Future plans

[thecaretaker]

We used to get a lot of comments from Caretakers who were due to retire or had lost their job and were about to find themselves homeless.

Some caretakers had added their name to council lists in the hope they could get a council house. But they were not always prioritised and often had a long wait.

Some planned ahead and saved for the future in the hope they could buy a new home.

I assume that very few jobs come with a home anymore so this no longer applies.

If you do still live in a school owned house, what do you hope to do in the future?

[ash70]

Its a constant worry where i will go when i retire. I will try and work as long as i can just to protect my living arrangements. The trouble with this is its might be completely out of my hands. Where i live property prices are ridiculous. I put away money each month but will never get near a deposit let alone buying outright so guess i could move away or other than that rely on inheritance from the in laws. all that said i am very worried about the future if i had a property i would of left my post by now as i could make far more money in the private sector.

[timmydog]

i have the same problem but in 2007 i bought a place in spain costa blanca south nice little place close to a massive nature reserve actually about 300 metres from it but will try council here for a place when i retire in 4 years time dont think i will have much luck but you can only try if not its off to sunny spain for me and other half

[EBJ]

I was lucky i suppose as i took the opportunity of buying our first council house and years later sold it at a profit enough to buy a house where we are now in retirement out right with no mortgage and money in the bank, i do feel sorry for the caretakers who are just moved out at the schools whim because they want to use the house or just no longer want a live on site caretaker, never once heard of a school bending over back wards to help though.

[Buffer]

if not its off to sunny spain for me and other half

I may be wrong But not sure that would be an option unless if i remember rightly you have an income of 2000 euros a month or such like and be able to pay for private health insurance a year ahead also it is a yearly visa you apply for otherwise 90 days in every 180 you would be able to stay.

[Drone]

School houses round this way are as rare as rocking horse manure.

[strider]

Reading these I recon I will have to work until I drop dead. ha ha

[Poshboy65]

living overseas now is not as easy as it used to be possibly with all the changes over the past year or so

[Handyman]

Retirement is still some way off for me but I still probably haven't put as much thought into this as I should. I know some of the guys in my LA sign up to the council housing list about 10 years before retirement and I think this generally works, although if a school becomes an academy then there is some confusion as to whether the council can then wash their hands of all responsibility.

It can be difficult as I know a guy living in on-site accommodation that is falling apart and the school somehow got away with spending the rent money on other things so won't help and he has been on the housing waiting list for over a decade but is seen as low priority despite the council saying that his property is in an 'unacceptable' condition. They also say they will investigate if he quits his job and probably won't get anything because he will be deemed to have made himself homeless.

Then I know another guy is panicking because his wife is pregnant and he has suddenly become worried that the council will find out he has been subletting his spare bedroom in the school bungalow to someone cash in hand and that will get kicked out and have nowhere to go.

[Skoolkeeper]

As the new management of the new academy wanted me out of my home and job, my Union and myself accepted a Without Prejudice settlement agreement. Once out, I arranged a early retirement pension plan and bought a home in Spain to live permanently, obtaining Spanish Residency in August of last year.

[lankeyjohn]

I live on site. They are planning to build a new school on the same site and as my bungalow is position at the main gates they are not sure if they will knock it down for access or stick a building on top of it. With no plans to build a home for me and the wife I have been asked to write a report stating the pros and cons of having a caretaker living on site.

Any ideas?

[eggy]

Well I am on site but the council have taken us off the waiting list.
This is because we have somewhere to live

[Handyman]

I live on site. They are planning to build a new school on the same site and as my bungalow is position at the main gates they are not sure if they will knock it down for access or stick a building on top of it. With no plans to build a home for me and the wife I have been asked to write a report stating the pros and cons of having a caretaker living on site.

Any ideas?

I assume they mean pros and cons for the school rather than yourself? I guess it depends exactly on what your duties involve etc. but it my area for example it gets more applicants and people who stay on because house prices/rent are so expensive there is one school nearby that converted the school bungalow into a nursery and have been advertising for a caretaker for about 6 months now. Their last guy didn't last long because he immediately jumped ship when a school with a house came up.

Having someone there for security is useful and also if they want someone to do split shifts. I try not to go in during my off-shift but I have occasionally, doubt I ever would if I lived half an hour away.

Good luck, I am sure other people will have some helpful suggestions.