Apartments/flats.

@Upsydaisy again, very similar to our situation. Here though, we are forced to drive. The nearest bus stop or train station is 10 miles or so away. As where you live, the roads are unlit, and theres no footpath either. The council wont even make a safe cycle path for us… At least we know that three out of our five neighbours can be counted on, so that makes life easier. The other two dont like the "Village Elder" system that operates in the village.

 

@Retired definitely agree with @ricky101 . I know of someone else who showed house number and area, they too were warned to delete the photos. You really have to be careful.

Just one point , when you say that you don't know how people spend their time,especially during the winter in apartments. At this point in time I agree with you, but I think the point of topic is being lost. We are thinking into our future years when our body ( and maybe mind) are not so willing and able to do all the things we enjoy doing now. ( sorry no elderly female)

 

Hi,

Many thanks for your concern ricky which I appreciate.

Penistone Road runs from Huddersfield through to Sheffield it not being a road to identify us from; I've been a member of a number of forums for years and adding my birthday has never been a problem. Our street number could possibly be identified from our local council as could anyone else's. When we first viewed our bungalow we liked it but it's not easy to find and it took awhile to locate it again; what you say I agree with regarding unpleasant folk. Being retired we are mostly at home and a couple of months ago for added security we had state of the art CCTV installed; obviously cameras won't stop a determined burglar but hopefully it will perhaps make them move to a softer touch. We can't get much worse than having a family immediate to us with police records. Years ago we applied for planning permission to convert part of our rear garden into a single dwelling building plot; these neighbours put in a really nasty objection to the council stating it would invade their privacy; when we were alerted to this I put in a polite reply to the council that we could understand their need for privacy after all they wouldn't want to be seen storing stolen goods being carried into their garage by their family?

Unfortunately badness is all around us these days and greed rules.

Thanks Upsy, I agree there comes a time when we can no longer carry out physical activities but it seems younger couples too are now moving into apartments it being a bit of an ongoing trend which is growing?

I noticed a similar thing when endowment mortgages started to appear; people followed each other jumping in only to regret it at a later date. We know a couple who bought their council house for £69,000 years ago and they were amazed a short while ago when they had it valued intending to move to the coast; they still owed £69,000 not understanding what interest only mortgage meant; now we have equity release and people are borrowing against their home; it doesn't always take a criminal in order to lose our money?

I will in future though refrain from adding our street number on any posts. How do you know Colin & Bron are our real names?

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Moving house is something that we are always talking about.

We owned our first house for 18 months, our second for 5 years, our third for 8 years and this one for 20 years. Moving house is something that we've done and we know that we will have to do it again.

When we moved to this house I was 34 and would finish a long day at work, come home and work on the house until late. It was a lot of graft but I got on with it. Twenty years later and there is no way that I could put as much effort in as I did back then. Our house is on multiple levels and across three floors so will not be practical as we get older. I'm not wishing my life away, simply being pragmatic.

We would like to get planning permission and build a bungalow in the paddock, selling the main house but this may not happen. The other option is to move into the annexe where the in-laws currently live which is much more manageable - not wishing them gone, of course.

Wherever we end up, we want space from our neighbours but realise that we wont be able to have the space that we currently have.

Everyone has different requirements and different needs. A flat wouldn't suit us now but it may be something to consider in later years.

 

@Retired , my mom lives in a ground floor flat with private front and back gardens. Not everyone who lives in flats is cooped in.

 

Reading through again , sorry @Upsydaisy the same reply to you too.

 

Hi,

It's definitely a problem andrews and one many of us will eventually face.

I can see the attraction of an apartment for professional singles/couples who are mostly at work not wanting distractions like maintenance or gardening.

One thing worth adding are the people who retire to apartments say in Spain often for cheaper living and better climate; we've seen problems on TV where the plan has gone wrong and they lose everything. Others decide to use their home for a monthly income letting it out but again this can prove very costly indeed; tenants who at first appear to be excellent only then not paying their rent and it costing a fortune to evict them then having to make good a great deal of property damage; there are lots of programs on TV showing how stressful it can be. As a child my late parents owned about ten properties they rented out; we lived in poverty because the rents never covered the repair costs on the properties in the end my parents had a demolition order placed on them as unfit to live in; I was born in the largest it being a mansion. Having gone through this as a child I would never let anything not even a bit of equipment.

50 years ago parents lived with their children or were placed in old peoples homes but times have changed a great deal; these days it's common for a parent to live well into their 90's.

Thanks KFF; I'm sure like your mom many must live happily in apartments; I'm pleased she's happy and content.

