Alive & Twitching

Reasons for moving

As you get older you may want to move home for one or more of several reasons, including the following:

• Your house or flat is too large for your requirements.
• It’s becoming too expensive to maintain.
• You want to move nearer to your family.
• If you own it, you may want to realise some of the equity.
• You simply fancy a change of scenery.

 

General advice

• Moving can be very stressful and expensive, so don’t rush into it.
• Think well ahead. How many times do you want to move? You may be fit and active now but will the place you have in mind be suitable in 10 or 15 years’ time? If not, are you prepared to move again then?

• It can be a big mistake to move to a completely new area where you know nobody. It may not be easy to make new friends.
• Moving usually involves quite a lot of hard work, so it’s probably sensible to move while you still have a lot of energy.
• If you are renting your home from a local authority or housing association, it might be worthwhile enquiring whether there are any current incentives available for moving to a smaller property.
• If you own your own home, you might consider asking the local authority if there are any grants available for carrying out essential home improvements. 

A helpful website

The following Internet document is helpful in outlining the types of accommodation available for older people and the factors to be borne in mind: http://www.careandrepair-england.org.uk/pdf/stayputormovehome.doc.

 

Realising equity in your home

There are 2 ways of doing this:

• Downsizing. – Selling your home and moving to a smaller property.
• An equity release scheme. – This is a means of getting cash from the value of your home without moving out of it. You can either get a cash lump sum or a regular income. There are various schemes available, although they basically boil down to 2 types:
  • You create a lifetime mortgage on your home but you do not pay any interest until your home is sold. The downside to this is that the interest is rolling up and if the value of your home falls or does not grow sufficiently, you could be left with little or no equity in your property.
  • You sell all or part of your property to a home reversion company but continue to live there. The downside is that you will be paid substantially less than the full value of the property and any increase in value is going to benefit the company and not you. Moreover, there may come a time when the property is no longer suitable and you have to move somewhere else. You will no longer have the capital available you would have had if you hadn’t entered into the equity release scheme.

 

If you are contemplating an equity release scheme it is essential that you take proper professional advice because there are clearly significant risks involved. If you want to know more, you can obtain a free booklet from the FSA entitled Equity release schemes – raising money from your home. It can be ordered by telephone on 0845 456 1555 or from their website http://www.moneymadeclear.fsa.gov.uk/tools/publications/publications.html.