Secure older life in Retirement for 5 Ladies over 60 + a £1.25 million house
Increasing numbers of older people are living alone and feeling cut off from society. These ladies created a secure older life for themselves.
According to a report from Age UK, around 3.6 million over 65s currently live alone, which accounts for more than a third of the age group. Moreover, almost 70pc of older people who live alone are women.
One group of 5 women are determined to change things by creating a secure older life for themselves. All single, and without children, they have decided to buy a house together and live communally into old age.
“I watched my mum grow old alone and I don’t think living by yourself is a natural state,” said Janet Eldridge, one of the group.
“Humans are gregarious creatures, aren’t they? A lot of people are frightened by the idea of communal living at our age. I’ve told friends what I’m planning to do and they shudder.”
Their Plan for a secure older life:
First, they plan to rent a property together for a year to see how they get on. If it all works out, the ladies intend to sell the homes they currently own and buy a five-bed property for about £1.25m in Brighton, protected by some fine-tuned legal work and an arrangement of powers of attorney.
While it will be great for them if it does work out, the devil will rest in the detail of their legal and financial arrangement. Planning has to be comprehensive, considering a future time when one or more may die, wish to leave, or need to go into care.
The cost of an arrangement like this could become dauntingly high under the present complexity of the land law and social welfare regulations, but the basic premise should be able to be wrapped into a simple plan – and it indeed could become a valuable model for the future.
Consider this:
- There is a shortage of houses for flat-owning families to expand into as they grow.
- In any given area, two and three-bed houses tend to be worth at least 60% of the price of a five-bed house. If 5 of these sell up and move into one of these big houses, those co-owners should have enough capital left to ensure their future comfort, while five family homes boost the property stock. That is a deal that should be encouraged.
Find out more about the Brighton ladies:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/tax/inheritance/housesharing-over-60s-style-125m-property-powers-attorney-round/
Photography: Christopher Pledger