To wonder why so many people are hypocrites when it comes to housing?

[WestminsterCrabby]

Got into quite a heated row discussion last night with some relatives. 🍷

They are Fuming (capital F intended) about all the new housing estates popping up in their leafy village. Apparently its ruined the views, ruined their dog walks yaddah yaddah.

These are couples in their late 50s early 60s whose children are long gone but still live in their large 4 bed detached homes. When I pointed out that perhaps so many new homes wouldnt need to be built (or smaller ones that took up less space) if people only took up the amount of space they needed rather than felt entitled to, they thought I was being very very unreasonable. I disagree!

I appreciate that people living in houses bigger than there needs is not the cause of the housing shortage HOWEVER surely you cant complain about other people needing to be housed while you yourself have 2 bedrooms per person?!?

Drives me mad and it's not the first time I've had conversations like this with people in a similar circumstances.

It makes me sad to see the countryside being converted over as well but people have got to live somewhere.

Aibu here?

From my perspectives, I can understand people restricting how large a village becomes as yes the views, the woodlands, all of usually very beautiful, but then the question is if not in x village , where else ? So to speak.

@Wisteriaroundthedoor my argument about their house size was in response to their moaning about the new houses. Thats how the conversation came about.

As usual this thread descends into generation bashing and misses the point that the housing market is currently not fair and our government have allowed and practically encouraged homes to be seen as an investment first and foremost. While I agree that quite a lot of the older generation don't get housing struggles with younger generations and did have better opportunities, we can't really blame them for that.

The blame lands squarely with the government and their policies and their failure to build affordable housing and have it then end up in the hands of people who actually need it. They have allowed the housing market to go crazy, stopping the younger generations from having the same privileges as their elders, as it makes their voter base feel wealthy and keeps them sweet.

But regardless who the owner is, for most towns they are let to a family etc, but then their still needs to be more houses built., Which usually the fields around villages are then built on etc. So how can that he the government fault ?

There are 225 new houses being built in my small village at the moment on former farmland. There are no shops, the village primary school is over subscribed and turning locals away so they have to drive approx 5 miles to the next school. No public transport so secondary school children also have to be driven. The doctors surgery is also 5 miles away and can't get enough doctors to cover, there are no dentists, the roads are narrow and not suitable for heavy traffic. There are no plans for a bus service.
We would be happy about this new development if the infrastructure was put in place to support all these new families.
None of the houses being built will be suitable for elderly people wanting to downsize.
When I became disabled, we couldn't find a bungalow available within a 15 mile radius so have spent money adapting the house that we've lived in for over 30 years and paid for in full.

On the flip side, how many people would actually downsize if the houses were available ?

Don't see what's wrong with people living in a house that's bigger than they need, if they have bought and paid for it. If they are happy to pay more maintenance, higher bills etc then their choice. Council houses however, that's a different matter, as there are waiting lists of others waiting for subsidised accommodation, so people should be asked to move to smaller properties.

I'm with you on this and think older couples and individuals down-sizing and freeing up family-sized homes would help a lot with housing (it certainly would in our town). Assuming our finances are ok longterm I quite like the idea of DH and I downsizing in our early sixties and giving the DC the money we make in downsizing to put towards a house deposit each. I'd rather they had homes than we had "the space to have everyone over for Christmas" or whatever reason retired people think they need four bedroom houses.

@lameasahorse, I agree that terraced town houses are great (if well built) housing for singles and younger families. I was thinking along these lines, since it concerns me that many young people wanting to set up on their own are priced out of the village by the huge new “executive” builds that are the norm, rather than affordable property.
But it was unusual to the point of sensational when new semis were built in the village. New terraces would be a dream come true for some of the villagers.

For older people, in the area where I live, there are LA or HA bungalows in most villages for older people plus numerous private ones for people to downsize into, if they wish.

People will put planning objections in from their second homes. The cognitive dissonance is alarming. YANBU.

Prices are rocketing because we don't grow enough of our own food, we are dependent on Europe for much of our food and the war in Ukraine will hit hard, and yet we are building on farm land!
The environmental impact of building more homes rather than refurbish the ones we already have is huge.
And as a 58yo with a 4 bed house, and one dc who will head of to uni in a few years, trust me, finding a suitable two bed house is almost impossible because developers aren't building them.

So yea, I think yabu. Now wfh is so widespread, redeveloping commercial land for homes makes much more sense all round. But it costs more.

Town houses come with lots of stairs and the lounge on the first floor away from the kitchen though?

How is that good for elderly people?

All my relatives looked at downsizing - there arent a lot of great options out there, it does cost money and it carries risks new properties can have hidden faults vs a property owned for decades is a known quanity and work may well have been done. My neighbour's late 50s are getting their house set up for their retirement years so it suits them changing the layout they had from when rising their children.

Even on radio 4 money program people come on saying down sizing hasn't freeded up the money they expected.

From what I see people even active people spend more time in their houses post retirement than before - and while they may not need the bedrooms the downstairs living spaces are more used.

Having second toilets/bathrooms downstairs or room for stair gates can be vital when ill health strikes and having a private garden you can sit in or potter in can also be very useful when you are not up for going out.

We expect to move for work before retirement so will leave family sixed home behind and may move again for retirement but our parents have lived in their locations for most of their lives - it's not that they need the bedrooms but it's where the familar things are and while change happens it's not all at once and where community they've been apart of for decades is.

I think along with not enough houses being built, developments not always putting in the much needed infrastructure there not actally the range of right type of housing being built.

My DGP built there own retiremmet house just before the hit those years it had two small bedrooms but so much downstairs space it suited them very well - decades - till last few months when they had to go into a home- when it was sold first thing done was expand the number of bedrooms- to add value to sell in on in few years - as bedroom numbers is how we sell houses in this country.

I think many glibly think oh we'll downsize but once the practicalities are looked into and it is a more immediate decision it's not such a straight forward option - at least that why no-one on our family actually managed it despite looking at doing it.

Completely agree. There is a lot of new build developments where I live and a lot of people objecting to them also. I don't understand where they think people should live? I also think it's hypocritical when all houses were new builds once upon a time!

Oh yes got you, I find threads difficult to follow at times.

Where I live HA bungalows are given to families. I've been in my 2 bed one since my divorce 22 years ago I pay just over £400 pcm and I don't receive any benefits. DD is now an adult and no longer lives here but when I enquired about 1 bed places all they had was 1 bed flats with no balcony or outside space so I'm staying put. If they were to build 1 bed houses then I'd move in a heartbeat.

I suppose we could be classified as 'boomers' (although not absolutely sure what the definition is). We have 5 bed bungalow. But do have lodgers, so feel we are making the most of the accomodation that our property offers. We don't want to downsize but couldn't afford to live here without the money coming in from our lodgers. Bungalows are marvellous, but so many people buy, then extend up into the roof, thereby negating the advantages of a bungalow.

I wonder what many of the people who complain about older people living in larger houses will do when their parents die and they inherit? Will they stay where they are living at the time, or will they buy somewhere with a spare room and a kitchen big enough for entertaining?

I have no real beef with the new builds other than around here they are crammed in together and although the estate is not yet finished, the first phase is looking shabby as the rendering is already discolouring. They are shaping up to be the slums of the future.

What is more a problem is with an additional 3000 houses being built there have been none of the promised improvements to the infrastructure. The doctor and dentists are over subscribed and the school is full. The family pub that was promised has failed to materialise and the developer has now put in an application to build yet more houses there instead.

The roads are now constantly busy and another development application has gone in for yet another new estate. My village has been destroyed and there is no end in sight.