Retirement Flats

[claybury]

does anyone know anything about retirement flats.i.e. are they worth the money for peace of mind in old age,or would it be better to stay in a house etc.just not sure what to dofor the best,any help would be appreciated,many thanks.

[bookbinder]

My wife and I (both in our early 70s) had exactly the same thought a couple of years ago, so we did an investigation into the relative costs of moving into a retirement flat (new build, from one of the big players) versus staying in our detached bungalow (no mortgage, just usual outgoings on gas, etc.). To cut a long story short, we concluded that we would be (financially, at least) better off staying in our bungalow. Annual outgoings in a retirement flat would have been in the region of £3,080 per annum, (for service charge and parking space) but not including gas, electricity, and similar outgoings, whereas in our bungalow it would be much less than that. There are other factors than finance to consider: no house maintenance worries; having people of a like mind around; someone to keep an eye on your flat when you are away; and so on. We decided that, as long as we can look after house and garden, then we would be better off staying put.

[Tilly2]

Are you going to be able to cope with your house and garden as you get older?
What benefits do you think there are to selling up and going into a retirement flat?

[mikey4444]

I know of a lady that lives in a McCarthy and Stone place. Its very nice...quite upmarket. I'm not sure what the purchase price was but I expect it wasn't cheap. But she has a pay a fee of £3000 a month.

£36,000 a year ! Her son is a friend of mine and I have made the point that this is ridiculously high. It appears that it covers things like hoovering the communal areas, rubbish collection, etc. But she could stay in a good hotel for a lots less. I think it is extortionate.

[gingejbee]

£3000 a month?? Really? A relative of mine lives in a similar place and the service charge is about £1700 per YEAR.
In answer to the OP...it really is very much down to personal choice and circumstances...as bookbinder has said.

[Tilly2]

Mikey are you sure those figures are correct. That does seem extortionate. My Dad pays less than that in his care home. Not a lot less, mind you.

[jeffa]

Are you sure she didn't mean £3,000 a year?

[mikey4444]

Tilly2...I agree...it does sound extortionate ! I have checked by 'phone this evening and apparently its only £1000 a month. Still a lot though.

[Tilly2]

Yes, it is still a lot.

[atalanta]

An awful lot of retirement flats are on the market. It is very much easier to buy one than to sell one. The value is not holding up, since too many have been built.
Buy one by all means, but do not expect it to be an investment.

[cupotee2]

Six years ago we sold our 3 bedroom house and moved to a small complex of apartments and bungalow for the over 55's. We spent a bit bringing it to our chosen standard.

Out outgoings are minimal, compared to out house. We pay a service charge that covers Window cleaning, building insurance, all outside maintenance, including the gardens.

Our apartment is smaller than a 3 bed house so heating cost are less than half we had previously paid.

Unlike Mccarthy and Stone we are completely independent with our own entry door.Ample parking space for us and visitors and security cameras.


We thought about the idea for several years, but it was gradually getting harder to maintain our property with the same standard we enjoyed.

In the few years we have been here my husbands health has gradually weakened til no way could we manage any where near what we enjoyed previously.

The law of averages means one of you are going to be left to cope alone one of these days...and no one knows when that day will be.

My opinion would be think what you will do when you can't manage the garden and repairs that inevitably happen.

Don't leave it til its too late to make good choices

[cupotee2]

I can't believe the charges for Mcarthy and Stone are £1000 a month!!

[cupotee2]

Here is a list of what Mcarthy and Stone charges cover. It doesn't mention a price.

http://www.mccarthyandstone.co.uk/property-services/property-charges1/

[cupotee2]

jeffa your idea of charges sound more realistic.

[starone]

When I was thinking of moving I looked at some retirement flats. I didn't like them at all. To begin with they were small compared with my three bedroomed house. But the worst thing of all was the long corridor from which the flats led. It looked for all the world like the long corridor in the horror film "The Shining" I could picture the little boy pedalling like mad on his little three-wheeled bike. Put me right off. Yes, I know it's silly. I ended up with my lovely threebedroomed bungalow. The garden is quite small with raised beds which I can reach without bending. Window cleaner cleans the windows, milk and bread is delivered, groceries are delivered and all in all I am very happy with my choice.

[cupotee2]

starone that's where our apartments differ, we don't have any corridors, each apartment has its own outside front door. Completely self contained.

[giveup]

A friend looked at a McCarthy Stone flat recently and said "You're in your box before you're dead"

[bookbinder]

With regard to the regular service charge in a McCarthy & Stone flat: we went to look at one of their new-builds in May 2012, and we obtained a quote of the weekly costs that have to be paid to the company. For a 2-bedroomed flat the cost was £54.44 per week, which is about £2,830.88 per year. If you want to park a car there, there is an extra charge of £250.00 per year. As I said in my earlier post, that is money that we do not have to pay out whilst we are living in our own bungalow. Other aspects that we considered were: no room in the flat for a washing machine, which means laundry has to be done in one of the communal washing machines, and they are on the lowest floor. Laundry must be taken downstairs to the laundry room, then taken back to the flat. What does one do if all the machines are in use? Plus, possibility of noisy neighbours. Just imagine, Mrs. Whatnot lives above you, and cannot sleep, so she does her Hoovering at 3.00 a.m. At the flats that we looked at, there was no parking provision for our visitors, so they would have to park on the road outside the grounds.
I know that such flats suit many people, and the quality of what we saw was very good, but simply living there did not appeal to us. We spoke to some residents, and they were very happy there, but one or two regretted moving out of their own house. And do not forget that some flats developers expect to be given a proportion of the sale price if a resident moves out. I think that it amounts to 1%.