Can I ask for some advice from those of you who may have been there.
I have SPMS and my walking is getting worse. I own a house in Leeds which is now getting difficult ie garden, stairs, path and will get more difficult. I can’t have adapations done through Disabled Facilities Grant as I earn too much - although I don’t have money - a reasonable salary which is largely committted every month. The house isn’t very ‘future proof’. I ideally need a downstairs loo and a wet room. I realise I need to move but I really don’t know where and how to start looking for anywhere suitable and how to move forward from here. Has anyone been in a similiar situation. I don’t know where to start. I have a wheelchair at work through DLA but I can’t take it home as I can’t take it down the path or into the house over the step which is really frustrating!
I can certainly understand where you are coming from.
I have made plans over the years and the biggest was moving away from my life in Sheffield to back on the Wirral. In Sheffield my house door opened from steps on to a hill and the rest of the area was hilly so I was totally house bound for a year. No family to help me. Oh there were no prams or wheelchairs there due to the terrain!
So we had a big up lift and moved back to the Wirral where it is so much flatter, suitable and some family. Dentist, doctors, shops, family, health centre all within a 5 mins ‘push’. I have bought a mid terrace which is open plan and is useful for ‘wheels’, furniture hugging, trolly etc… I saved a couple of grand to adapt the home to make it a bit more suitable like a low level step outside the front door.
I suppose you need to look at is the house now suitable for you and is it better to actually move? I would rule that out first. Move or no move and then concentrate on what you decide on. There might be a nice ground floor flat, maybe?
Just moved, on Fri 13th everything went fine, more than fine in fact, removal men asked if I wanted the carpet taking up, I said yes, hubby said no, so it got taken up to reveal a perfect parquet floor (which I already suspected was there!) we moved to a bungalow in an area I never thought we could afford, it was on the market 4 years initially at 235 and lately offers over 200 we got it for 185, granted it needs work but we got an absolute steal. We put our house on the market solely to buy this - no other, we would have adapted the house if we hadn’t got it but I’d never have been happy as I loved my house as it was and it still would have been hard work to live in and this is actually more square footage than a 4 bed house (2 bed bungalow) I am loving it here already and we would never have looked if we hadn’t needed to move but i am so glad we did (not the reason though) just feel so much more relaxed not seeing stairs everyday! wouldn’t mind but the stairs were gorgeous ( not that long had them replaced,and now can’t get up them, in fact you would have found posts on here about me panicking about it, before the board change) I’d say have a good look around your chosen area and don’t be put off by asking prices, always worth making a cheeky offer.
I had similar housing problems and coincidentally live in Leeds too.
My house was not eligible for a disabled facilities grant because the access was unsuitable, VERY steep drive and street. I owned my house (With a mortgage) but I didn’t have enough equity to buy a bungalow outright and couldn’t get another mortgage because I no longer had a job and they wouldn’t take benefit income into account.
I was terrified of the uncertainty of private renting so without much expectation I applied to the council. I got medical priority and started putting in bids for suitable properties. (I was very picky as to location) After just 7 weeks I was offered a bungalow in Otley.
They put in a wet room, new kitchen with low level units, wider doors, ramps outside and a shed to keep my scooter. The bungalow is tiny but that’s just right when fatigue is at it’s worst – everywhere is just a few steps from everywhere else.
It was a bit of a shock to the system living on an estate in a rented property – all my life I’d had my own home but the benefits far out weigh any misgivings – when something goes wrong I just ring WNW Homes and they deal with it. I found uprooting to a new area problematic at first but it’s been a year now and I’m very happy.