Retirement for those born after 1970 is likely to rise to 71 in the future

[Tiddlywinkly]

This Guardian article was a tad depressing to read:https://amp.theguardian.com/money/2024/feb/05/uk-state-pension-age-will-soon-need-to-rise-to-71-say-experts

I fully acknowledge that we are living longer, are having less children etc, but for many, our health might not be up to working for that long. There'll also be a knock on effect as to how much we'll be available for helping with grandkids/ very elderly parents.

I just wondered what other people thought?

They were all pushing for free childcare, child credits and anything else they could get. Then they’re surprised the money’s running out and they might have to work a bit longer to pay it back.

Well when buying or renting even a tiny house requires two decent incomes, then yes people inevitably start to need help with childcare costs

Well when buying or renting even a tiny house requires two decent incomes, then yes people inevitably start to need help with childcare costs

Trouble is that the more "help" people get, the more money they have, which helps fuel housing costs - simple economics of supply and demand.

I've spent a lifetime being anti-state control, but I'm coming around to thinking that some kind of controls are needed, i.e. rent controls in particular, to stop housing costs rising and allow workers' wages to start to catch up. People are having no choice but to virtually cripple themselves financially just for somewhere to live, given the scarcity of housing in so many areas, not because they're being picky or wanting a bigger/better house than they need.

Everything wrong with the country at the moment comes back to having insane housing costs at the core.

We have insane housing costs because we don’t build enough housing in the right places and serve them with decent transport links.

Rent caps will privilege those in housing but will lead to much less housing availability (because people won’t want to rent out housing if they are more limited in how much they can make from doing so - simple economics of supply and demand). So there will be more homelessness and overcrowding for the worst off.

What we need to do is build more housing of a type that people want to live in, in places they want to live.

@JenniferBooth would something like this help, for drying clothes? it dries my clothes overnight

https://www.amazon.co.uk/BLACK-DECKER-BXAR0005GB-Clothes-Aluminium/dp/B07PL763M9/ref=asc_df_B07PL763M9/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=339955935561&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11395126363633973608&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9180893&hvtargid=pla-694900736635&mcid=a79fe8c325633b99ac46bad6a7c5e192&th=1

@RawBloomers

Rent caps will privilege those in housing but will lead to much less housing availability (because people won’t want to rent out housing if they are more limited in how much they can make from doing so - simple economics of supply and demand). So there will be more homelessness and overcrowding for the worst off.

Why would landlords keep empty properties? If they couldn't make enough profit from renting out, surely they'd sell them. That leads to people being able to buy a home rather than renting it. Lots of people are stuck renting when they'd prefer to buy but are priced out by wannabee landlords.

Some will sell, yes, but not all. Others will just sit on property and wait for appreciation, or use it as a second home, or keep it empty just in case they end up needing it again or for something else.

And rent control will increase the attractiveness of renting compared to buying so some people who would have wanted to buy will rent instead, and they are likely to be more financially well off, which will make them more attractive renters than the people who don’t have the financial capacity to buy. So, again, the worst off will be poorly served by the policy.

This isn’t just idle academic theory. Governments all over the world bring in rent controls again and again because voters like the sound of it. And every time rent controls are brought in it restricts housing supply unless a lot of other regulations (which have their own unintended, negative consequences) are also brought in. And it still does nothing to tackle the real issue which is too little housing.

Why would a property owner keep a property with no income in the hope of value appreciation when they could rent it out at a lower rent and earn money from it? It makes no sense. Better to get a smaller income than no income at all.

I don’t know for sure what the reasoning is for every property owner that decides not to rent out. Nevertheless, what happens when rent controls are put in place is that housing supply goes down. It’s a well known and well studied side effect of rent control.

I assume for most people reasoning is along the lines of - having renters is a risk and also involves (or at least should involve) significant investment in ensuring sure the property meets regulations and is maintained. So the less money people can make from doing it, the less likely someone is to want to take that risk. But there may be other reasons too.

Sometimes satire says it best.