Inherited Macartney&Stone retirement flat - anyone rented one out?

[damemaggiescurledupperlip]

We inherited a one-bed retirement flat from DH's parents over a year ago. It has been listed for sale since then, but no real interest.

An alternative would be to rent it out. Has anyone done this in a Macartney and Stone development?

(I don't want to be a landlord, but the ground rent, service charges and double council tax do stack up. We have lowered the price twice, but nothing in the block is selling.)

They rarely sell as people look into the high service charges and other high costs. When my nana was in one they tried to get all owners to form a management company but not all wanted to do this. Plus there were costs for the lift which broke down a lot. My ex solicitor boss always advised against buying these flats.

I can see why these properties are popular for retired people with the common room and warden but over time the remaining flats stayed empty when left unsold and the remaining owner residents quite rightly got annoyed when the local council wanted to put these residents in them. My nana’s flat luckily sold quite quickly after her death but it was a large 2 bedroom flat.

If anyone is after one to rent, just go on rightmove and in filters select ‘show ‘only ‘ retirement’ , there are lots , but possibly not where you or your relative want one! Some are lovely, some are not . There’s an amazing one near us came up very recently ( think it still shows)?in Corsham on the wadswick green development ( which is fabulous, swimming pool, lovely cafe , golf course - £1650 a month for a 2 bedder, and of course as rented no service charges, mint condition, which I think isa bargain . Especially if you have sold a place and can stick your cash away earning interest. My only issue with renting one of these is that I would think someone quite quickly would be looking to sell which is maybe ok if in your 60s and need to move a bit - not so good mid 70s onwards!!

In the BBC article the lady had 9 happy years in her flat before dying aged 96, so it was certainly a good buy from her perspective. I do think her son needs to drop the price by more than £55k and abandon any notion of an inheritance - the flat has served the purpose for which is was bought. Can these be gifted back to McCarthy & Stone to save any further service charges?

I think that’s the thing , if you can get a second hand one in a decent area for maybe £140k , you kind of have to write that sum off mentally - they are buying into a ‘community/lifestyle’ - not buying a residential investment . The services charges are an awful lot less than if the alternative is a care home , but then again they shouldn’t be going into care homes anyway if they can live independently with a bit more support - but some do !!

My own view is that the rules/law needs changing - if a flat cannot sell after 1 year , then M&S ( and similar providers) should be obligated if the new owner wishes to buy back at a set price ( as determined at purchase of roughly 50% of purchase value) these should then be utilised as ‘long term rentals’ - it would then at least cover the M&S service charges and a bit more on top - it could be actually a nice long term income stream for them . Another option that many maybe don’t realise is you can do shared ownership on quite a few nice over 55 developments - we’ve got one in Bath called Pemberley place owned by Anchor -

Exactly @Crikeyalmighty. My Dad would def. be in a care home if he wasn’t in his flat, he couldn’t manage in a house now. He may end up in a home eventually but he’d really prefer to have carers coming in to him as several residents there do. His Mum ended up in a home and it really upset him so he wants to be independent for as long as possible.

I don't understand why the person who has inherited one of these flats should have to pay a service charge. No-one is in it, and no-one is using the services. People should refuse to pay it. Ditto the council tax.

Also, as has been said, there needs to be many more to rent. That makes much more sense than buying. As someone said further back, no-one in their 70s or 80s needs to be buying one of these places.

Hopefully this thread serves as a warning to people, and people will refuse their inheritance if it's one of these bloody McCarthy and Stone flats.

The service charge costs are still there, even if there is no-one living in the property. This would apply to any development, not just retired persons and not just M & S.

Yep, same applies if you are 47 and own a leasehold flat - admittedly you have a wider range of buyers but you still have to pay service charge and council tax- it’s not unique to over 55developments. I’m not saying there aren’t refinements that would be useful , ( being able to rent out or buy back schemes etc ) due to a restricted amount of buyers but I do see some statements as if it only applys in the over 55 market. The big issue is a lot less prospective purchasers due to restrictions and the fact they aren’t an investment, and a lot of older people are well aware it’s very often dead money to be honest . The reality is though that paying for care homes will whip through money too if you are paying with nothing to show for it and for many it can be an alternative, even for a good few years - a relation has had one for 13 years and it’s been good for them - one difference is the flat has been kept very well, decorated, new kitchen. Bathroom refurb, new carpets, fake fireplace, - only cost about £12k in total as it’s not big but looks so much better than many you see .

