After 12 years of permanent living in Spain, we are considering a move back to the UK as our principle home. We are now both pensioners and have a 90 year old father here with us too. Whilst we are both healthy Dad is starting to struggle, we cannot get him up the steps into our home anymore. Problem is of course selling our property, we would like to buy something smaller on one level here and another property in the UK.
Ideally then we could spend around 4 months here and the remaining 8 months in the UK. This would benefit us financially (taxes in Spain are much higher) and also we will soon need access to public transport and healthcare.
Can anyone advise on the best way forward? We don't need/want to claim benefits but can't work out how to access housing whilst our money is tied up?
Any advice appreciated?

Homelessness: Are you eligible for help? - Shelter England

"If you're a British Citizen or Irish Citizen
You are eligible for assistance if you are a homeless British citizen or Irish citizen living in the UK and you have not recently spent time living abroad.

If you're from the UK and recently returned from abroad
If you have returned to the UK after living abroad for two years or more, even if you are a British citizen or Irish citizen, the council checks if you are 'habitually resident' in the UK ..................................."

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck ....... ?

Hi and a warm welcome to the Spanish forum on BE. Myself and Fred James are the moderators for the Spanish forums whilst BEVS moderates Europe. Moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. This is so that members gain the information that they are looking for and find their experiences on the forums to be friendly and worthwhile.

Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderator who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are usually friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge about the issues of living in Spain. I hope that you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

It would appear that you would have difficulty in passing the habitually resident test. This may help:
http://www.independentage.org/factsh...g-from-abroad/

LOL well spotted

Unfortunately, and someone will tell me if I am wrong, you cannot access any housing benefits on returning to the UK if you own a property abroad. The only solution is to sell up first. You are stuck in the classic expat situation. You both seem to be healthy to see out the sale of your property, but your father is struggling. I can only advise to put your property on the market straight away and hope for the best. Forget for now buying a smaller property in Spain. Your priority is to get back to the UK in a stable environment transport and healthcare wise. I know this is not much help but it may save you time looking for a solution that isn’t there. I wish you luck with everything and a speedy return.

Newbies on here take note.

We have had a change of owners in our road with 5 houses in the last year, one was sold in 2 weeks with the longest taking 6 weeks, places are selling as long as they are priced right , thats the key, i wish you good luck but priced right it might not be the noose around your neck you think it is

Thanks for the replies thus far. Our property has been on the market for months, with few viewings. The Estate Agents agreed the price, and of course we are subject to the variations in the exchange rate too. In Orihuela Costa there are hundreds of homes for sale/empty and now new building has restarted! We can sit it out but Dad can't - I can't begin to imagine what will happen if he becomes ill and has to move out of his apartment! He will be homeless (with no assets) but couldn't return to the UK alone.
We appear to be stuck on a roundabout, with no way offí ½í¸ª

Well, I dont know what kind of property you own ... but we went to three estate agents at the time of sale and got a general average and then decided what we could afford to sell it for bearing in mind the rate of exchange at the time. The agents price may not be a realistic price, and maybe thats why you are not getting viewings

The other thing is that agents are generally not proactive in my experience. I also put my house on several on line agencies as well. One English, and one Russian as Russians were buying at the time. They generated some enquiries, in fact more than the Spanish agents did.

We of course dont know your financial situation, but you DO have a holiday home to rent out should you be able to organise yourself. In that way you can generate some income to maybe help finance a rental in the UK. Our villa would have rented out for £650 a week in the high season, far better than long term rentals which might have generated a bit more than that a month. You cant be sure of full time rental for holidays but when we did rent it we were full for a good percentage of the year.