Many of our current retirees believed that if they owned a mortgage-free home on retirement they would be able to survive within their local community on income from New Zealand Superannuation.
For many that’s worked well, until reaching their 80’s and facing rate increases above inflation, increased cost of living, and an inability to fund maintenance especially when grounds become unmanageable due to health challenges.
If only they could downsize to an accessible, warm, dry home in their community and maintain their social contacts.
The harsh reality is that when they want to downsize from a property worth of say, $800K to one worth $600K none of the major banks are likely to offer bridging finance as many retirees don’t earn sufficient to service the loan.
Subsequently, some retirees start to shut up rooms to conserve power and continue to struggle with poor accessibility in their older homes.
As a result of advocacy on this issue, and contacts with key community housing personnel, a potential solution was presented at Grey Power Federation’s May meeting of the Board.
It would involve the entire down-sizing and sale of a property being managed for a retiree without any need for the homeowner to negotiate any finance. Once a new, accessible two-bedroom home becomes available the retiree could move in and receive a cash refund on the sale of their home.
This scheme is likely to be piloted in Katikati in the near future with a successful pilot hopefully leading to a nationwide initiative. While the scheme is still in the early stages, the Grey Power Board hopes to provide a full update in our next magazine.