There are usually problems wherever we live but we wondered how our neighbour would cope in an apartment after owning two large bungalows with big gardens; own driveway and garage with lots of space?

Kind regards, Colin.

 

If I end up in a flat it will be time to get out the sleeping pills.
I'm going to die where I am or die trying to stay here.

When the day comes, I'll know.

 

Over here, many of the owned flats have pretty high maintenance fees. Then you pay the property tax, utilities, etc the same as an owner of a house. I figure if I can't do something myself when I get older, I can hire a heck of a lot of muscle for less than those fees!

I think the big difference is not being isolated. My 94 year old Aunt loves her little apartment in a senior's building which also has a full dining room for the resdents to meet for meals. And those meals are really lovely- prepared by a chef no less! Lots of money but you can't take it with you. She enjoys walks with her friends and playing cards or whatever and she is safe.

Me, if I had to share my breakfast and lunch table with people everyday, well, it just wouldn't work. Short term is fun and fine, as happened on trips with my girlfriends but long term, no way!

 

@KFF , totally agree, my Aunt was very happy. When we were first married we had a couple of years of living in flats while saving to buy our house. Have to admit I wasn't too keen living in a first floor one but the ground floor one was absolutely fine and had quite a nice garden ,definitely not stuck indoors.

 

@CanadianLori your Aunts place sounds very similar to the one my Aunt lived in. Her flat had a beautifully equipped kitchen where she often cooked for herself, but she also took advantage of the residents dining room and often enjoy sharing mealtimes with her friends. The best of both worlds really, not sure if that would be my choice..especially
breakfast!!

 

Thankfully I have no issues with moving etc. So yes I am a council house tenant and have been since 1964. Doubly thankful, that my council is a very good one. So yours truly has little or no worries about major repairs and the like. I must add. I am totally against the sale of council dwellings.
Yes, as Upsy says, we need to be cautious of what we put on line. Yes also to the matter of our thoughts, ideas and ambitions. Strange really. No disrespects to my fellow members. Age. So many of us are to say the least respectfully getting on. Me! I am happy and content with my 'lot' others now think about downsizing and all that. Something of a quandarry! Here we are, past our prime and perhaps as the saying goes, 'living on borowed time'. Yet strange be it so, we are looking to a future of perhaps such upheaval with packing and moving. Then facing all the if's and but's of sorting out our new home. Hey. I am so glad that this is not on my adgenda. However, I sincerely wish you, my friends all the very best with your trials.

 

Hi,

I couldn't agree more Mike; I too am dead against the sale of council houses but here we are wanting to build more to virtually give away?

Wherever we end up we want to carry on as long as possible with hobbies even if it means changing hobbies; I've enjoyed machinery for a lifetime especially lathes; at the moment I have three lathes; one metal two woodturning; I could keep my small woodturning lathe allowing me to turn lidded boxes with finials this lathe doesn't occupy much space. Sitting all day in front of the TV watching wall to wall sport would be the end of me in no time at all. I need to potter around.

We've just been over to Wakefield to collect the welding items so another workshop session booked for this afternoon; wonderful.

We passed a number of high rise flats; shudder; shudder.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

@Retired In many ways, you and I are alike. I too enjoy spending time in my workshop. The one thing I do realise however is that if and when we move from here, I wont really need one. Things will change dramatically, and I dont think that we are able to predict our own future. That applies not only to what kind of accommodation we will move to, but also what we will do in terms of hobbies.

The mention of the high rise flats reminded me of this song, written by a long term friend of mine...

 

Hi,

What a brilliant song Sandy; thanks for posting it. So far we've predicted our future pretty well in that from getting married we knew if we lived long enough we'd eventually retire so made long term plans which worked out very well indeed; I fully retired aged 53 and have never looked back. Obviously the time will eventually arrive when hobbies will be fond memories but until then we're enjoying our hobbies to the full whilst we still can.

I well remember the slum clearances from the sixties and masses of council houses being built in big estates; pre-fabs too were built and many of these survived much longer than expected. My late parents and grandparents lived in wooden bungalows near the colliery they being mining people; one of these bungalows still exists at Grange Moor it and others built near The Shuttle Eye Colliery.

Shuttle Eye Colliery - Wikipedia

My family lived in the wooden bungalows near The Caphouse Colliery which is now The National Mining Museum and where I served my apprenticeship;

Home | National Coal Mining Museum for England

Now just memories of a time long ago but in many ways better times in spite of the dire poverty.

Kind regards, Colin.