Chris From The Gulag wrote: ↑Thu Apr 18, 2019 7:27 pm
Never a good move but ... as austerity works it way up the income scale , little option for many ...
short of downsizing and / or moving into another area.
I wonder how many students are financed by equity release loans ?
Or , first time buyers making a move into the property market.
The real fun will start when interest rates start rising.
Equity release v. downsizing
Equity release? Not for me, though no doubt some can justify it according to their financial circumstances. I don't need it, fortunately.
Downsizing? More attractive as a prospect for the future. Effectively it releases equity from the house sold, while the new, cheaper house is at least a solid bricks-and-mortar asset. There is no third-party interest in either the "equity released" or the replacement house.
As has been pointed out elsewhere in this forum, either of these moves can put one above the threshold whereby one needs to self-fund for care if necessary.
I don't see what use equity release is to first-time buyers. For them it is a struggle to find a 10% deposit on a property, i.e. damn all equity to release.
Housing association
When my father died, he had been living alone in a small flat rented from a housing association. We told the association what had happened, asking for the use of the flat to store possessions for a few weeks, and of course we would maintain the rent. We were flatly told we had to clear the flat within two weeks. (Well I suppose with a long queue of people waiting for a house, the association was serving its social and moral duty.)
Fortunately he had little more than essential possessions and furnishings. The family got together, hired a van and cleared the flat within a day, within the allotted two-week's notice.
Bucket clutter
It will not be so easy for everyone. I know of elderly people whose homes are stuffed with all manner of possessions, many inherited but never used or likely to be used. "Bucket clutter", I call it. Sometimes the only resort is to call in a house-clearance company. It can be heartbreaking to see lovely things being removed, most of which will be simply dumped, but that is sometimes the harsh reality.
My mother sensibly saw the need to reduce her possessions in the latter days of her life at home and gave away a great deal of stuff she no longer had use of. Even so, when she moved to a care home, the clearance of her house took quite a while, though at least we were not under time pressure.
But guess who has acquired some bucket clutter!