Saw this on the BBC this morning.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgykp79ezyo

We need more properties at a reasonable rent designed for older people! We’d be queueing up, and freeing up family sized homes. For those pensioners like us, on a low fixed income, we could afford to pay rent and service charges by liquidising our only asset, our house. That could reduce some of the benefits bill, and mean we could pay for support if we need it. As it is, we are in a house with more rooms than we need, with a garden that we might be unable to maintain, and the only bathroom upstairs.

Huge gamble buying one at 87.

Yep , that’s the issue -

had you thought about shared ownership on one of the newer nicer developments ? So you would still get rent , but it’s much lower , plus service charge and you would buy out ‘your share’ ‘in cash’ - that would give you the security of tenure, but still leave you cash in the bank earning interest. - we’ve got shared ownership in a development here in Bath and I know platinum skies do it on south coast and Salisbury - clearly depends how much equity you have but £100k or so gets you the share and these are very nice posh developments with lots of facilities - to be honest it’s less of an issue I feel too with ‘mentally writing it off’ if you have paid £100k , to if you have paid £350k !!!

@Seymour5 come and have this rented one -2 bedder too - it’s the most beautiful development ( swimming pool, cafe/restuarant , etc ) in a very lovely town near us ( well just outside)

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/141362975

Gosh where I am, within 5 miles, there are only 3 for rent, one at 3kpcm, one at 2kpcm and one at 1kpcm

No choice at all really

@Crikeyalmighty thanks for that. We’re in the North, much cheaper houses here so not big margins to play with. I would consider it, but nothing like that in the area we want. We’ll keep looking.

That is quite reasonable tbh. The market is very small anyway so there are not going to be 100’s. And at completely different prices. £1k per month is good as it includes the service charge and you can just leave when you like.

They can be fabulous places for older people to live - my parents are in one (not M&S but similar). My parents value the staff on site 24/7 (and have had to call them out several times in the small hours), they use the laundry for large items and often have lunch in the restaurant. There are coffee mornings, talks, gentle fitness activities, cinema afternoons and it's all within staggering distance. And none of the weed smoking, dodgy rental neighbours which I think you'd find in many of the normal blocks of modern flats around their area man of which have been bought to let. It's a real community which they hope to only leave in a coffin.
Yes, the service charges are very expensive but as we are not nearby, we all find it reassuring to know they are supported.
Yes, I'm anticipating a difficult time selling, apart from theirs is the nicest, biggest flat in the block with its own garden and entrance, so hopefully that might work in our favour. But in the mean time, it's been fantastic for them and I'm glad they're there.

@PriscillaD that is good to hear.

We have just started the process of trying to sell my FIL's home to buy in a similar sounding place, not a M&S.

My FIL has dementia, not too bad at the moment but he is 86 and needs greater levels of support. Hard to give the 24hour support you get at these places if your parent stays in their own home. Also things like having freshly cooked hot meals and a handyman if anything goes wrong is reassuring both for my FIL and the family.

That is great to hear. Thank you for sharing. I am hoping to live in a retirement property when I am older as I won't have any family to help me (only child and have no children).

Would you sell it if you priced it much lower than the competition?
I think that's what I would do.

Often it’s not the price itself (often older people will have a fair bit of capital from selling the family home) it’s the ongoing (and rising) costs that their fixed income may not be sufficient to meet.

It is. There are social housing complexes that can offer similar support and security, companionship etc., but in many areas home owners are excluded from applying. Unless you have a substantial income, and an expensive house that will fund M&S or similar, I suggest living in rented housing and spending your money whilst you can if you want to spend your last years in a retirement complex.

If you base this on say £6k a year service charges, many need to be spending at least this a year on their house and services , just to get it into acceptable order. This is why I would say if it’s appropriate cash in the house, rent one or buy into a shared ownership older persons development and keep cash in the bank earning interest .