How can people afford to rent if they are on pensions?? Judging by rental costs in some areas, it would seem that all the pension would just go on renting. At least if your mortgage is paid off by the time you reach retirement age, it's one less cost to think about.
Hello Lotusflower, in our case we are retired, we only have one son and one of the reasons we bought our home was to ensure he (who is not in the best of health) can have some cushion in life, he is buying an ex council house which will probably drop to bits long before him even though he is constantly spending to stop it from doing so 🙁 Also If you see by my first post, we are now thinking about renting in retirement purely because we do not want the government to be able to steal our home should we ever have to go into care (personally I would rather pop my clogs) by renting now we could release the money from our home, this should help pay towards rent and also be able to help our son with his mortgage or ideally get rid of that burden and give him something more secure.
Avoid purpose-built retirement homes!
I have a client who lives in a 'retirement home' - it is truly beautiful and she loves it. The neighbours are lovely, and the communal areas are very homely - they have gardens that they can use and rooms that visiting family can use. Sadly her husband died just before she moved in, so she had to move into a 1 bedroomed flat, but she is happy enough - but - it costs nearly £500 a week!!!! Her son has told her she would be better off in a hotel. After the sale of her house, she will probably have enough in the kitty to support about 4 years in the retirement flat - then she will have to move in with one of her children. Her pension won't stretch far enough to allow her to stay there longer.
Our mortgage will be paid off in February next year, after 25 years. I think we may have a party! Wild horses won't get me out. Ever. My daughters both live in rented flats, and currently don't have any urge to pursue mortgages - not that they would get them in todays economic maelstrom!!