To worry about where 'Generation Rent' will live when they are retired?

[VestaCurry]

If they never get on the property ladder, what kind of 'retirement' and where do they face? With house prices outstripping wages by a huge margin and 'bank of Mum & Dad' not available to many to help with a deposit, I foresee vast numbers of ageing people living their whole lives in privately rented accommodation. Unless regulations change, they could be given 2 months notice to leave whenever the landlord wishes. At eg age 70 that really is a grim thought.

My dc's are 13 and 11, so considerably younger than Generation Rent, but I cant see how much the situation will have changed by the time they hit their mid-twenties.

I feel a right doom & gloom merchant but I don't think I'm wrong and have seen no evidence of the government or opposition parties trying to understand and/or tackle this issue.

good point Vesta!
Mind you, I have rented various different places over a period totaling around 20 years and never been asked to vacate anywhere. Of course my experience cant be extrapolated to everyone but is it really that common to be given notice in a rented place?

Also, I refer you to the post upthread from ihategeorgeosborne

'Governments pander to the grey vote, as they all vote and there's more of them... Nothing will change until the majority of the voting demographic are in rented accommodation'

Also note that the shape of the population is set to change as birth rates drop and life expectancy increases-more older people fewer younger people.

A large cohort of politically aware pensioners demanding their rights could mean that govt is forced to deal with the housing crisis so that they have secure homes?

Suzanne - not sure about other areas but in London and the south-east, it's definitely not uncommon to be told to vacate a property within 2 months, sometimes after only 4 months in the property. One family I'm thinking of have had to move 5 times in six years. Nothing to do with their treatment of the properties, just their being 'unlucky' in that every landlord has wanted to sell far more quickly than they were told on moving in. They are furiously trying to save a deposit, but with all the moves, huge chunks of their savings have been wiped out with removal costs and agency fees etc.
Thing is, the landlords of the properties have the right to end a tenancy, in theory after 6 months (so giving 2 months notice 4 months after tenants have moved in). In practice, this is unusual, but getting notice after 12-18 months doesn't seem that uncommon.
We don't rent. We are landlords though, but don't go in for giving tenants bullshit information about wanting to let the property out 'on a long term basis', because it's a meaningless phrase in the rental market.

Re the demographic issues, I'm actually wondering which age groups will be under the greatest fiscal pressure, potentially extremely heavily taxed to pay for the greying vote that we know will grow and grow as a total % of the population.

How will those groups respond?

I think tighter regulations for landlords are pretty much inevitable at some point in the not too distant future, or a house price correction will mean that rents are forced down.
once interest rates rise the whole picture could change

there'll be no jobs, machines and computers will do all the work, no one will have any income to be taxed

Yep, population will have to be put into cryogenic suspension at some point until whoever or whatever is in power works out what to do......

Out of interest, if you are old enough to be getting a pension, but rent your house, who pays the rent because surely the pension wouldn't cover it all. Would you get some kind of housing benefit? We have a morgagte, so I'm not sure of how hb works, but am interested to know how it affects the elderly and their rent bill.

Covered by housing benefit? Not necessarily if private renters - unless you most likely live in a hovel. Many private renters in receipt of housing benefit have to top up their rent, as local council only pay the bare minimum for sub-standard accommodation where I live.

I think we'll all be returning to the 1930s.

It is supply and demand - too great a population, and too high immigration. But its also a deliberate policy by the ruling class to keep land prices high.

I think the whole thing is disgusting, and represents a step back. Landlords and letting agents have a licence to print money and evict tenants in the blink of an eye.

People need to stand up for their rights individually and collectively, easier said than done I know.

p.s. am feeling a bit angry about things today ...

DP and I are both 24, I have a little bit of personal debt and a credit rating that is shot to shit thanks to being a prize wanker with money when I was 18. We're in no position to get a mortgage and don't imagine that we'll be in any position to even look at getting one until 2017 onwards. I'm terrified about the whole thing and hate throwing money into rent.

the govt has deliberately allowed house prices to rise to artificially high levels, the help to buy scheme, supposedly to help with the housing crisis was a policy obviously designed to inflate the bubble further.
Bubbles must burst eventually, lets see what happens post election.

I'm generation rent (well we rent from my in-laws - we live with them!) My hubby and I live in the NE and the future for us and our future sprogs looks iffy. We both went to uni in hope of a better career, however the job market proved impossible to get into and four years later (and many hours applying to jobs) i work part time behind a till, my husband has been in and out of jobs and training trying desperately to secure a full time promising career. We've saved enough to buy one of the new government housing scheme houses but they are all generally built in no good areas with no schools or transport near by (not mentioning the small print!)

