Renting in retirement

[rebeccak1]

Hello everyone, i'm currently about to sell up my family home due to divorce. I will have a small amount of equity to use for rent. My question is what happens when it runs out and i am no longer working? - how will i pay?

Retirement is not an age, it is a financial capability. If your equity runs out, and you wouldn't be able to afford rent/another mortgage then you can't retire, it's as simple as that.

Claim benefits.

You're better off renting as you'll get help sooner.

However, you need to be looking at social housing, preferably with an element of care, depending on your age.

You will be able to get help with rent and council tax.

Look into retirement places with council or HA to rent that are for over 55's.

Benefits I guess, on top of state pension there is pension credit, housing benefit, winter fuel payment etc. You might be eligible for them.

You can get help with housing but be in warned in most areas it doesn’t cover all the rent.
youd be best trying to get on the council housing list — but again, houses/bungalows are limited and there will be a bit of a wait especially if you live down south. They may also expect you to rent privately depending on how much equity you have.

You can only retire when you can afford to, basically.

You pay until you can’t afford to pay anymore and then you can claim UC if you are eligible, that can include the housing element but it still doesn’t cover all of the rent in most places so you’ll still have to cover some yourself + all other bills.

As others have said I’d say it’s worth getting yourself onto the council list but as you’re not homeless and have the means to rent you won’t be a priority so where we are you could be on the list for 7+ years just for a 1 bed flat.

If you are over a certain age you might be eligible for council flats for the retired, they obviously have a faster turnover than properties with no age limit.

So, depends on your age, responsibilities and area really.

You can get help with housing but be in warned in most areas it doesn’t cover all the rent.

and being in a council/housing association property doesn’t mean it’s actually affordable, even with benefits, especially if you want any kind of life. My sibling has been propping our DM up for years but DM is still £££’s in debt, and she isn’t a spender and never goes anywhere or has a holiday, it’s just not manageable on pension and housing benefits with the cost of everything these days.

You use your pension surely? If you don’t have a pension or other savings/investments you can’t retire.

Will you get state pension and a private pension?