Retirement Apartments for the over 55s

[Manoverboard]

There comes a time perhaps when many of us have or will consider selling up and moving into an over 55's retirement complex, beit a cottage, a flat or an apartment.

In Dorset there are several choices like McCarthy and Stone, Churchill Living, Beachcroft and English Courtyard and possibly others.

Many years ago we searched extensively for our parents but nothing came of it but it seemed to be a good idea, on the surface anyway.

So ...

What is the right age to take this step, too young and everybody else will look ancient and be riding about on zimmers ... too old and it could be too late.

Do you lose all your friends or make heaps of new ones, should you head to the seaside or to the countryside, near the shops or in the middle of nowhere.

What is the wisdom, how does it work for you ?

[david63]

This is something that we are currently considering and we do not really have a clue. We feel that the "retirement" complexes are not for us at the moment but the alternatives that we would like don't seem to exist

[Silver_Shiney]

We've been told that if we took my mum away from her home - or more specifically, her garden - it would kill her. Whatever the age is at the time of moving, make sure that much loved hobbies, like gardening, can still be enjoyed in the new location.

[Andrea S]

MOB, I have just posted about looking at and moving into such a complex.

It is under the house preference thread.

Locally we have similar companies but also a retirement village called Larkhill Retirement Village..The idea is to live independently but if you became ill you would be able to stay in your own home with nursing care. There would never be a time you would have to sell your property to go into a nursing home.

It wasn't for us but we did move into a complex for over 55's without involvement.

We are not old it is just the numbers that shout out. !!

[Gill W]

'Downsizing' is something that we will probably consider in the future, but I'm not sure if it'd be into a retirement complex

I'm not sure when we'd move, but there'll come a time when we'll know it's the right thing to do. It's not in the immediate future, I'd like to stay in this house for at least 10 more years. By then, I'll be early 60's and Mr Gill will be early 70's.

For me, I think it'd be way to early to go into sheltered housing, but I think we'd just have to see what Mr G's health and fitness is like at that time.

I can see the advantages for the very elderly as there'd be people looking out for them, but at 60 I'm not sure if I'd want all my neighbours to be in their 90's

[Meg 50]

MOB, I have just posted about looking at and moving into such a complex.

It is under the house preference thread.

Locally we have similar companies but also a retirement village called Larkhill Retirement Village..The idea is to live independently but if you became ill you would be able to stay in your own home with nursing care. There would never be a time you would have to sell your property to go into a nursing home.

It wasn't for us but we did move into a complex for over 55's without involvement.

We are not old it is just the numbers that shout out. !!

I went to sing at a place like that - sheltered housing for the active on one side of a quadrangle, a retirement home on the next and a secure dementia unit on the third - the road being the 4th!

all the choir asked to put their names down as we left!

[Andrea S]

Meg, Larkhill was rather like the TV programme on F O. Ideal for some but less appealing to others.

In principle the idea is good.

[Wobgoescruising]

Love the idea !. My Mum moved to her little cottage soon after we lost Dad. It's perfect, two beds, communal gardens and all outside maintenance taken care of. She didn't want anything with a laundry room, communal sitting room etc but with a pull cord for emergencies she feels safe but fully independent. There are only 22 cottages and there are a few 55-60 year olds but the rest I guess 75+. We have friends in their late 50's who are retired. They bought one of these homes but spend the winter months renting abroad in the sunshine, returning home here when the weather is better. Perfect plan I think, no maintenance to worry about either !.

[Manoverboard]

... We are not old it is just the numbers that shout out. !!

We are not old either but try convincing Dark night of that small detail.

Is it that we refuse to get old but that one day we will wake up and think " Oh S*it, we got that wrong "

I am, we are, with David63 on this one.

We sort of instinctively know that we should be doing something anytime soon but we are not entirely sure what ' it ' should be ... 55 years old is not old, nor is 65 but 75 probably is ... but not for everybody of course.

I do so agree, SS, about the gardening ... Mobietta would be lost without her plants and flowers to potter about with and that would indeed be high on the list.

[Andrea S]

Until we experienced some medical problems it wasn't something we would have though about . It got us thinking that at some time in the future we may have to move for physical reasons.

We felt it was better to do it whilst we were well enough to choose where we wanted to be, well enough to get it how we wanted it be and well enough to enjoy the extra time it gave us together.

We re -fitted everything from a new kitchen, new bathroom , new boiler and central heating so when we moved in it was just how we wanted if to be.

