All old people should sell up family homes for families.

@watersprites I still don’t understand your “productive” comment though.

Even with care home fees it doesn't always mean selling up, depends on your pension.

probs!

That is exactly what has happened. Next door to us last year and 2 doors down the year before.

no probe

@watersprites apologies it was @Pluvia that I confused you with about being defeated.
I don’t know how to do quotes.

We will downsize in about 5-7 years when we split our time between our home in France and here. Families with young and several children will be very welcome to buy our house and to maintain and heat 3500sq feet, and look after quite a large garden - only 1/2 an acre so a large garden rather than land.

Why the hell should we have to move, we're 72 and 73, still very fit and active. Housework and gardening keep us healthy and happy.
I realise though that we are lucky to still be healthy though at our age, but we have looked after ourselves.

It would be great if homes were designed with downsizing in mind. Eg the possiblility to very easily turn the upstairs into a seperate self contained flat. So lets say I bought a 4 or 5 bedroom house with my husband and kids. Initially I don't need the whole house since kids are small so I rent out upstairs and bring in some needed income. Then kids get bigger need more space, we use the whole house. Kids grow up and move out but they might come home to visit with their own kids. For that period of time its really handy that they have their own space to live. Eventually we get too old to entertain and maybe rent out the upstairs flat, perhaps to a family member who helps keep an eye on us, or sell it.

I lived in NY for a while and lived in a house just lilke this. There are downsides (noise travels) but so many upsides.

@Pigeon31 one of my parents neighbours never stops moaning about the fact her only child has deserted her. I know her son & they moved up north because they wanted to be close to family & that's what they could afford. His mum just doesn't get why he can't come down every weekend to do maintenance/errands etc. She could have easily downsized & facilitated him staying closer, you can't have it both ways.

@Handsnotwands I'm confused. You said

every single one of the council owned ones are occupied by single older people

when the old people die their council houses are sold on the open market for £300k plus, this has happened twice in the last 3 years in our road

So are the council selling off the houses on the open market? I haven't heard of that.

Absolutely agree we have a larger home because we worked bloody hard to buy it . I'm not going plan my life around other peoples needs.

Same, unless I couldn't manage the stairs or something. Even then I think I'd get a stairlift. I've put heart and soul into this house for 25 years. I like the location. I love my garden. Detached house and I don't ever want to live in a flat or a semi. All my furniture etc is to accommodate the size of home I have, and it wouldn't fit in a smaller one.

It’s a good idea, the government could help with zero moving costs, stamp duty, solicitors etc, but there needs to be good houses or bungalows with a good size garden ( manageable) off street parking etc, unfortunately this will not happen because we are not building enough houses for the existing populations growth and the vast numbers that are still coming here, that need somewhere to live

@Needmorelego do you not see an issue where people can't get on the ladder unless they inherit?

Who is going to be able to afford all of these larger houses that the elderly are living in? My step dad lives in a lovely 4/5 bed house, big garden, huge kitchen, double garage, several reception rooms, at a conservative estimate, even in today's climate, it's worth £850,000. I would really struggle to afford that and my partner and I have a really good combined income.

Only way that I could afford that sort of house is if I have an inheritance!

productive as in conducive for society.

People probably think this about my mum who is in her 70s who lives in a 4 bedroom detached house. The amount of bedrooms doesn't mean a huge amount - she actually "downsized" from a bigger more expensive 3 bed in a more desired location. Most of the people who looked at her previous house were builders and investors, the families couldn't afford it and/or discounted it for other reasons. The person who ended up buying it was a similar age to her.

The irony is that lots of young families did look at the house she bought but no one else put in an offer because the garden was too small. She bought the house off a divorcing couple who had several kids and she paid the asking price which helped each parent buy a suitable property.

She uses every single room. My kids go round there regularly and play in the bedrooms, we sometimes stay over. She is still working and uses another room for that.

Where does it end? I live in a row of 3 bed semis. My neighbours never had children, should they be made to downsize too? Or perhaps people without children should live in one bedroom flats like a pp said. After all, people without dc don't need gardens even if gardening is their hobby. 🙄

A couple of years ago when my dad was 89, carpet fitters came to put down a new carpet in his house. They made it absolutely clear that his house was 'a family house' and he should move into a housing association flat so 'a family' could have the house.

This is not a council/housing association property. Not even privately rented. My dad built his own house in 1959. He had a mortgage to do that, which was paid off by the 1970s. He's been there now for 63 years. It's his home and he'll stay there as long as he can.

People say such things out of envy. They are unreasonable and have bad manners. My dad is determined that if he ever buys another carpet, it won't be from them!

In my option is used more in council housing when said old person doesn't own the lovely 4 bed house with a garden and there are families and young children being split up and moved from hotel to hotel all around the country.
if you own your house it's yours.

@Needmorelego where did I talk about a defeated attitude?

100% this - my MiL lives in London (where we could def not afford to buy).

I remember discussing with her a few years ago if she might want to think about moving nearer to us so I could pop in every day if she ever needed to. She was so angry at the idea I never raised it again - and now she is getting more frail and we're 2 hours away. I respect her choice but I can only do what I can do.

@watersprites and being “productive “? I don’t know what you meant.

The bungalows near me are super ££££, many close to 1m. I don't know any young people buying them to convert. I've only seen this in areas where bungalows are cheap.

In my area, a two bed bungalow will go for the same price or sometimes more than a 3 bed detached. It's supply and demand.

There simply aren't the houses available for elderly people to move into. Bungalows go for so much because there isn't enough of them.