Home means the resilience of family structures

In many ways we are fortunate. We have a home and a small amount of land but have watched with horror as our children have moved elsewhere because of the cost of housing in Cornwall. We should be providing grandparent services but the distances are too great.

As we become older we are realising the precariousness of our lives. I’ve developed a progressive illness and am capable of less and less so more and more is placed on my wife.

We want to bring one or more of our offspring with their families to live here. It would make sense for us to build a ground level dwelling on our land to enable this. We would become less of a charge on local services if this could happen. The trouble is that fulfilling these wishes is beset with difficulties. We aren’t property developers or even among those fortunates with lots of money to waste on false starts. The planning system is, to us, frighteningly impenetrable.

A route map is needed but I can’t find it. All the time our future looks ever more uncertain.