Moving when we did was right for us and had given us far more leisure time. We also get to spend time in the sun during the winter knowing the property is 'safe'.

MOB 75 is what !!!

[david63]

The point about downsizing is that you have to do it before you get too old to do it. I saw that with my mother-in-law - she had a house, and particularly a garden, that was too much for her to manage but the stress of moving would also have been too much.

It is a very difficult decision to know when you have to make it and it is another of those "there is no right or wrong answer" questions.

[GillD46]

We down sized seven months ago, not because we were desperate to, but partly because we were moving to a VERY expensive area and partly because we knew sooner or later we'd need too. Having moved to a bungalow - something neither of us had EVER wanted to live in, but our village is full of them - we feel we should be able to stay here forever.

At 60 (me) and 63 (him) we are still fit and able, but when we aren't as mobile, everything around here is on the flat, we have a small, south facing garden with fields behind, wonderful clifftop walks, there are a couple of coffee shops, a shop, a post office, a pub, a golf club, a library, a Dr's surgery and the bus to town runs regularly each hour - what more could we want?

So no retirement apartment for us I think.

[Andrea S]

GillD46, I think you have been fortunate enough to face your 'future' at a young age. A bungalow might not have been at the top of your list but I think in years to come you will realise what a good choice it was.

I think when you do become older feeling isolated is the last thing you want. You sound as though everything you could need is available and a bus service when you no longer want to drive is a bonus.

The future needs to be 'easier' living. A home is for enjoying.

It is sad when you see older people no longer able to maintain their homes and gardens or read they are living in just a couple of rooms because of heating bills. These are the people who could have benefitted from retirement schemes if it had been discussed earlier.,

I hope you have many many years ahead to enjoy your home.

[Dark Knight]

moby
you may not be old but you really sound old
maybe it's just the way it sounds like that Monty Python sketch ,when you and your fossils start going off on one about the bad old days, seeing who had it worse

eey by gum, I remember when we had black outs and a 3 day week and a sky high mortgage and no petrol fer't car, no central heating and we sat on orange boxes coz we couldn't afford furniture

sounds old to me

[GillD46]

GillD46, I think you have been fortunate enough to face your 'future' at a young age. A bungalow might not have been at the top of your list but I think in years to come you will realise what a good choice it was.

I think when you do become older feeling isolated is the last thing you want. You sound as though everything you could need is available and a bus service when you no longer want to drive is a bonus.

The future needs to be 'easier' living. A home is for enjoying.

It is sad when you see older people no longer able to maintain their homes and gardens or read they are living in just a couple of rooms because of heating bills. These are the people who could have benefitted from retirement schemes if it had been discussed earlier.,

I hope you have many many years ahead to enjoy your home.

I think you're right. While this home may not have been what we would have chosen, I think it will enable us to keep independent and keep a garden for much longer, and that is so important to us.

Everything happens for a reason and I feel we were lucky to move here.

[Manoverboard]

I am not personally convinced that it is actually possible to take a decision at age 60 that will take into account all of the factors that could come into play by the time we reach 80> and especially so in a village setting. Perhaps I should re-phrase that and say we thought we could but now we're not quite so sure

A bungalow is certainly an alternative but that does assume, unless it's a dormer style, that sleeping on the ground floor will never become an issue regarding security and especially so when there is only one of you.

[Kendhni]

I always thought there could be a good symbiotic relationship between 'retirement villages' and nursing quarters (or even other trades). If they were sited closely together the nursing staff could get subsidised rents and still attend their full time jobs but, when not at work, they could be on call to look after the elderly residents.

I remember years ago being given a chance to buy into a new area being planned for elderly housing .. and mentioned it to the FIL (who was in his mid-60's at the time). He was disgusted and had the attitude that shoving all the old people out of the way into their own areas was not a good social policy. The reason I didn't invest was that I thought the area was too far out of the way .. being on the outskirts of the town and about 3 miles from the nearest shop or other amenities .. to me it needed to be more centralised.

[royalprincess]

Think very carefully about buying one of these "retirement apartments". My mother had one and it was a devil to get rid of when she died. Also the so called management charges were a rip off. Spent many hours trying to ascertain exactly what they were charging for? Charged for everything but provided very little. When she fell at home tried to contact the warden - not there - so she spent the night on the floor and subsequently passed away.

Save your money - if you must buy a flat and pay for care to come in.

Try googling retirement apartments complaints.

[Andrea S]

MOB , I agree that at 60 it is too early to make such a decision but in hindsight I think it is the right age to discuss your future.

