Should older people sell up and downsize?

MY HUSBAND and I remain in our four-bedroom house and won’t be ‘downsizing’ because, with the non-existent return on modest savings, it’s our only appreciating asset. We have to ensure that towards the end of our lives, we’ll be able to sell and be looked after in a pleasant care home, which will, by then, be very expensive, as we won’t qualify for state funding. Politicians have to realise there are more important reasons for older folk staying put in bigger houses, other than stubbornness or lethargy.

Mrs HAZEL DUCK, Chipstead, Surrey. WE’RE a couple in our mid-80s, both fit and healthy, but totally miserable. We were children during the war and parents in the Fifties, working hard to pay off our mortgage. After that, we sold up and downsized, into sheltered housing — a one-bedroom flat. After seven years of dipping into our capital to pay the rent, we can’t afford to get back on the property ladder. We’re trapped. It’s a shame that in our final years we’re sad and wish we could put the clock back. Don’t do it. DENNIS and IVY MALTBY,

Rotherham, South Yorks. UNTIL 2003, I owned a two-bedroom house in Croydon until the character of the area made it necessary for me to find another place to live. I had friends in Dorking and sold for £150,000, but was unable to afford even a small house in Dorking, so I looked at retirement properties. I bought a one-bedroom flat in a small block of 32 flats for £110,000. The flat is away from the main road, but within easy reach of the town. We, as leaseholders, pay a fee of about £2,500 a year which covers all repairs and maintenance (what a worry removed). There’s a double guest room with shower. A scheme manager lives on site, five days a week, and there’s an out-of-hours emergency service. We have a thriving social life in our communal lounge, organised by ourselves, which is well attended.

Mrs TESS BROOKMAN, Dorking, Surrey.