Moving back

[hughnique]

Having put the house on the market, and having no punters through the gates since January, leads me to believe that either the housing market has flatlined here or possibly the price, given by the agents, is too expensive. What will be will be, I have heard of instances where people have been on the market for years rather than months, and I am in no hurry to give the place away.
Having a bit of spare time to do a bit of research as to what is available to pensioners when resident in the UK, has brought me to a rather strange scenario as far as, I mention the word benefits, are concerned. Now I am talking about Pension Credit, Council Tax relief etc., evidently having been a UK citizen for 50+ years, a great deal of that time, working and paying in to the system, ie Income tax N.I. VAT and everything else, seems to put us at a disadvantage, it appears that we have a 2 year residency clause, before we can, if needed access any benefits whatsoever, in other words we have to prove we have lived back in the UK permanently for this 2 year period before any benefits can be obtained.
This seems a bit rich to me when all these migrants are being greeted at Dover and straight away are put in to accommodation, and supposedly given all sorts of handouts, whether that be a true picture of the situation I do not know, I doubt they are given a mobile phone and the keys to a car, but who knows.
The other joke is that, obviously wanting to take quite a lot of stuff back, all boxes must be labelled, and a Transfer of Residency permit obtained before entering the country, without having to pay import duty, a spreadsheet or list must be produced detailing what is exactly in every box, and how many of each items are being brought back, ie box z books 25. I take it this is the "getting back our borders" situation gone bloody mad.

[exile]

On the last point, you were always supposed to have a manifest when transporting goods across the borders. In the past it has been rather relaxed and certainly labelling each box was never done - rather a note on the box saying which room it came out of, so the removers could then decide which room in the new residence the box could be deposited.

The level of detail on the official manifest was also quite broad, rather than itemised - except for items of particular value. I cannot now remember what that was €1500?? If I had had to itemise every item for my model railway, I think I would still be in Germany constructing the list.

[Hotrodder]

The first part of your post rings a bell. I recall reading somewhere that going back to UK puts you at a disadvantage with regard to NHS entitilement.

The second part your can put down to Brexit. The gift that keeps on giving. Good luck with the sale and even more luck when you get back to UK. It has changed out of recognition in the last decade or so.

[Blaze]

One of the reasons a property doesn't sell quickly is it's over-priced for the current market in the area. I worked for a French estate agent in Longué some years ago and when she valued property, the owners often complained that the value wasn't high enough.

In most areas of France, property prices have never increased at the rate of those in the UK. However, there are areas in France where prices have always been high - on the coast, in prime areas of big towns or cities, for example.

If there isn't much highly-paid employment in the area, people don't have the money spend on a property, preferring something small or a flat with little or no outside maintenance. In the more rural areas, it often ends up with a buyer having a coup de coeur for the property, as was the case with ours.
I think another consideration among older buyers is being closer to a large town with good facilities, particularly medical.

I realise none of this is particularly helpful to you, Hughnique, and you've probably gone through all the reasoning above. If you're not in a rush to sell, wait for the coup de coeur !

[hughnique]

Yes very unlike the UK where, I believe, houses sell before the ink dry on the agents listing. Somewhat confused on a couple of points, people say you have to compare it to other similar properties in the area and what they are offered or sold at, well I can't see anything remotely like this, so no comparison. In the UK normally houses in a road are of a type, so it works well there. Then we have the formula whereas prices are worked out by square meterage of living space, so there is another for sale in our vicinity, it has half the square meterage, less than half the terrain and is up for 75% of what we are asking, so that formula is crap. Only good thing is that it gives me more time here, so I am not particularly worried.
Exile I have never heard of the need for a manifest when transporting personal belongings across borders, commercial road transport yes as profit and loss are involved.
Hotrodder, an associate of mine recently went back to the UK, his wife was taken poorly after 3 days and spent a week in hospital, he has prostate cancer and immediately accessed medical attention, and a week after they got back they had carers coming in 6 days a week, however he has fell into the 2 year trap as far as sheltered housing is concerned.
Our situation is also exacerbated by our 3 cats, if they were not a responsibility of hours we could be more flexible in our choice of accommodation

[Pathca]

I think it’s always a good idea to base opinions on lived experience or that of people you actually know

[Blaze]

You can't compare houses in rural areas, they will all be different, be it layout, terrain, decoration, etc etc etc. even if they have the same number of rooms. That's what makes rural properties more interesting and it may be just a small point that sells the house to a particular buyer.

Estate agents' valuations are only an estimate/guide of what a property is worth. They generally work on what the market will stand and what properties in that area are going for.

I understand entirely about not wanting to give a property away so carry on enjoying being where you are until the right punter turns up !

[Headers]

If you satisfy the habitual residency test, the 2 year waiting period would not apply.
https://www.ageuk.org.uk/siteassets/doc ... ad_fcs.pdf

https://www.turn2us.org.uk/get-support/ ... t-apply-to

[hughnique]

Headers that is an eye opener for me thank you so much for enlightening me, I have had a quick look and it looks promising. Thanks again

[Liz]

Allow it does not concern me I know of a fair few people in your situation who might not know about the points you have raised. Thank you for sharing it.