So you need to do a retirement homesearch. What are your options? It can sometimes be daunting. You need to decide what to search for and where to find affordable retirement options.
Retirement homesearch options available
There are different retirement homesearch options. It is important to make sure you know what to look for. Typically with housing associations they tend to offer sheltered housing, independent living and retirement properties to rent. However, if you are looking at an affordable option to buy a retirement property, then an Older People’s Shared Ownership (OPSO) scheme may work for you. Alternatively you may look to buy retirement properties for sale outright.
Retirement rental properties no deposit or admin fees required
When performing a retirement homesearch you are faced with a number of options. Hopefully this article will help to give you an overview of each of them. Housing associations offer affordable retirement homes to rent. Many of these require no deposits or admin fees to be paid. This is a big plus when it comes to retirement property affordability!
Difference between sheltered and retirement housing
For sheltered housing typically you will find that there will be a set of criteria to meet. This may vary depending upon the scheme you are applying for. Most sheltered housing schemes will want applicants to be over the age of 55. However, there may be flexibility if someone is claiming Disability Living Allowance (DLA). It really depends on the sheltered accommodation you are apply for. Also, these schemes will have some shared common areas and a warden.
Older People’s Shared Ownership is a retirement homesearch option
Older People’s shared ownership, or OPSO as it is called is available in England. OPSO is for those people who are aged 55 or over. It is very similar to the homes for sale on a shared ownership basis (part-rent/part-buy) for first time buyers. So you could buy a share of your home (between 25% and 75% of the home’s value) and pay rent on the remaining share. The difference is anyone applying for the OPSO scheme cannot own more than 75%. However, once you reach this threshold you do not have to pay rent on the remaining share. Housing associations who offer OPSO schemes will be able to give you further information about their particular schemes.
Making use of retirement homesearch keywords
When doing a retirement homesearch for rental property the criteria is very much the same as that of sheltered housing. In many ways it is just another way of calling it ‘sheltered housing’, it is just another way to market those properties. This is an important point to make. How many people search for retirement properties or sheltered housing? It varies depending on the keywords used. So that’s the point, when writing your adverts you need to make sure you are targeting the correct market. In this case you should target those searching for sheltered housing and retirement housing.
So affordable retirement homesearch can be made easy if you ensure your property adverts contain the correct information.
