The service charges on the flat are almost \u00a3800 a month and the family have now incurred debts of around \u00a330,000, which they will pay from the sale of the property. Each month, they also have to fork out for council tax and electricity standing charges.<\/p>\n
But despite cutting the asking price to well under what her mum paid for the flat when she bought it in 2018, Cathy told The i Paper they have barely had any viewers and potential buyers are deterred by the service charges.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have financially inherited this problem<\/a> and it is a total nightmare,\u201d said Cathy, 67, who lives in Oxfordshire with husband Mark and is a mum-of-three.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is so mentally exhausting and depressing. I have days when I think I would rather send them back the keys because you get to the point where you feel you can\u2019t fight anymore.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is such an emotional thing as well because you have no closure. We are having to go back every now and again to read the meters. Having to walk back into the place where your mum lived and died is awful and it means you can\u2019t get over her death.\u201d<\/p>\n Cathy explained that her mum, Josephine, had been living in a small bungalow<\/a> by herself after being widowed 15 years earlier, but after she suffered a few falls and broke her hip, her family looked for an alternative option. They decided on an independent living flat with the option of extra care.<\/p>\n Independent living extra care, also known as assisted living<\/a>, is a housing option that allows older adults or those with complex care needs to maintain a private, independent lifestyle in their own self-contained home while having 24\/7 on-site access to personalised care and support services if they need them.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was and is a beautiful apartment. My mum had her own little flat with a lot of her own stuff, rather than moving into a care home where you get a room with a wardrobe and that\u2019s about it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n She added: \u201cMy mum was very happy living there and the staff were lovely and she was well looked after. We, as a family, were happy as we knew she was safe.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had no problems whatsoever with the care she received or the standard of accommodation as it was all great.\u201d<\/p>\n Cathy says the then \u00a3350 a month service charges<\/a> were reasonable when her mum moved in.<\/p>\n After her mum\u2019s death in 2023, the family put the property up for sale, but after around six months, alarm bells rang as they had very little interest. Since then, they have reduced the price a few times, but are still struggling to sell it.<\/p>\n \u201cBy this stage, the service charge <\/a>had crept up and although Anchor, who run the development, have said we can pay them after we have sold the flat, the debt is mounting up.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have also paid around \u00a35,000 in council tax since my mum died and are paying around \u00a335 a month in electricity standing charges. All for a flat that is sitting there empty.\u201d<\/p>\n When Josephine bought the flat in 2018, she paid \u00a3145,000 for it. Her family initially put it on sale in 2023 for \u00a3140,000, then reduced it to \u00a3120,000 and have now slashed it to \u00a399,000 \u2013 but still have not been able to sell it.<\/p>\n \u201cSince January, when we put the price down to under \u00a3100,000, we have not had a single viewer,\u201d said Cathy.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is not the price of the property that is putting people off, it is the service charge and the estate agent has told us this.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are now estate agents in the area who won\u2019t even take on these flats because they know they can\u2019t sell them.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Cathy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_302536431-e1782226404336.jpg\")
Josephine Moran (centre) with her four children. Cathy (left) says potential buyers are deterred by the service charges when looking at the flat<\/p>\n
![\"Cathy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SEI_302536428.jpg\")
Cathy Redman\u2019s mum, Josephine, with her grandchildren. Cathy believes the whole model of these retirement properties is broken<\/p>\n