Behind The News: Returning retirees face three-year wait for housing

Retiring to Spain sounds like an attractive option when you consider Irish winters, but one couple say that the glamour of eating and drinking out can wear off once finances tighten. “When we moved there first it was one big adventure, and for the first 18 months or so it felt like a honeymoon,” says Bill Grant.

The 78-year-old Waterford man returned to Ireland with his 70-year-old wife, Kay, late last year. “There were lots of people like us, but as you get older you can’t keep it up, and you are always conscious of the finances even though living in Spain is much cheaper than here.”

After almost a decade in Spain, Kay says, she became very unsettled. “We met a lot of Irish and English people who had retired there, too, but the majority of them have since died or moved back home. We have four daughters here, and we had missed a lot of family occasions. As you get older you want to see them more and not miss confirmations, birthdays and even funerals.”

The couple had got into financial difficulties before they left Ireland, but in 2002 they managed to get a mortgage for a one-bedroom apartment on the Costa Blanca, south of Alicante, based on their pension income.

When they decided to return to Ireland they couldn’t afford to buy a property, so they went on the housing list in Co Kildare, where they had lived for 20 years. “We had to apply a number of times. Our application was refused the first time. In the end a local councillor helped us to get it resolved,” Bill says. “You don’t know where to start. It was a very difficult and daunting process. We looked at sheltered housing, which you had to buy after two years. We needed [affordable] rented accommodation. It took three years to finally move back.”

The couple now live in McAuley Place, a gated residential apartment complex for older people in Naas, with a tea room, a community centre, and an arts and culture centre in its grounds.

“The facilities are excellent. We both feel that it is in a good location in the centre of the town, near services, the church and the shops,” says Bill. “We can come and go as we like, and our daughters can visit. We don’t have a car, but we get buses. We have just reregistered for the free travel passes, which will save us money, too.”