Beware the pitfalls of retirement developments

Retirement developments have many advantages.

However, there are increasing evidence of the elderly residents being taken advantage of by ultra high management fees, often as high as £3,000 per year!

In addition, when it is time to sell, they all charge an exit fee of around 10% too.

For more information on retirement living click the link.

Re: Beware the pitfalls of retirement developments

Thank you for the useful information Elbee. When I have time I will look at your site in more detail. Some friends of ours have just sold thier house and moved into a retirement complex and at the moment I think they are pleased. Where to live when you get older is something we all think about and some of these developements do look very attractive. More and more are springing up - we have been thinking about looking at them for later on.

Re: Beware the pitfalls of retirement developments

Again watch out for the SKY HIGH management charges and exit fees when it is time to sell!

Also be aware of the sales patter. My advice, take your children with you when you look at them and only buy if they approve. M&S and Churchill hate it when the children come too as they cant spin the charges!

Re: Beware the pitfalls of retirement developments

I will have a look at that site as well. Thanks for posting it Elbee.

Another type of housing which is apparently becomming popular with elderly people is Park Homes but there are big dangers lurking in these Park Home developments too. Perhaps a subject for another thread.

Re: Beware the pitfalls of retirement developments

I am not sure what Park Home developments are Losos. Could you elaborate please?

Re: Beware the pitfalls of retirement developments

A Park Home is what used to be known as a 'mobile home' in that it is entirely made in a factory, usually in two halves, and then it is transported on a low loader to the site, where it is mounted on a low brick wall and all the services are connected.

Due to vast improvements in technology the insulation is good and the new ones come complete with all furniture, kitchen appliances, beds, and even curtains and carpets.

You buy the building but it always sits on a plot of land owned by the site owner, and this is where the dangers lurk because there are good site owners and there are not so good site owners.

The overall cost for a three bedroom unit with en-suite bathroom and all fittings is much less than a bricks and mortar home but there is an annual service charge payable to the site owner for upkeep of roads, lighting, waste disposal, and on some sites the electric, gas, and water are also supplied by the site owner.

Here's a link to one of the bigger and better site owners web site:-

http://www.berkeleyparks.co.uk/index.asp

Re: Beware the pitfalls of retirement developments

Ah gotcha Losos, thank you. They seem more substantial than a static caravan and I would imagine some are in lovely surroundings. Well worth thinking about.

Re: Beware the pitfalls of retirement developments

Be careful.

The land is owned by others and they can charge what they like.

Re: Beware the pitfalls of retirement developments

Yes, thank you Galty. We had a static caravan on the coast and the costs went quite high in the end, plus we had to sell the caravan back to the land owner when we sold it. So perhaps these sort of things are never as good as freehold bricks and mortar.

There was a section on Rip Off Britain earlier tonight about a retirement complex who charged a 12.5 per cent exit fee a well as mainenance charges. The chap interviewed changed apartment to a newer one in the complex and he still had to pay the exit fee when he sold his own apartment. It looked a very nice place with all the facilities, but charges like that makes you stop and think

Re: Beware the pitfalls of retirement developments

Yes, I think they are worth looking into and I hope to attend an exhibition in Peterborough next month so I can see a few and get a better idea of what they might be like to live in. Here's a link to one of the longer established and biggest manufacturers, the photos look magnificent, but we all know about fancy photography don't we :-

http://www.stately-albion.co.uk/index.aspx

To be honest I'm not too worried about exit fees because if I buy one of these (Or a sheltered housing apartment) then it will be our home until we depart this mortal coil, and exit fees will be someones elses problem