Try the flexible option
JUST as Help To Buy and Shared Ownership has changed the way people get their first foot on the property ladder, renting is increasingly an option for those moving to a retirement community. Specialist companies such as Girlings Retirement Rentals Ltd and Anchor, England’s largest not-for-profit provider of housing and care for older people, have been offering rental options for some time and now McCarthy & Stone has joined them.
Virtually all its developments across the UK now have apartments to rent or part-buy/part-rent as well as for sale.While many prefer to own their home outright, there are advantages to renting later in life.
It’s a chance to try before you buy, if you’re unsure it’s for you or if you want to keep your existing property before committing to a move.
Renting can also be arranged quickly, as McCarthy & Stone resident Barbara Higginbotham discovered. Barbara, 87, decided to rent a flat at Fairway View Retirement Living development in Brough, East Yorkshire, when her friend Dorothy Leake, 88, announced plans to move there.
Both widows, they have known each other since they were 14. Barbara says: “When Dorothy told me she was moving to FairwayView on the advice of her daughter, it really spurred me into thinking about my own situation. I normally go away at Easter but last year the cruise I had planned was cancelled at the last minute, which meant I spent much of the holiday on my own.
“I didn’t really see anyone and it made me realise just how lonely I was. It was a decision I needed to make for myself and I gave it a lot of thought.The fact that my friend Dorothy was so taken with it gave me a lot of confidence and prompted me to ask her to come with me to see the flat.
“I was so impressed with the decor and facilities. It felt really homely and the people were incredibly friendly. I’d been waiting for the right time to move and with my friend by my side, this was it.”
Barbara moved into the new apartment even before her semi-detached bungalow was on the market, and sorted out which furniture would fit and which to sell or give to charity, with the help of two nieces. “The thought of a mortgage at my age just didn’t appeal to me,” says Barbara.
“I didn’t want my money to be stuck in a bank, I wanted to be in control of it and to be able to use it for what I needed.
“If I’d had to sell my property before I could move into Fairway View, who knows how long I could have been waiting, with chains, solicitors and surveyors?
“The opportunity to rent was a welcome one. It gave me the flexibility I needed and the ability to move on my timescales.”
Now, Barbara says: “We’re never in.We get the bus all over as the bus stop is right outside the development.We like to do a bit of shopping, go for meals and explore different towns.There’s also lots we get involved in at the development – coffee mornings, dinners, drink nights and trips to the garden centre.”
FairwayView is a development of 35 one and two-bedroom apartments designed for over-60s, within easy walking distance of shops and amenities in Brough, a small town on the banks of the River Humber near Hull.
The flats have a club lounge with free wifi, where residents can socialise, and a guest suite for their visitors to rent.There’s also a house manager on site and security includes an intruder alarm and camera entry system.
All apartments have fully-fitted kitchens and bathrooms, with one-bedroom apartments for sale from £169,999 and two-bedroom flats from £249,999. Rent is from £1,070 per calendar month for one-bedroom flats, and from £1,530 for two bedrooms (0800 201 4811; mccarthyandstone.co.uk).
Renting a home while you decide whether to move into a retirement development overcomes a lot of the barriers to downsizing that older people can experience.There’s the flexibility to move around easily and there’s no maintenance to worry about.
‘Renting is a chance to try before committing to a move’