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.

Downsizing doesn't mean I won't cook and invite the family round to eat. It just means I need less bedrooms, not smaller everything.

I think living space is under rated & I care more about that then bedroom size.

But if people have fewer children then they don't necessarily need a larger home either.

@MrsTerryPratchett

I think you’ve highlighted a very strong reason. What are people going to do with the equity release? There aren’t many investments better than the capital gains in the housing market (which also isn’t taxed that highly in comparison to other CGT when you sell)

Many years ago my local Council built just short of 100 1 bed flats for "old folk". As an incentive to leave the 2,3 and4 bed properties they were living in, their removals were paid, the new homes were carpeted and money was given to buy a cooker and washing machine. Every flat was rented within days and nearly 100 families that had been on the waiting list for years were given a home. Easy, simple and effective. Would never happen today sadly.

@savemymuu, I quite deliberately didn’t mention hard work. There are women of my generation who spent their lives working a lot harder than me who will never be in my financial position because the shittiest, most physically demanding jobs are the ones society values least.

I honestly don’t know what your point is. Yes, life’s much tougher for a lot of younger people than my generation. Equally there are members of your generation who are much wealthier than me. All of us can only do our best with the cards we’re dealt. I was 38 when I bought my first two bed terrace and I wasn’t unusual.

We would love to downsize, but a three bedroom ex-council house is at the bottom of the market here,. A two bedroom bungalow would be just right, roughly speaking that's another £100,000.

In the days before Thatcher destroyed the housing market, our local Housing Manager, would move people around within the same town. He ensured elderly people were not moved away from family and so on.

I honestly don’t know what your point is.

Same

You should live where I live. Thousands of houses have been built in the last few years,with plenty more planned. No shortage here. Quite the reverse.

We probably should downsize but won't because of the stamp duty. We know we want to move away from this area when we retire, but stamp is so expensive that making an interim move to a smaller house here and then another to our retirement home would cost us too much. So we'll stay put and just make one move later on.

@savemymuu

I honestly don’t know what your point is.

Same

It was in response to this

People in these groups need to stop pretending they actually deserve that increase in wealth and understand they just happened to be born in the right era

Which you wrote.

Except I didn't...

Although I don't disagree with it, my home has gone up 300k in value, I didn't do anything.

@savemymuu

Except I didn't...

My dear, I copied and pasted it from your post. Go back and check.

What's that got to do with a house bought for 50k now worth 2m?
But people have gotten lots of different first buyer incentives etc over the last few years that people didn't get in the 00s too, and some people were lucky and got houses at a knockdown price- do you think they don't deserve to live in their homes either? I know a number of parents of friends who have downsized and I know many still in their family home, it's surely up to the individual

@savemymuu

Although I don't disagree with it, my home has gone up 300k in value, I didn't do anything.

So you do have fairy money after all 🤷‍♀️

Nice idea, but where do the grandchildren stay?

Which young people struggling to buy a family home have the odd million pounds to buy near us? There are lots of houses for sale for long periods of time in nearest towns and city - starting prices are about £350 for a hideous three bedroom 1970s estate terrace. What's that, about a salary of 60k and 50k deposit? How many can afford that, let alone find the odd million pounds?

I don't disagree, but when they've been there for decades and know the neighbours/community this can be an old person's social lifeline. Many might not adjust well moving from a detached house to a smaller place with much more noise.

What's the next step? Single people not allowed to own a good size house because they "don't need the space"

Anyone with enough room for a few extra, study, guest room, play room, tv room, utilities, should downsize too?

I think people are missing the point here. It's not a matter of persuading people to move who don't want to. We need to provide help for those who do. That doesn't have to be financial help. I've know relatives and neighbours who've stayed where they are simply because they were too old to cope with all the hassle, sorting out possessions, getting rid of stuff they don't need, etc - it's just "easier" for them to stay where they are and let the house deteriorate around them. There's a "sweet point" in your life where it's time to retire, downsize, move abroad, move in with family, move into sheltered, or whatever - that's the time when you're still able to deal with it all, make the right decisions, etc. Trouble is you don't know you've missed the sweet spot until you've missed it, i.e. when you get a debilitating disease or illness, or when your mind starts to go, or whatever.

I'd love to see the face of the royal family if we become a communist country and are only allowed one bedroom in shared accommodation per family 😂

!

I did not write this @Hrpuffnstuff1 did

People in these groups need to stop pretending they actually deserve that increase in wealth and understand they just happened to be born in the right era

I did reply to it though.

Clear now dear...

Are there enough one and two bedroom houses for all these downsizers to move into? It'll be even harder for young people to buy their first home if everyone with massive houses sells up and has tons of money to pay whatever to secure a smaller place. And who are they going to sell them to? House prices have risen to the point where you need to be pretty well off to buy houses that your parents bought on a small single salary 30 years ago.

So you do have fairy money after all

It's certainly not fairy money to me, I pay fair less on mortgage payments then my neighbours who rent pay & it will help me move up the ladder.

I lived in a nice area, the majority of homes were elderly home owners, lovely gardens, friendly and clean.

As they started to die off, in cam the builders converting over the garages and side returns to make properties twice the size, the noise dust and dirt was awful! So these family homes for decades were now much bigger unaffordable homes to the average family.

In come the new families who built walls around their properties and paved over drive ways - it lost a lot of greenery and ‘feel’

In came lots of children playing out on bikes or trampolines, quite normal, bit no longer the peaceful place it started out to be!! Parents went to work and kids to daycare or school so there were no longer neighbors out and about or weekends they would be busy washing cars or whatever - the remaining older people then became more isolated.

We sold to a developer as we moved, they built and sold for £120K plus profit!

That’s the issue, affordable housing is no longer affordable.

OP, I couldn’t agree more. We were recently hunting for a 4 bed family home. Pickings were slim. In most of the villages we looked at (and I know them well) I estimate that over half the housing is occupied by over 70s either couples or single people. I don’t have one single friend with parents in their 70s+ who gave downsized. We offered to buy my mums house at market rate ( detached 4 beds with and acre garden), but she isn’t ready to downsize yet. Her neighbors on both sides a couples 70+ in massive detached houses with probably 30 acres between them. Opposite there are 4 houses with older couples or single people. I could go on. I would ‘incentivize’ them with a bedroom tax for each additional unused bedroom. I think that would get a few houses on the market ASAP.