My Dad is 64 and has recently divorced. He has amassed a financial settlement of approximately £150k which, where we live, will buy you nothing.
He has suffered significant ill health in recent years- a brain aneurysm and an aortic valve repair after heart difficulties. The aneurysm in particular has left him seeming 15 years older than he is, with organic personality changes, extreme fatigue and short term memory loss which has been suggested to be the early signs of dementia. He has aged significantly. At the moment however and for the last few years, the memory loss seems stable.
Subsequently, he works about one day a week as a carpenter but this is killing him. Since the divorce, he has lived with my sister, but as his financial settlement has now come through, he needs to get himself somewhere to live. I wondered please, if anyone could help or give any thoughts or advice on his options? The way we see it…
He does not have enough to buy. Even if he could it would max out what he has and ill health means he needs to stop working and he won’t have an income that will pay his overheads. He has 2.5 years before he gets a state pension. ESA will not cover his bills etc.
He understands that he will need to live on his savings for the foreseeable future, but so far, when presented with his circumstances, prospective landlords have refused him because he does not earn enough. Despite us sharing that he has substantial funds to pay rent and is happy to pay a year upfront.
We have put it to several letting agents, the possibility of him paying ‘them’ as middle people, an annual payment for them to drip feed this to the landlord. Only one agent seemed happy with this idea but other agents are dubious.
He has too much in the bank to qualify for social housing.
Shared ownership is not possible because the only properties available (which I find bizarre) in the area are in the city centre which is not suitable for my Dad.
Getting a mortgage is not an option for several reasons, namely low income, ill health etc.
There is no one around him that can act as a guarantor.
My questions are:
a) How do people who are retired and living on savings, get a private rental property? How do landlords see people who are prospective tenants in this position?
b) Does anyone know of a way around this predicament? He wants to rent!
Any advice would be much appreciated!
Many thanks.
Sarah
I think the answer is to keep trying! It is a very difficult market at the moment with lots of competition for properties. You will just need to keep applying for properties until you connect with a sympathetic LL.
Have you thought about a retirement village?
I don’t know if they are purchase only or let .
Costs used to be subsidised in those.
I don’t know about now .
If he has so many medical issues what about a care facility, assisted living , where he is not fully independent but not fully dependent ?
They have alarms in situ so there is someone on hand if something should happen
He’s still very independent and placing him in any kind of supported living wouldn’t be appropriate yet. I assess people for care home living as my job and he’s not there yet. He still gets out and about, but has to rest a lot in between tasks. He just needs to retire a bit earlier than the state says he should. He’d like to keep working a day or two a week to keep his mind and body active, but he can’t manage full time anymore.
I am intrigued to know how those who are retired and maybe live off savings, find accommodation given that there seem to be no options for my old man. Lots of the little houses he’s looking at, stipulate an income of £50k or more. He’s got no hope!
What about him living with yourself?
In our culture our elders live with their children.
Could he buy with a view to keeping a lodger or could he lodge with a person of similar age?
Retirement villages do not have to be assisted living.
The accommodation tends to be much cheaper than regular accommodation.
There is an age criteria for entry.
I don’t know if 64 meets the cut but in light of his circumstance I don’t see why it could not be suitable
Near me, there are a few charitable landlords offering various degrees of supported living. Eg Leylands Estate, Derby | Information | Retail Trust or https://liversagetrust.org/. There are also some council run ones. They offer as little or as much help as residents need, but are likely to be more amenable to lower incomes.
I looked at one of the council ones for my Mum and it would have been perfect, but she had too much capital (as I suspect your Dad would too, so be prepared for that), which I think is wrong because if it fits someone’s needs, they should not be excluded on grounds of having too much money!!