As the header says, the blog party will be on 16th August. As always, guests are welcome to stay, the more people here, the happier `I am. How chaotic the house will be is uncertain, but no one comes here expecting any sort of tidiness and it'll just be wilder than usual.
My children telling me that I shouldn't worry about moving, but prepare the house for the long term has taken away a pressure that I didn't know I felt. I'm planning to use the whole house, in a way I don't usually. When you've got more bedrooms than you need to sleep in, you tend to shut them up. But why should I? So I'm moving more bookcases into the furthest bedroom and I'll also move Tim's big tv and hifi system there and it'll be given a new purpose. It'll make room in the study, which will be another dining room too. That'll make three. It's ideal for the mornings as it faces east and south. It will also be something of a kitchen extension and still be a study, so it's just a room for me to eat breakfast and lunch in - the reason my children realise there's little chance of me downsizing is becoming clear.
It's not that I have any objection to moving somewhere smaller, it's just that nothing suitable is ever built. People want somewhere big enough for their nicest furniture and they don't want steep staircases and they do want some privacy. They want at least one spare room, a study, a dining room and storage space. But people who have a family and are looking to upsize want the same thing. Starter homes are not suitable for people preparing for old age. Narrow cloakroom that there's no chance of getting into with a walking frame, a narrow, steep staircase that's dangerous to come down, with no space for a stairlift and the bathroom never has a shower that an old person can use, not if they need a chair or someone to help them. The retirement complexes that are built are certainly usable and I've got friends who are very happy there, but they're a nightmare to sell, if the owner needs care or dies, and huge service charges are payable, even if no one is living there. Not that it would suit me, at any age. But anyway, I'm planning to spread out right here.
2 comments:
Homes for older people who are downsizing but want the things you mention will never be built because developers can't make enough money from them. Or - they will appear on plans and planning permission will be granted, then, after build has started, the developers will spin the local authority a line about they can't complete the project as materials/labour have gone up so much that it is now uneconomic, so they will be leaving the site half-built. Every single time, they are miraculously then allowed to build 5 bedroom executive homes in their place. It even happens in the north now!
It might be worth looking into the possibility of having a lift put in now to enable you to continue to use your upstairs should mobility issues arise. We interviewed all the varieties on the market. Stiltz home lifts are the best of the bunch for easy installation (and run off a 3 pin plug whereas others need hydraulics and goodness knows what else - over-engineering!), and work out somewhere around the £20K mark, including all necessary intallation and reinstatement. We almost did it, and even paid the deposit, but on survey something structural was discovered that meant more work/reinstatement was required than we (at the time) were prepared to tolerate (although there would have been no extra cost). They were very good about it and gave us our deposit back very promptly. The Queen had one put into (one of) her Scottish house shortly before she died. But they're not allowed to advertise that! It's amazing where they can fit them in. And, while I know your house is listed, as an adaptation to enable you to stay in your home it is highly unlikely to be turned down (and they handle all that stuff and building regs too).
And yes, use all your upstairs rooms for whatever purpose you please. How often do people come to stay anyway? You can always put sofa-beds and clothes rails in them rather than full beds and wardrobes.
- BW
They get out of the rules for social housing by saying it's become uneconomic, too. And the planners are keen on starter homes, which have tiny bathrooms and steep stairs.
Unless I get awfully ill, I trust I can manage my stairs for a long time - and it's now said that stairs are very good exercise and should be used as long as possible. With the prospect of the new kitchen, the re-preserving of all the window frames and other redecoration too, I'll have to give an extra £20,000 a miss for a year or two. But Weeza and I have talked about it, it would be possible to install a lift. I'll bookmark the name of the company, thank you.
The bedrooms are the same sizes as the rooms below, space is no problem at all. Heating them is, but that's another matter.
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