To think more people should be incentivised to downsize?

[Sprockerdilerock]

I'm sure I will be flamed but here goes.

I know so many older adults who live in family size homes long after their children have left. Would it not be better for the government to offer incentives eg no stamp duty, removal costs paid for them to downsize to free them up for those that need them more?

We do have a housing shortage and I get that we could always build more homes, but we are also heading towards a climate crisis and surely it's better to use what resources we do have more efficiently and plough less energy into creating more.

My MIL is case in point - she still lives in the home my DH and his siblings grew up and often expresses a wish to downsize but she doesn't have a lot of money to spend on things like legal costs etc.

One of the issues is the design and size of the new builds that are going up everywhere. We need to build up not out, provide storage space in cellars, integral garages to get cars off the clogged roads, lifts, multi purpose spaces so no just keeping a bedroom empty for that one visit a year etc Think about less junk and more flexibility in how we use our living spaces.

The retirement flat complex should be a solution for many older people but the annual fees can be astronomic, no private outdoor space and no pets allowed. Sometimes there's a guest suite to hire but it's not like having family to stay in your home.

If we ever decide to downsize, it will be because it suits us to do so for whatever reason (less to maintain, closer to amenities, etc.) and not because some theoretical family needs a larger house.

(For that matter, though we're still in our 40s, we're only two people in a four-bedroom home, which I suppose makes us bad people in the eyes of at least a few.)

When we downsize it will be to move somewhere new, and a bit closer to family and friends because when we're 75 we shan't want a four-plus hour drive to see them.

Wow 50/50 on unreasonableness!

Interesting to see the different points of view and no I certainly wasnt suggesting frogmarching people out of their homes!

Agree this is a really good idea. Those who don't want to move don't have to, but those who would like to downsize but find the associated costs difficult to cover, may see this as a benefit.

Didn't know people got so emotional about home ownership. Nor that they were so opposed to the 'common good' idea that 4 bed houses might be more suitable for, and needed by large families, than solo dwellers.

I would love if this was a thing.

DH & I stuck in a 4 bed house that we bought planning on more DC's. 2 yrs & infertility later we can't and I almost can't bare to be in here anymore. Would love to downsize as we have a room literally sitting empty. Don't have the money for legal costs & all other costs associated with selling/buying.

Some people are probably upset because they get the feeling that others think a person is immoral and selfish if they don't want to sacrifice their comfort and the familiarity of home so that someone else who "needs" the larger house can have it.

Incentives are fine, but people don't want to feel pressured by society or government to do the "right thing" and give up their treasured home.

Then there are people like myself who, while not elderly, are living in a house bigger than "needed" (keeping in mind that how much space someone really needs is incredibly subjective). Some of us are sick of the implication that our home is "too big" for what we need/deserve.

It's no-one else's business. We paid for it ourselves. Yes, we have more room than we "need" to survive, but we don't have children or travel extensively or often. On the other hand, we do have dogs, which apparently is essentially sticking a dagger right into Mother Nature's heart...

@Waferbiscuit

Agree this is a really good idea. Those who don't want to move don't have to, but those who would like to downsize but find the associated costs difficult to cover, may see this as a benefit.

Didn't know people got so emotional about home ownership. Nor that they were so opposed to the 'common good' idea that 4 bed houses might be more suitable for, and needed by large families, than solo dwellers.

But then who is bearing the cost of the incentives suggested by OP? Why should anyone else subsidise the cost of moving for another?

As per my examples, wonder what is considered a solo dweller. Many people will expect long term family returners, need care etc.

I absolutely dream of the day I can live in a bigger place.

@StormcloakNord

I would love if this was a thing.

DH & I stuck in a 4 bed house that we bought planning on more DC's. 2 yrs & infertility later we can't and I almost can't bare to be in here anymore. Would love to downsize as we have a room literally sitting empty. Don't have the money for legal costs & all other costs associated with selling/buying.

What sort of home would you downsize to?

@AcornAutumn as it's only going to be the 3 of us I wouldn't mind downsizing to a small 2 bed bungalow. We'd be losing money on our current 4 bed but with the money we'd sell it for we would probably be able to afford a nice 2 bed out in the country somewhere. Away from the city.

The problem is houses suitable for older people (and I assume that will worrk ‘for ever’ for them) are basically bungalows.

