapped biscuits as I can from the 'Homeowners Lounge'

OP posts:
Councilworker · 13/07/2021 22:55

In a similar position in my family although this is for a share rather than the whole cost. Seems to have a sale agreed that's been dragging on forever and worried that it's going to go tits up and have to start all over again. There's now 5 properties on the same development all up for sale. Plus about another 20 all in the same town in newer shinier (even more overpriced) developments.

Bargebill19 · 13/07/2021 23:00

You have my sympathies. We had a flat with a company (similar to a high street shop.)
Zero help in selling. So stuck it on the market for a ludicrously low price and took the first silly offer we had as I refused to give the money raking bastards any more money than I had too. Even the council gave us a years grace on the council tax.

saraclara · 13/07/2021 23:10

Every time I see or hear someone being advised to buy one of these damn places, I reel off the experiences of my friends who've inherited the damn things, and not only find them impossible to sell, but have to continue paying the horrific service fees even though no-one's using the services. It took three years for each of my friends to offload them. And it cost them a fortune in fees.

They're a scam. They really are.

StCharlotte · 13/07/2021 23:16

The trouble is the target market isn't biting at the moment - most of them haven't left the house for a year! Also I personally think the retirement community bubble may have burst as it's such a rip off. One development here even has a 10% "commission" which has to be paid to the freeholder on re-sale.

I work in probate and I feel really bad every time I have to pay out thousands for services no one can use. We've probably got about ten files with retirement flats for sale. Some for years.

As I wrote on a similar thread, I also think equity release should never be available on retirement properties as that can keep racking up long after death.

Bargebill19 · 14/07/2021 00:39

I think the market is saturated. Where there was once one or two developments in a town, there are now none or ten such places.
It’s like the developers have swamped the market. They still reap the benefits as fees are still being paid on these probate properties. Then there is the next batch of pensioners who don’t/won’t have the funds to pay these ongoing fees, when perhaps they can stay in their family home and pay much less for care in their own home.

saraclara · 14/07/2021 00:44

@Bargebill19

I think the market is saturated. Where there was once one or two developments in a town, there are now none or ten such places. It’s like the developers have swamped the market. They still reap the benefits as fees are still being paid on these probate properties. Then there is the next batch of pensioners who don’t/won’t have the funds to pay these ongoing fees, when perhaps they can stay in their family home and pay much less for care in their own home.
This is the ridiculous thing. There were too many of these places for sale long ago. The first of my friends to be caught by this was dealing with her StepMum's flat and finally sold after three years, more than 12 years ago. Yet more and more and more are being built.

People who buy them want the shiny new ones that the developers are doing lovely shiny deals on. Not the ones that someone might have died in, in the complexes that the developers have lost interest in because they're not selling new.

SwedishEdith · 14/07/2021 00:48

Do they come with wardens? How many are empty and waiting to be off-loaded? What are the conditions for buying one?

Meh2020 · 14/07/2021 00:54

Where is the flat OP? This is interesting OP as both my mum and childless aunt are thinking of retirement villages as an option.

Meh2020 · 14/07/2021 00:54

Sorry OP, I meant to say it sounds a nightmare

Bargebill19 · 14/07/2021 01:24

@SwedishEdith.
Conditions of buying might vary from development to development. But the one mil was in said you had to be over 75, physically independent when moving in (eg didn’t need help moving from a wheelchair/hoists/24/7 care) and don’t have to complex mental or physical health issues - so not an alcoholic or to far advanced dementia. You also had to be capable of making your own decisions. If you deteriorated, they couldn’t force you out, but there were a lot of ‘conversations with wider families’ which usually resulted in that resident being relocated to the care home down the road within a week or two.
At that time they were cheaper than a care home even with buying the extra care packages that were offered, so a lot of people lied and the families were using the block as a glorified care home. Resulting in a lot of annoyed other residents. Currently over half the 48 flats are empty on resale. Originally they were marketed at £250k but are now going for less than £90k after about 8 - 10 years.

Bargebill19 · 14/07/2021 01:28

@Meh2020

Where is the flat OP? This is interesting OP as both my mum and childless aunt are thinking of retirement villages as an option.
They are good for care and companionship. I will say that. It’s the fees, especially after someone dies that are the problem. To me it’s a bit like people buying static caravans/lodges. You do need to do a lot of research and in a way, resign yourself to writing off a large chunk of money. The developers just seem to see people as walking cash machines. But that is only my opinion!
MurielSpriggs · 14/07/2021 01:37

Sorry to hear about this.

Unfortunately the truth is that they massively overpaid when they bought it. And like any business, the developers are not there to sell at a fair price. They're there to sell at the highest price they can. If people are willing to overpay they are not going to discourage them. It's only when you put any asset on the open market that you discover the true price. The onerous conditions lop quite a big chunk off what the price might otherwise be.

None of this helps you, but anyone thinking of buying one of these things needs to be very wary, and needs to be aware of what the true value is, which can only be ascertained by looking at the resale market.

Original poster
Makemineamediumone · 14/07/2021 05:41

@meh2020 Liverpool way. It's physically painting me to know that there are new ones going for ridiculous prices with this stored up.

OP posts:
Weebleweeble · 14/07/2021 05:50

You could try writing to the problem page person in the Money pages of the Sunday Times or Telegraph - sorry can't remember their names but the bad publicity can make businesses magically cooperative.

NautaOcts · 14/07/2021 07:14

Sounds awful
What would happen if you weren’t able to/stopped paying the charges?

FusionChefGeoff · 14/07/2021 07:20

My grandma moved to one of these and it's been an absolute lifesaver for her so I think the family probably wrote off the money as worth it if it makes her happy.

However, I don't understand why they won't sell particularly if there's more being built in the same town then the demand must be there? Why don't people want to buy them?

ineedaholidaynow · 14/07/2021 07:24

Surely this happens with all flats that have communal areas etc so have service charges not just retirement flats.

Swipe left for the next trending thread