To think councils should move people to smaller properties when kids move out?

[Faithin]

There's a huge lack of 3 bedroom social housing where I live (and everywhere I think?)
a lot of the people living in the 3 bed places are usually just 1 or 2 adults as the kids have grown up and moved out. Meanwhile there's lots of young families overcrowded in 1 and 2 bed flats with no garden etc
aibu to think those that actually need the space should be in the houses and those who don't should be made to downsize?
as the waiting list is so long, what tends to happen is peoples children are in their teens by the time they are moved into a 3 bed property, the grow up and leave within a couple of years and the parents stay, so the vast majority are under-occupied.

ignoring the fact you’ve just said only rich people can have kids. Alot of people are about to be plunged into poverty, they were ok last year, even 6 months ago. Now. November, not so much.
what do they do with their kids?
circumstances change. The world I had mine in, is a million miles from the world we are in now.

They don't need to build them, there are around 500K empty houses/homes across the UK. They could all be renovated and brought back into use. I am sure many would be suitable for families, others might be better for couples and singletons.

And of course there's the whole second home issue. It needs to be made unattractive to own a second home, so they get released into the market, either for residential rental or purchase.

I think going forwards the Council will have to do this - it is about time people did downsize instead of keeping empty rooms when kids are spending entire childhoods in tower blocks

on my road:

Next door to me - One old person in a 3 bed
Two doors away - One old person in a 3 bed
Four doors away - One old person in a 4 bed

Next door the other side, a couple - in a four bed

I’ve recently moved into a council house after being made homeless with my teenage DC. It’s a 3 bed with a kitchen/diner and separate living room, a good size front garden and the back garden is huge. I’m really grateful for the help I received from the council and feel really lucky to have been offered this house.

I’ve never really agreed with people being forced to move to smaller properties but I really can’t imagine myself living here alone if/when my DC move out - it’s far too big for one person and I’d be rattling around in it. If/when that time comes I think I’ll be looking for a swap to a smaller place.

I understand people get into difficult circumstances, we never know what life will throw at us. And a safety net should be there. To pick people up until they are in a place where they can sort themselves again if it's possible. But I don't people should start off by having kids, knowing they can't afford to house and look after them.

No, but if someone is living in accommodation suitable for a family with1/ 2 child/ren and then go on to have a 2nd or 3rd, meaning that they then become overcrowded then, sorry, that's on them.

"The guiding principle of UK policies, as always, is that the boomers need to get what they want, every time. And everyone else gets the privilege of paying for it."
This ^
From the generation that are always calling millennials "entitled", they sure do show a hell of a lot of entitlement themselves.

Who are you going to blame when the boomers have all gone? Which generation are you going to scapegoat next?

The children of the boomers, who inherit their properties / wealth I expect.

If there were enough smaller properties then people might even want to downsize. I know a pensioner couple who would love a bungalow or even a ground floor flat as they're stuck in a 3 bed now all the kids are grown up and settled. There's no smaller properties near them though, the nearest are a 30 minute bus ride away and neither of them drives any longer. Moving that far away means they would be in a area where they don't know anyone and would lose their community.

alot Of that wealth will be eaten up with care home fees.

which will make an interesting bill when private renters enter old age.

I'd like to point out that many people are of the opinion that empty nesters who own their own properties should sell up and downsize as they get older, in order to free up more large properties for families.

It's not just something that get suggested for people in council houses.

A lot of people here seem to be REALLY odd about the idea of anyone ever leaving the place where they live. (See all the "It's their home! Their beloved hoooommme!" comments, in sobbing-violin tones). This is not about bundling little old widows out the door to die in the snow on the street corner. It's about offering empty nesters in their 50s a nice bungalow or flat or terrace in the same local area, assuming that one is available. And yes, there should be more available!

I'm sure it's lovely for 60 somethings to have a garden and a spare room. But with housing shortages as bad as they are, I do think that young families with kids need these things more (except that the spare room wouldn't be a spare room, it would be a kid's bedroom).

Priorities. Priorities.

People with small kids tend to think that they are the only people who matter. Why is it more important that a family has a garden than the elderly people who have worked to make it lovely and who enjoy it? Arguably, the family needs it less, since children are more mobile than the elderly and can walk to the park.

This exactly. YAB massively U.

Haha good old mumsnet twisting words!

Did not say only rich people can have children.

This.

This is literally one of the maddest things I have read on here.

Most empty nesters are in their 50s and 60s when their kids leave home, not little old ladies who cannot hobble to the park.

By the time they are too ancient to be able to walk anywhere, quite obviously they are not going to be able to look after a garden and having a garden will just become a source of stress due to not being able to manage it.

In any case.....you, I know this is the UK, I know people are obsessed with gardens and dogs rather than children, but I have to say, I really never thought I would see the day when I saw someone literally trying to argue that "children having outdoor play areas' was less important than a manicured lawn and perfectly shaped borders.

Children should have outdoor spaces to play in. Equally, older people shouldn't be thrown out of their homes to accommodate this. Yes to more house building. Yes to people ensuring they are able to house and look after their children before having families or expanding them. No to forcing older people out of their homes.

Empty nesters aren't finding the nest emptied as quick these days though!

Young adults are struggling to move out at all

Also there's plenty of public parks for kids to play in! If parents can be bothered to 1/ take them and 2/ supervise them without being glued to their phones!

This. ^ If the jealous haters had their way, they would be forcing all children to move out by the age of 21

100% this. ^

100% this! ^

I grew up in a house with a large garden (small house though!). We never played in it. We’d go to the garden centre nearby that had play equipment or just around our local area. My parents grew vegetables, kept chickens, hung out washing etc. So absolutely they used it more than we did.

The people who live next door to me, never see the kids out back. Again they use it for growing things and washing and the kids go to the park. Tower blocks aren’t ideal for anyone full stop. But even if all older people all moved out of their homes, it wouldn’t be enough to rehouse all these families and a garden alone isn’t a good enough reason.

It would be better if more resources were put into tackling anti social behaviour. Plenty of people in mainland Europe live in flats with kids, with a nice play area the kids can actually use, people take pride in their blocks etc. My cousins grew up in such a place. All the neighbours would have BBQs in summer etc. It was safe and fun for the kids as they had all their friends nearby. The play equipment wasn’t vandalised or littered with god knows what. While there are limits to building new homes, we could make nicer/more appealing the ones that are available. Instead of forcing out older people, who are generally no bother to anyone, we should be tackling the more pressing issue. What makes these places so awful to live in, in the first place. Also by making blocks of flats nicer to live in, more older people would be encouraged to downsize.