smaller text
bigger textWe've got a better place.. with a garden
Edwin and Brenda Harris have moved to a two bedroom house on a lifetime leasehold and, despite only freeing up a few thousand pounds with the deal, they are glad they took the plunge.
Former Royal Mail customer services manager Edwin, 68, and retired civil servant Brenda, 64, had planned to enjoy a long retirement in Spain. They sold their family home near Colchester, Essex, and bought a bungalow near Alicante on the Costa Brava. But ill-health of family members back in Britain forced them to return to the UK. And that's when their problems started: ‘The trouble was, when we returned from Spain property prices had rocketed in the UK - and all we could afford was a second-floor flat in Ashford, Kent, for which we paid £104,000. We sold the bungalow in Spain for £92,500 and used our savings to scrimp together the rest of the money to buy the flat. But it wasn't ideal as it was on the second floor and had no garden.'
‘Getting off the property ladder seemed a way of moving to a better home. At our age we couldn't get a mortgage to buy something better - but we were very aware selling up would mean we wouldn't have anything to leave to our four children, 13 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren!' However, we talked to our children and they were very supportive and told us to do what we wanted. So we found a two-bedroom house with a lot less stairs and a garden in Ashford on the market for £155,000. Homewise bought the house for £153,000. We sold our flat for £112,000 and paid £106,000 for a Lifetime Lease from Homewise on the new place.'
‘The advantage for us is we get to live in a property we couldn't have afforded to buy and we have no rent or mortgage to pay. We only freed up a few thousand pounds, but that was because we hadn't much equity after the move to Spain. We also now have a garden which we couldn't afford before.'
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