When you are in good health and leading a busy life most people don't ever to stop to think how quickly this can be taken from you.

The subject no one like to think of is being left on their own and what their individual needs will be .

It appears from others on here that they are also 'talking' about the future and I hope everyone ends up with the right home for them.

[Andrea S]

Royal Princess, One of the reasons we chose not to buy in a purpose built retirement village was the fact that we could only sell back to the company. The idea being they could choose future residents.

Our concern was there was no open market and there would have been no way to negotiate the price they could offer you.

There are masses of things that you have to take in to consideration when deciding to move at a later age.

We are fortunate that our maintenance charges are well documented and we do get a very good service. Maybe this is one area others should take a good look at if going into such a complex.

Our complex is listed as independent living for over 55's but does have some things in place for 'emergency' calls.

It must have been very traumatic for you when you though your Mum was in a safe place.

[Delboy]

We made the decision to downsize and chose a bungalow, with a small garden when we were in our late fifty's. We had lived in a much larger bungalow may years previous.

Downsizing was one of the best decisions we have made, although we never realised it at the time

Low maintenance, warm in winter, cool in summer, small easy to manage garden which is a sun trap. Very close to immediate family next street, on a bus route into town, but also has two or three shops locally, including a post office. No stairs has been a godsend for Lorraine.

All the properties in our Cul-de-sac are bungalows, the occupants being of a mixed age range, in 6 of the properties the occupants live alone, 5 of them elderly, the sixth one is one of our next door neighbours, who is a young schoolteacher. Of the those five, two still drive, the other 3 either use the bus or get taxi's, when going into town, only one has no immediate family locally.

The most elderly resident in our cul-de-sac who lives alone, is also the person who has the most mobility problems, but has family locally who call in each day to see if she is OK, and to get any shopping she may need. She used to get a taxi to go shopping, but I think even that got a bit too much for her. She has a gardener come in to cut the lawn and tidy up etc, as does the young school teacher.

[qbman1]

I don't think there is a "right" age - just when it is right for you. I was once told that it should be done in your own time rather than have it forced upon you. The tricky bit is recognising and accepting when the time is right

[CaroleF]

My parents had a two bedded bungalow on an estate full of other bungalows with mostly older people living in them. It may sound sensible but no way would I want to live somewhere like that. It's funny I think of bungalows and that's what I think of but some friends of ours - older than us I think in their early 80s but no way do they look it - live in what they call a single storey house - and that's just what it seems like. It has a lot of ground, slopes down to a river and they are lucky in that they can afford a gardener. Inside it has a large sitting room, separate dining room, large conservatory, and, I think 3 bedrooms, one with ensuite plus of course kitchen and utility room. When there I certainly never think of it as a bungalow - strange isn't it? It's certainly somewhere I could live but whether we ever will I don't know. My husband has only lived in our house or what was his parent's house next door for the whole of his 60 something years - most unusual!

Carole

[royalprincess]

One of the problems I encountered on selling my late mother's "retirement flat" was the management company who questioned my right to inherit the property "as I was not 55+". Just days short of it mind you. My lawyer soon put them right on that score. I wasn't going to live in it - just inheriting it was a right palava. Even staying in the flat after my mother died was objected to.

A lot of my investigations into the management of the block and the service charges revealed a right royal ripoff. Most of the charges were inflated. Changing of a lightbulb of which there were many were charged at £15 per bulb. Some of the residents changed light bulbs themselves instead of the warden doing it which was part of his duties but he was never to be found. Insurance contribution - block of six flats - £1,000 per flat. Having spent most of my life buying and selling property I knew this was a ripoff and through contacts managed to obtain retrospective insurance premium quotes and got the money back. This management company thankfully went bankrupt and the residents now manage it themselves.

Please before you buy into one of these properties ask yourselves "If I died tomorrow who will be able to inherit it. Are they the right age to inherit?"

In fact in February of this year the OFT issued a report into their investigations about "retirement flats" and concluded most of the terms and conditions of these leases are unfair.

So please think about buying a retirement property very very carefully and get proper legal advice from a lawyer who knows this market. It is completely different from just buying an ordinary flat.

[Manoverboard]

There have been some very interesting and useful replies thus far.

One very serious point is the aspect of ownership and re-sale but also purchase via an exchange system according to a TV program recently screened ... all flawed it seems albeit only in some cases.

My own thoughts are that English Courtyard and Beechcroft ( Cognatum perhaps these days ) are safer bets .... any thoughts or experience of these Companies.