If you have to leave your farm, through no fault of your own, and this means you will lose your home, turn to us for help. You may be eligible to apply to our Retirement Housing Scheme.
Through our Retirement Housing Scheme, we buy houses for sale on the open-market, to rent to farmers who have to leave their farm, perhaps because of ill health, retirement or non-viability of the farm and by doing so, will also lose their home. Often, there is no suitable housing available locally, with the surge in house prices over recent decades putting properties out of reach.
We may give priority to retiring tenant farmers to benefit from this scheme, because their land and farmhouse do not belong to them and cannot therefore be sold to raise funds to invest in somewhere else for them to live.
Regardless of your circumstances, if your application is successful, we will always do our best to accommodate your preferences as we match you with your future home.
Something we do encourage you to do, depending on your circumstances, is to enter into a shared equity arrangement with us. More than 60% of our tenants who move into our Retirement Homes do so. This gives you a financial stake in the property and provides a safe investment in the interests of your own future legacy.
A sustainable scheme
We invest in Retirement Homes knowing full well we are making a long-term commitment to our new tenants and so it is crucial for our charity to be sustainable. We use our rental income to cover all of our basic administration and property maintenance costs. As a result, every donation you make to our charity has a meaningful and lasting effect. All donations we receive are invested into our five key areas including growing our property portfolio so that we can help more people. When one of our properties is no longer needed, it is sold and the proceeds help fund our next purchase.
“Realising we had to find an alternative place to live, we came to Addington for help. Six months later John and I were settled in our new home – a 2-bedroom bungalow close to where we used to farm, to our friends, and to the essential medical support needed."
— Name withheld
How the scheme works
Protecting your dignity and giving you peace of mind, always.
We consider your situation on an individual basis and if we can help, we will give you a choice of location and property, within certain financial constraints. We are committed to working with your family to help you leave your farm with dignity. Our aim is to provide an appropriate home which fits your individual circumstances.
Our tenancy agreements are all Assured Shorthold Tenancies (ASTs) but we are committed to giving you peace of mind for a stable future. If your application is successful, the property we buy for you will be available for as long as you need it – as long as it is well cared for and the subsidised rent is covered.
You will have the option to take on a property on a 100% rental basis. But if you have the means to do so, we can offer and encourage a shared-equity arrangement, whereby rent is only payable on the percentage owned by us. An arrangement like this is a great way to use your savings as an investment; the value of which may go up or down over time.
Your privacy assured
Our trustees, staff, volunteers and partner organisations operate with complete confidentiality and they understand that making the decision to leave a business, particularly farming, is possibly the most difficult decision you will ever take. There are many aspects that may concern you:
In established families, to be the one to let it all go
The end of personal aspirations
Fear of an unknown future
Worries about effects on your wider family
By providing a solution to losing your home, we can offer you the security, stability and base from which to progress. Ultimately, we want everyone to have the option of leaving their farming business with dignity.