They are like hens teeth here. And the same price than our 3 bed detached. Why would you want people to downsize for a house of the same value??
On the other side, new houses are basically family homes, suitable for.... families (and not your elderly couple/widow)

[quote StormcloakNord]@AcornAutumn as it's only going to be the 3 of us I wouldn't mind downsizing to a small 2 bed bungalow. We'd be losing money on our current 4 bed but with the money we'd sell it for we would probably be able to afford a nice 2 bed out in the country somewhere. Away from the city. [/quote]
But then no room for visitors etc?

I could happily occupy a four bed house myself.

One bedroom for me, one for guests, one as an office and another as art studio or hobbies room.

I've always wanted two living rooms - one to live in and one to keep looking nice for visitors 😂

My mother is technically in a 4 bed but not really because the fourth room is so small, you could fit a single bed in but then barely get a clothes rail in.

@TonMoulin

The problem is houses suitable for older people (and I assume that will worrk ‘for ever’ for them) are basically bungalows.

They are like hens teeth here. And the same price than our 3 bed detached. Why would you want people to downsize for a house of the same value??
On the other side, new houses are basically family homes, suitable for.... families (and not your elderly couple/widow)

I don't understand all the labelling for age.

Why wouldn't a new home be suitable for an older couple or single? What's the difference between that and an old home?

@Bluntness100

People don’t not buy bigger houses because they aren’t available, they are. They don’t buy them because they can’t bloody afford them.

If folks started downsizing the ones in rhe smaller houses would be fucked. Everyone would be after them and there would be a shortage.

And folks aren’t going to sell at a loss or give their homes away cheapo.

So it’s a bit of a silly plan really.

THIS.

Yeah- we need housing. So, a couple just starting on the property ladder earning low-moderate wages are NOT going to be able to afford a 5 bed detached faux tudor property are they?

Its not about downsizing, its about people not being able to bloody afford to get on the property ladder

I'm a council tenant in a small 3 bed terrace.

My children are still small but I plan to grow old and die in this home. I've put a lot of money into it over the last 15 years. I've given birth here.
I will happily pay the bedroom tax in the future to keep hold of my home. I will have my room and a guest room and I would hope to maybe Foster.

This has nothing to do with size and everything to do with cost.

Who on earth can afford huge houses when you are just starting out on your career?

LMNOPEE

How did you feel waiting to be offered a house?

We live in a reasonably-sized, some would say large, house. Heading towards retirement.
Why the fuck should we move out of the home that we love so someone else can move into it?

One thing this thread has highlighted is the amount of different types of houses that are or aren’t available. In London it seems that there are loads of maisonettes but no bungalows, yet where I am in north Manchester, there are streets and streets of them. I’m looking to move to a specific area close to the metro link, but “normal” houses are rare, but I could have the pick of 112 bungalows under £300k within a radius of 3 miles of my home. I don’t want to live in a bungalow though - I don’t want bedrooms and bathroom on the same level as the kitchen.

I think councils really need to start researching the type of houses people need, not just the amount.

@CallmeAngelina

We live in a reasonably-sized, some would say large, house. Heading towards retirement. Why the fuck should we move out of the home that we love so someone else can move into it?

You shouldn’t.

Honestly, I’m getting sick and tired of being lectured about what I should and shouldn’t do for “the greater good”. I volunteer, I give to charity, I work with people with mental health issues etc
Now I’m supposed to feel guilty for not giving up my home?

Fck that.

I waited years for my house. I waited as many older people had their houses, which as a young person annoyed me, now I understand they have a right to stay in their home as council houses aren't any less homes just because you don't own them. Those people have the right to not be turfed out after years just because out government is incapable of finding a better solution.
People are not items on a conveyer belt to be moved along when their children have grown.

@CallmeAngelina and @Russellbrandshair

I agree. This thread is bollocks

Sweaty I must admit, I had no idea anywhere has so many bungalows.

Mum had one bungalow on her small street. Lovely chap lived there till he passed at 95.

The couple who bought it put an extra storey on top. Man, that was a noisy period on the road!

We were a bit "oh no, a rare thing like a bungalow gone". I think they paid a hell of a lot for it as well.

[quote trulydelicious]**@CallmeAngelina* and @Russellbrandshair*

I agree. This thread is bollocks[/quote]
It really is.
I’d love to know exactly what the people suggesting this crap are actually physically doing for the good of their communities?

My guess is- not much.

Russell agree.

The home thing hits hard because it sees people as economic units rather than actual humans with emotions and lives.