Retirement property won't sell

[Queenofscones]

I have a friend whose father bought a 1-bed flat in a nice retirement village in a rural area in 2004. There's a restaurant on site and quite a lively social scene. The father paid £95k for it in 2004 and was happy there. He had to go into nursing care two years ago and died not long afterwards. My friend and her family have been trying to sell the property ever since. It was originally marketed at about the same price her father had paid for it but didn't sell. The family paid to have the kitchen and bathroom updated and decorated the place and replaced the living room carpet. Still no sale. They've take if off the market for a while and relisted at a lower price on several occasions and it's now down to £45k and there has been no interest. In the last couple of years the service charge has been £4.5-5k pa and the beneficiaries have had to pay that. Now the council are trying to hit them with council tax too.

The lease doesn't allow them to let it. The management company just shrugs. It's a nice little flat and when it was bought looked out over the gardens and onto open fields, but since it was purchased the owners of the place have built a new complex in front and it's lost the view and is now badly overlooked.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this? What did you do?

Have you considered selling via auction ?

Of course it doesn't cover food. This is independent living: flats where people can come and go as they wish and cook and look after themselves in their own kitchens. I've listed above all the things it covers: maintenance, buildings insurance, window-cleaning, gardening (beautiful grounds with lots of places to sit out in the good weather) nice communal spaces including a conservatory, a gym and a bar and restaurant, entertainment and events each week, live music on a Saturday evening (band, jazz trio, whatever), plus local bus stops outside or you can take the minibus that goes into the nearby (nice) town each morning and collects an hour or two later.

Maintenance of the grounds and communal buildings, presumably. So someone buying still has the usual costs of running a small home as well as the £4,800 pa? How many other flats are for sale or what do they sell for?

Puts most people off. Usually ‘modern auction’ is great for the EA who gets usually £6k (less auction costs).

God it sounds amazing,
id spend a month or two there a year ,to get a well deserved mum break

@Queenofscones they are !! (The good ones) but I'm afraid many people especially when older just look at that headline service charge figure instead of 'what am
I not paying for' and would rather fester in dullsville with few friends if any and a house that is often dropping to bits because they don't want to pay out on maintanance either (I've been there) !

My dad lives in a community like this in florida (a nice place and the residents are mostly left-leaning, diverse non-Trump voters thank goodness)- they're very popular over there with no problems selling them on. His service charge is a little bit higher but also includes the swimming pools, tennis,, outdoor barbecues, pickle ball, and golf plus pest control and internet. I love visiting him there for a free holiday in the sun. I guess it's the weather that makes the difference in the appeal!

I'm glad that you can see the positives, Crikey. Having just paid nearly £9k for re-rendering and cladding, and knowing that the flat roof will need doing before next winter, I can really see the positives of paying a fee and leaving someone to get on with it. I find myself thinking that it would make a fabulous cheap base. Council tax etc are low, so for about £550pm you could use it as a lock and leave. Go off to India for the winter and leave the place in safe hands.

Harold, my friend Sal's mum lives in a Florida complex like your dad's. She's in her 90s now and incredibly happy there — been there for 20 years, knows a lot of people, forever swimming and in the gym. I think for those people who like a bit of life and socialising they can be ideal.

@Queenofscones I think a lot of older people if I'm honest are frightened though of leaving family in the same position as you- I think this aspect needs looking at with these developments.

They are springing up all around me..It's bizarre. And everyone I know with elderly parents who owned one, has been trying to get rid of their flats for years. These places are just a millstone. I really don't understand why people still buy them. I would never inflict one on my kids.

I don't understand why it's not selling

is it over 55s? Does that mgmt fee cover 24 hour staffing?

I think they get institutionalized. 50 years in the same house. Old women outliving they spouse so living alone for 15 plus years. I can see why they hang on. Change is something to be afraid of for them.
My friend has just moved into a ‘community’ at 65. Perfect timing, lovely place, he’ll never need to move again.

The estate agents selling these flats should be realistic and be upfront about reducing the guide prices.I believe that they tell sellers what they want to hear so that they can get these properties on their books.For instance in Weybridge, Surrey there are flats that sold in the last 2yrs below £120,000 (1bed) in Bridge Ct. that are now priced at £160,000 and up. None are selling.Rip off Britain BBC exposes First Port (that are management at Bridge ct. in Weybridge) where the management charges are all over the place ! Be very aware if you are looking to purchase and ask lots of questions and don’t be afraid to make low offers.

£550 a month is a LOT when the state pension is what £800 a month?

How would they afford to live

Thd problem is they're sold as a lifestyle choice with everything inc bells and whistles(!) we looked at a new one and it was massively overpriced at 250k iirc when second hand ones were around 130k. The sales pattern is well rehearsed with 'free' moving, they'll buy your home (probably at a massively reduced rate) they'll provide new furniture whilst visiting you to discuss what you actually need to bring with you (obviously all reflected in the price)

The complex was built 5 years ago and there's still multiple empty flats.

MCarthy &Stone have a lot to answer for

Please please please buy mine, My mum passed in 2020 and its been on the market ever since. She bought it for £420k and I would be happy for any offer. Currently on with Foxtons at £175k https://www.foxtons.co.uk/properties-for-sale/gu1/chpk4660642

Went to auction last week, reserve £175k no bids!!!

Almost £12000 in service charge and council tax yearly 😬😬 plus it’s only for over 70s. The market must be very small for these places!

It's always the price.

Lower the price.

The market for these is completely flooded and the pool of potential buyers is limited. Some first time downsizers to retirement will pay for a brand new flat somewhere nice, but once it’s a bit dated then there are always loads on the market (turnover is high for obvious reasons) and a lot of downsizers don’t want to live in a small flat surrounded by old people when they could live in a nice little new build 3 bed house on a mixed-age mixed-income estate.

Round us, there's so many of these developments being built- who is buying them? Such a shame though, because they are ideal from a care and a community point of view, but I think you have to see it as a move for that person to keep them out of a home and not as an investment you will get back fully.

The fact they can only be sold to older people (between 55-70 the lower age limit) and can't be rented, plus the need to pay services even after you are dead makes them very untempting financially in one way. That said, if the alternative is pay care costs until you get down to about £16 thousand pounds, then it's probably not a bad option.

I think it should be illegal to say that they can't rent it out, as long as the renters fit into the right age group etc.

A friend of mine got divorced and had to buy a flat in a retirement block - no services provided as such, but everyone had to be over 55. When she moved in she discovered her own children weren't allowed to stay overnight - even for a weekend. I think that's appalling when it's your own place.

It's leasehold - you don't own it - you lease it and have to abide by the terms of the lease.

The terms are there to stop people taking the piss.

If they weren't, sooner or later you would get someone bringing their whole family in and living 7 to one flat and claiming they were just there on a temporary basis.

I understand that about the terms of the lease - of course I do. But if I bought an apartment in London I could have my children to stay occasionally. Why should it be different in that sort of place?