Anna and Danny Thompson loved their home in rural Waterford. It had a beautiful view and ample room to raise a family.
But last year the couple made the tough decision to sell up and move in to the city where they could be closer to their three children and to healthcare facilities, which were more of a necessity as they became older.
Their former home “had a very big garden to the back and front of the house, which we loved, but as time went on, it just became too hard to maintain”, said 79-year-old Anna.
The biggest reason for the move was Danny (86) and his dementia.
“I really needed help with him. Our children lived around 80km away from us, so there was no one around to give me a break if I needed to do something,” said Anna.
“So although we hated having to do it, selling the house and downsizing into a place in the city was really necessary for us.”
Moving home is stressful, but this is especially so for older people. The Government is looking at relaxing rules to encourage older people to move to smaller properties, easing planning and lending criteria to help those seeking to downsize in order to free up more homes for families during the housing crisis.
Minister for Older People Kieran O’Donnell has said the Government wants to provide “voluntary options” for older people to buy “smaller, more appropriate and age-friendly homes” which could, in turn, “free up larger homes for young families”.
Anne Connolly, co-founder of Cohousing Communities Ireland, which promotes housing communities for older people, said the Government measures should be extended from single-housing developments “to those which would accommodate larger groups of people”.
“Every year over 70,000 people turn 50 in Ireland and a growing number are seeking to downsize – but we know from our own research that most want to be able to do so in their own communities,” she said.
Connolly believes cohousing communities for people aged 50 and over offer an ideal opportunity to combine high-quality homes with living in “a self-managing community”, providing space and facilities to socialise together and to create a “great quality of life”.
Regina Mangan at Waterford-based Liberty Blue Estate Agents believes the new measures should include affordable home schemes and a rent-to-buy option.
“We need to look at expanding schemes beyond first-time buyers in order for people in their autumn years to be able to ‘right-size’,” she said.
The Government, she said, could help people who sell their home and are looking to buy a new property by taking equity in the home if they have insufficient funds.
Easing planning permission for modular building is “a no-brainer”, she said, so allowing a modular building, not exceeding 40sq m, within the grounds of an existing property, is “not big” and would “certainly ease some of the pressure”.
“There are many reasons why people choose to downsize,” said Mangan. “Some have mobility issues and want to live in a bungalow as they fear they won’t be able to manage living in their current home when they get older.”
Looking to be closer to family, medical facilities or shops – or because the family home is too big to heat or a garden is too large to manage − are other reasons for selling up, she said.
A bungalow would have been ideal for Anna Thompson and her husband, who has now lost his eyesight, but she chose a two-storey house with enough space to convert a downstairs room into a bedroom.
“Finding a bungalow was impossible,” she said. “But we turned one of the downstairs rooms into a bedroom and had a bathroom fitted in there, so it’s perfect for us.”
Now in “a great location”, Anna said she can walk to the shops, their children are nearby, and she has a new doctor.
“Moving house when you are older is a huge upheaval but it was the best thing we could have done and we are delighted with it now,” she said.
“If I could give any advice to someone else considering a move like this, I would say, make sure to find yourself a good auctioneer and solicitor and then just go for it – you’ll be delighted once the hard work is over and you’re settled in.”
Although downsizing can bring financial benefits, Mangan said this isn’t always the case, and moving house later in life can be difficult.
“With the way the market is, people don’t always make extra money when selling to downsize,” she said.
She knows older people having to buy in towns and cities where they have to compete with lots of other buyers bidding for homes that require no work.
“Older people mostly don’t have the appetite to buy a house which needs a lot of work, which is understandable, and supply is a real issue, so it’s very much a chicken-and-egg situation,” she said.
She said there is “very little planning” by Government for the country’s ageing community, while developers aren’t building bungalows because they cost too much.
“We need affordable homes for our parents and those in their autumn years,” said Mangan.
Anne Connolly believes housing for the over-55s must be regarded as “a distinct housing category in a similar way to student housing”.
“Banks should be allowed to offer short-term bridging loans that don’t fall foul of the current lending rules,” she said.
The Government could support a model as part of a strategy to tackle the housing crisis by releasing larger family homes on to the market “while at the same time addressing the growing issue of social isolation among older adults”, said Connolly.
She also believes the Central Bank needs to re-examine property lending rules for older people, many of whom are mortgage-free and in larger family homes that have a higher value than the apartments they are looking to move into.
“They are very willing to commit to selling these larger homes but do not wish to have to do so before their new home is ready,” she said.
Connolly said Cohousing Communities Ireland is looking at sites in Dublin for its first housing project.
“Cohousing communities are self-organising groups, who collaborate on key decisions such as site selection, housing design, shared facilities and much more,” she said.
“They are also designed for active individuals, many of whom are still working and contributing to community and social development.”
For those looking to downsize, Regina Mangan suggests would-be movers should ensure any new home is close to amenities and in the vicinity of green space for walking. Finding out who your neighbours are is also important because if everyone there is decades younger then it may be difficult to make friends. Downsizers should also consider the energy rating of a new home so it is easy to maintain, inside and out.
“My one tip for anyone thinking of moving house to downsize and make life easier, would be to not leave it too late, so do it while you are still able,” said Mangan.
“Many people are afraid of change, and worry about leaving their home, but in my experience life often gets better.”
