Telling OAP's to sell their home.

I think the British obsession with owning a home come ftom the dire state of the rental market.

We were renters for many years as we couldn't afford to buy in the areas we wanted to bring up our children. We are unusual I think in the UK in the levels of home ownership.

A (say) 10 year lease situation would help in my opinion.

How about a decent, largish pension for everyone, across the board?
Regardless of who worked where, or any of the other myriad situations people find themselves in.

Germany, Austria and Denmark were always held up as good models for rentals in the past.
I don't know if they are still the sane?

I have a less complicated view on this. I know someone who has a big house, again property rich cash poor. She qualifies for PC as not on new state pension. She gets the WFA.
This person looks after a Grandchild a couple of days a week at no cost to the parents, in turn her lawn is cut and if she needs help her adult children are near enough to help. She is in reasonable health.
I am a boomer, I have had to work six years longer, I have new state pension and a occ pen, yes I want the WFA, I want to have meals and coffee with friends without worrying about money, I have worked and paid for my retirement and now want the dividends. I also do not want idiots to tell me or even suggest I move.
I know this will not be popular on Gransnet but I am sick of pensioners saying I am willing to give up wfa to help the NHS, this is rubbish I believe the Goverment can cut costs in other ways.
Yes as a pensioner to sum up, I want the life I have planned for, I intend to heat, eat and not move. I help with childcare,saving a fortune for my daughter, I frequent your coffee shops, it is said alot of trade comes from the silver pound.

How about free gas and/or electric at pension age?

Good post rafichagran👏🏻👏🏻

Of course it's reasonable to want to be comfortably able to have lunch, buy coffee, whatever takes your fancy.

Nobody can argue with that.

MissAdventure

Of course it's reasonable to want to be comfortably able to have lunch, buy coffee, whatever takes your fancy.

Nobody can argue with that.

I don't think anyone is arguing with it

I didn't think so...
A discussion us what it is, I think.

NotSpaghetti

I think the British obsession with owning a home come ftom the dire state of the rental market.

We were renters for many years as we couldn't afford to buy in the areas we wanted to bring up our children. We are unusual I think in the UK in the levels of home ownership.

A (say) 10 year lease situation would help in my opinion.

I think the British obsession with owning a home come ftom the dire state of the rental market.

I read that in Europe, the rental market is highly-regulated - there's a better supply of properties, state-imposed rent caps and a large portion of stock that is sate-subsidised.. available with no deposit. Obviously, there's variation between countries.

This would never sit well with Tory values and any party attempting to emulate this market would be doomed before they even started because we've been conditioned for decades into the home-ownership model. And because renting is so precarious and frequently expensive - especially for anyone wanting to start a family, or with children, owning your own home will continue to be the goal of most.

We are obsessed with good reason. The insecurity of being a tenant.

I’m another who agrees with your post rafichagran at 12.04.

I wouldn’t take any notice of anyone, whether or not on GN, who says they don’t mind losing their WFA so the NHS or anything else can benefit. I regard that as a bit of halo polishing. The WFA should have been incorporated into the State Pension in my opinion, but it wasn’t because by paying it separately, it could always be removed. And now it has. The State Pension is little enough as it is, and despite the fact that that Australia means tests it’s state pension, i really don’t think we should be either in a race to the bottom, or competing to have the lowest common denominator.

NotSpaghetti

^spend millions of pounds housing illegal immigrants^, buffyfly9

This is not true - and not really relevant to downsizing in my opinion.
Just saying, (not wanting to make a big thing of it).

I agree, it's certainly not true, and I won't go into detail as people will believe what they want to believe.

Such an interesting discussion. May I throw something else into the mix? Many of us are living far longer than was expected a few decades ago (remember 3 score years and ten?) - there are many knock-on effects of this, including the lack of appropriate housing for elderly folk with complex health needs. About a quarter of the population in the UK are over 60.

MissAdventure

So, the answer is to stay put, and accept that it'll cost a very small amount more, as the fuel allowance has been taken from those who are above a particular threshold.

How much will it be?
Someone worked it ut and I think it was £4 a week.

Yes, £3.85 per week. I explained this to some of the residents in the sheltered housing, where I live, who think nothing of spending £10 on bingo tickets or on raffle tickets to win a bit of tat.
They hadn't thought of it like this, and it became more acceptable to them.

Nano14

NotSpaghetti

spend millions of pounds housing illegal immigrants, buffyfly9

This is not true - and not really relevant to downsizing in my opinion.
Just saying, (not wanting to make a big thing of it).

I agree, it's certainly not true, and I won't go into detail as people will believe what they want to believe.

Also agreed. The whole premise is flawed, as illegal immigrants can't claim anything, never mind get housing.

Thank you, Nano14.

Just tell your BIL to sell if he wants to he has worked hard for what he has don't let his money grabbing daughters have it. Make the rest of his life easy spend his money on his needs.

Oreo

NotSpaghetti

spend millions of pounds housing illegal immigrants, buffyfly9

This is not true - and not really relevant to downsizing in my opinion.
Just saying, (not wanting to make a big thing of it).

Are you joking?
Housing and supporting asylum seekers for the year 2023-2024 is 4.7 billion.

But the point is, they are not illegal. They may arrive 'illegally' but once in the country they can put in their claim for asylum. There is no such thing as an illegal asylum seeker. Illegal immigrants get nothing, as they are not even in the system.

The only winners in down sizing are the estate agents, solicitors and the government (stamp duty)

It’s quite a hard complex decision to decide to move and downsize when living alone.

I do think it should be considered and it the most sensible thing to do and I’d certainly do so, however it has to be a personal decision and made after a great deal of thought.

heavenlyheath

Just tell your BIL to sell if he wants to he has worked hard for what he has don't let his money grabbing daughters have it. Make the rest of his life easy spend his money on his needs.

I absolutely agree

We live in a 4 bed house and have been here 45 years. We have bus stops close by that all services call at, 2 railway stations 7 min walk away so can go north/South or east/west, doctors across the road, very nearby are the swimming pool/gym and cinema/theatre. Council offices 4min walk. I walk into town 10mins away for shopping. There is nowhere anywhere that we could move to so convenient especially as we get older. Moving is extremely stressful and expensive so will put it off as long as we can.

MissAdventure

How about a decent, largish pension for everyone, across the board?
Regardless of who worked where, or any of the other myriad situations people find themselves in.

👏👏👏👏👏

Cossy

It’s quite a hard complex decision to decide to move and downsize when living alone.

I do think it should be considered and it the most sensible thing to do and I’d certainly do so, however it has to be a personal decision and made after a great deal of thought.

I do agree with this.
Did you see my post upthread about moving my mother the length of the country when she was 90 Cossy?
It is difficult, there is no doubt. A massive amount of work and it can take a huge toll on the old person’s health, with all the stress involved. My mother was very happy to be moving, but she still found the whole experience stressful.

This is a really interesting thread. Many different slants on the problem of housing in general and for the elderly in particular. . It has veered away from the opening statement. No matter.
Downsizing is not going to solve the housing problem. Although our house would be a prime candidate for converting into 2 flats. In fact I would love the bottom flat!!
I wish our son in laws were architects. I call them son in laws as it's easier to say than DDs partners.