Winter fuel payments

Who are you referring to exactly? A poster on this thread?

And doesn’t it work the same way but the other way round. The pro Starmer / Labour posters still back welfare cuts even though it impacts them.

They can’t do right for doing wrong - take it away, people are moaning that OAPs are freezing in their homes and it’s a disgraceful way to treat our elderly citizens who have worked all their lives and paid taxes. Bring it back and people moan they don’t need it. I think they did the right thing the first time around but the threshold needed to be adjusted higher.

@Badbadbunny don't bring logic into it!

All the people disability benefit bashing are usually in a Venn diagram with the Starmer haters, so they can't be seen to approve of anything he does. Even when they do.

I thought the industry experts had already ridiculed the targets as being unachievable due to lack of skilled tradesmen, lack of building supplies, delays in planning, building regulations, surveyors, architects, etc., - we're simply not set up for such an acceleration in home building in such a short period of time.

Why? But on this I recall posters asking for speculation to stop as Labour wouldn’t do cuts. But they are.

Even those impacted seem to care more about Labour than the cuts.

Christ you don’t honestly believe that they’ll build that many houses do you?

Even if they did it isn't just a question of supply and demand. Affordability & lending matter.

So funny that you actually believe that. Or maybe you're being sarcastic??

That’s a stretch given policies, especially NI

I’m not sure my husband knows what is in my bank account and I don’t know what is in his. We both know what is in the joint account. Neither of us knew what was in our parents bank accounts.

More people are living separately, i.e. two homes for a divorced/separated couple.

More university students meaning, again, a second "home" needed when they already have a bedroom at their family home, now unused for most of the year.

More holiday lets, Air BNBs, etc. taking "homes" out of the residential property market.

More second homes and holiday homes, more homes left empty as investments, etc. More "empty" homes where the resident has moved into residential care or during probate.

They all give the big “I’ll do this that and the other” and it’s all BS to keep the electorate sweet.

Labour aren’t the Tories, they do what they say.

And they’re championing working people.

With our MIL, we had to over-see her finances as she had lost capability of understanding money years ago. She didn't like it, but she started burning through cash and we never knew where it went - but she'd lost the ability to even realise that coins were worth less than "paper", so I suspect she started paying for things like a paper or a pint of milk with a "big" note and was being taken advantage of by the shop worker with not giving the right amount of change! Likewise, she'd just hand over all her unopened post to deal with, which obviously would include bank statements, letters to say her fixed term ISAs etc were coming to maturity, etc.

Oh yes because all governments have come good and kept to their promises haven’t they? Christ you don’t honestly believe that they’ll build that many houses do you?

I hope you’re right and I’m wrong but experience tells me none of them can be trusted

How, with fewer people chasing each home than at present, can you believe that your children will find it harder to obtain secure accommodation than previous generations?

Is this a serious question?

In 1975, per individual, there were 0.33 homes available.
In 2024/5, per individual, there are 0.42 homes avaialble.

The government have committed to building an extra 1.5 million homes by the end of this Parliament in 2029. The projected population then will be 71 million. 31 million homes for 71 million people is 0.43 homes available per person. That’s better than the situation now and much better than that in 1975!

How, with fewer people chasing each home than at present, can you believe that your children will find it harder to obtain secure accommodation than previous generations?

How does everyone know how much is in their MILs bank account

Some families are open about money

In 1975 average house price in London was £12,000 and £10,000 outside, average salary for a manual worker was £48 a week for men and £27 a week for women - that works out at £2496 pa for men and £1404 for women.

Interest rates were around 13% in 1975.

Is 13% of 12k very different to 5% with today's house prices?

They would have been paying throughout the uncertainty of the late 1970s, the high interest of the 1980s and the recession in the 1990s.

But don't forget huge wage growth in the 70s and MIRAS...

Yes, easier than the generations to follow.

I worry for my children, because it’s almost impossible to get secure housing now and that’s probably the single most important ‘need’ that should be available in a civilised society, yet here we are…..

How does everyone know how much is in their MILs bank account, DS doesn't know about ours and we don't know about his

The last time women’s state pension age was 60 was in 2010.

Assume a woman born in 1950 was able to buy a house at 25 years old with her husband, that would be 1975.

In 1975 average house price in London was £12,000 and £10,000 outside, average salary for a manual worker was £48 a week for men and £27 a week for women - that works out at £2496 pa for men and £1404 for women.

Interest rates were around 13% in 1975.

Assuming a typical 25-year mortgage, someone buying in 1975 would pay off their mortgage in 2000. They would have been paying throughout the uncertainty of the late 1970s, the high interest of the 1980s and the recession in the 1990s.

What was different was the ratio of houses to population.
In 1975 there were 19,000,000 households to a population of 56 million - roughly one house per 3 people. In 2024/5 there are 29,500,000 houses to 69.5 million people - roughly one house per 2.3 people.

Are you really sure they had it easier??

@C8H10N4O2

Something like a fifth of them are millionaires apparently so there you go….

It’s funny you say that about older single women because I gave the exact example of my MIL who is an older single woman. Worked part time in a admin type roll in the NHS, retired at 60 has over 50k in her account. She also bought her council house.

Yes my mother absolutely did get it done in the NHS. Would have been over 40 years ago. She must have said about it affecting her confidence and she got one.

Soon it won’t be 40% of people the go to uni because the cost of everything else is astronomical, so it’ll only be for the wealthy families very soon, like what you’re describing. Yes I acknowledge that men would have had the most advantages however, women got to retire early by 5 years and now it’s all work to the bone until you drop, regardless of sex. Men still have the top jobs in general so it’s not perfect now either. Plenty of women these days would love to work part time and spend more time with their children, but it’s almost impossible for many now so it’s peaks and troughs.

The governments were wrong for not building more houses but that’s irrelevant to the point that that generation absolutely benefited above any generation since.

As I said, perhaps they could make the threshold higher but there is no way it should be available for all. Much in the same way CB isn’t.

60!

They should also scrap free prescriptions for over 60's and bring it in line with the actual pension age

certainly won't be free when im 70