For now we're sitting, dithering what the best option is for us and for the future. With job contracts being short term/ zero hour, and businesses failing at the drop of a hat we are reluctant to sign up for a new scheme mortgage. I have no idea what the future holds, regarding jobs and security, and old age. I wonder what my future kids will do if the older generation are needing jobs to put a roof over their head and food on the table. It seems like they'll be in a worse position than we are now.

I think the idea of owning your own home, and being a nuclear family is something of the past, i think we'll be reverting back to our great grandparents age when we lived in extended families all coming together to provide for the family.

I think if people are going to have to work later, then work needs to be adjusted to take into account an ageing population. I'm 50 and a teacher. I just do not have the energy that a 25 year old would have in the same role. But there are no equivalent suitable jobs on a similar salary for older people. So I stagger on, becoming more and more exhausted every day. I don't really want a job in B and Q.

Well, over the next 20-30 years, all those baby boomers living on their own in their 3/4 bed family homes will start to die off, or sell their houses to pay for care. Meaning that there'll be quite a glut of family homes on the market, so things won't be quite as dire as predicted....

With any luck, this will spark a drop in house prices and panic all the overseas investors, who will all stampede and the housing bubble will pop. Won't be very nice for those who were forced to buy at the top of the market and find that they're now in negative equity.

Maybe.....

Actually, stubborn, that isn't a bad shout.

There hasn't been an entire home owning generation dying off/going into care before. So you could be proved right(ish).

Lots of family homes in somewhat 'tired' condition hitting the books could have quite a profound impact on prices!

I agree with stubborn and Nomama, the boomers are a bulge moving through the python of society, the market will be flooded with the glut of tired family homes, bound to push prices down.
Not to mention the catastrophic effect of a rise in interest rates

20 - 30 years is a long time to wait though. There'll be two screwed generations by then.

But even now those elderly people who have paid off their homes and need sheltered accommodation or care have their assets taken to pay for it.

Ultimately I don't see there is much difference in renting or owning.

as in, ultimately there aint no pockets in a shroud...

Or ultimately as when we get to old age.

My aunt owned a 3 bed house- no mortgage. Her sheltered accommodation is now eating up every penny of that.

Her neighbour in the complex lived in social housing all her life, council nowis paying her sheltered accommodation costs. Ultimately they are in the same situation.

There is some very worrying misinformation floating around on this topic, such as happily relying on sheltered accommodation on retirement and numbers of aged population decreasing. That is totally wrong. Firstly, have you seen the numbers of old people's homes closing because the residents are poorly treated, dying of simple things as thirst and infection, because the government sponsored homes are not watched closely enough. Secondly, have you see the trend the UK government is taking? The empty room tax? The reduction of benefits for the 4th child born on benefits? The trend is that there is more people being born on benefits than the government can afford to house and support. That trend will not disappear before those people retire, unless there is some apocalyptic event. Us women need to get our finances in order to be able to support ourselves (and our dc if they fall on hard times). Paying someone else's mortgage is setting them up for life. They cash in the house 25 years later, while you have nothing to show for a life of renting. You've spent what £5,000 - £10,000 a year in rent? £250,000 after a life of renting? That could be your house right there, and your cash pot, to do an equity transfer and pay for your care home, where the residents do get fed and changed. Can't afford it? You'd be surprised. There all sorts of government schemes e.g Shared Ownership, and building society mortgages, e.g Family Building Society Family Mortgage, and now forums, groups and websites like Share A Mortgage, Share To Buy, CoBuyWithMe which enable people to team up and take up to 4 salaries combined to get an affordable mortgage. Ok so its not the way we usually think of owning our home, but most people can think of someone or several people they like enough to share a house with, especially if its the only way of getting off the rental treadmill. Don't do nothing!! Investigate your options and take control of your future.

This thready is 8 months old!!! Seriously what is with the zombie uprising of threads today. Is it half term somewhere?

I must have missed it 8 months ago, but it made interesting reading now.

Some threads don't age....

Won't they rent? I don't really see why this is so much of a concern.

And how will they be able to afford to with no income? How will they pay their rent?

This terrifies me. I will never be able to own anywhere so I'm facing this when I'm old.

Yes, sadly, it's all still relevant, isn't it? Especially since the general election; when this thread started, there was still hope of a change of government and housing policy.