Jeremy Vine - people are morally obliged to downsize and free up property

[JoanThursday1972]

Currently have this on the radio. Suggestion is that people are not entitled to remain in and live in the house that they have bought and paid for. That they should downsize and free this up for more deserving occupants, ie families.

This is surely a personal choice and not an obligation? Anyone is entitled to live in a house they have bought, regardless of size.

I live in a 4 bed detached. Took us 15 years to get to the point where we could afford to move from 3 bed (thank you, childcare).

Dh is a decade older than me, so will die first (no one in my family appears to die before 80). Kids will have long fucked off. I know fora fact I won't be able to manage to keep it up; it's hard enough for 2 adults working full time to keep on top of it.

But where will I go?I don't live in the greatest area, but it's where I've built my home and social network over time. Any bungalows are bought and extended, so there may not be many left. Will I want to move to a 2 bed detached again? Or do I do what dh's dad did- rent a tiny house and blow all my money on holidays, so I'm never there anyway?

I'm actually in favour of euthanasia and would be quite happy to have a sell by date. I don't want dementia (def a possibility) and I don't want to lose my mobility/ eyes.

@Socrateswasrightaboutvoting I don't understand what your reply is. I was making the point that I think if people want/need care in the home or to bypass nhs waiting lists then house equity will be tapped into.

I wasn't referring to people who have to go into a care home, I was thinking more of people who get care paid for by the local authority to be cared for in their own home. Currently the value of their home is disregarded when they do the financial assessment to see if they need to pay for care. So you could have one person who sensibly downsized and had a lump sum in the bank having to pay for their own care, and another to choses to keep their large home and gets all the home care paid for / free because they have no savings or savings under the threshold.

@GasPanic £100 per month for gardening is not a lot of gardening! My gardener charges £20 per hour, so one morning a week is almost that.

Why do people listen to the skinny twat.

@Babyroobs I think it will be more by stealth eg you can have this op but it's an 18 month waitlist so some will use equity to go private. Or the "free" care will be so shit that people will have no choice but to contribute. It could be a charge put on the house etc. There is also a lot less women who can provide care for future ageing parents because more women are working to themselves & retirement ages are higher.

@Babyroobs I don't see why care home should be funded but not care in the home tbh.

I'm not quite a "boomer" but no way do I want to downsize, even though we have 2 spare rooms. These are kept for friends & families visits. We've worked hard to pay for this house & get it & the garden to how we like it. Coupled with the cost of moving, stamp duty etc we'd be mad to downsize to something we don't want; and what are we supposed to downsize to? There's a shortage of smaller homes as it is, hardly any bungalows. Plus we love living in our little village & have no desire to move to town just so we can live in a smaller house. However, if a bungalow came up for sale in our village, or a few retirement bungalows were built here I would probably jump at the chance when we're older & less able to cope with stairs

Me neither.

OK. I thought you meant care home living. I do think it people should contribute to their care but I think it needs to be more sophisticated than just based on home ownership.

We have 2 spare bedrooms, and we will never downsize. And we are not BOOMERS either. (Why do people always put this stupid childish pathetic naff comment? 🙄 Do they think it makes them look clever?' )

Me and DH love all the space to put our many years of shit in. Also, we have somewhere for guests to stay, or if any of our DC ever want to return home, they can.

You couldn't PAY me to move to a tiny property. No thanks. And no WAY would we tolerate a 1 bed home. (Which would be a flat probably, and we would never live in a flat!)

Jeremy Vine is an absolute tool. Can't stand the man. I would NEVER do anything he suggested anyway. Horrible man.

When you take into account such things as wills, capital gains tax, and intentional deprivation of assets (to avoid care home fees for instance), it is nowhere near as straightforward as some might think.

Anyway, why should someone move out of a house they own outright, and have lived in for decades? For an elderly widowed person, being forced to leave could be utterly devastating for their mental health.

This ^

ANYONE who thinks people should move out of their OWN PROPERTY that they OWN, is taking the piss. Get real! 😂

The other issue for elderly people downsizing/moving is the dreadful state of public transport. Outside London it seems to be very expensive and unreliable.
I could downsize to live nearer one of my DC, but once there I would have no independent means of going anywhere. I would find that very hard and it would make me anxious.
I have a few health problems and I am so lucky at the moment to have a really good GP and local hospital.
The hospital in DC's area is absolutely dreadful and I know I wouldn't get good care.

Actually, I don't understand why Jeremy Vine isn't by his own logic morally obliged to share his massive salary with the rest of us. It's far too big for just one person. He can't be using it all. It's just a waste when others are going without.

To quote the senior partner (a wicked old sinner) of the first firm I worked for "Remember that in law a moral argument is worse than no argument at all."

Do people understand what presenters/hosts do? JFC

I thought this was about care home costs not care in the home. I don't disagree with people contribution funding but just using home ownership is a blunt tool. I will wager that addressing the cost of dealing with direct and indirect cost off smoking, drinking and eating would be more effective than any property policies. A health tax would be far more equitable.

Having carers in your own home is means tested. Several of my elderly neighbours have care packages arranged by the local authority. They all pay for the care they receive. TBH it isn't all that great given the shortage of carers and the fact that it is all provided by agencies.
It wouldn't be reasonable to force these people to sell their homes. They would end up in care homes that are an awful lot more expensive than a couple of hours a day in your own home.

Once more for the hard-of-understanding.

It's not Jeremy Vine's idea - he's a radio host, hosting y'know - a debate.

I listened to it - one of the interviewees had a list of reasons why people like me won't be moving - stamp duty, lack of suitable places to go ( there's no way I'd live in a flat again) and, crucially, our adult kids don't want to see us sell the family home.

Obviously not!

I’ve been saying for a long time that all councils should be offering single occupancy houses a one bed home. I used to live next door to a very elderly gentleman who’s family had asked the local council if it was possible to move him to a bungalow, his home was 3 bedrooms he hadn’t been upstairs for years. In cases like this definitely tenants should be offered alternative housing as long as they want to move. But if you have brought your home then no one should be making you move.

Absolutey re interview

Bolstered by a post on here that mentioned Thamesmead, I had a look on YouTube and found a documentary about it filmed some time ago now.
The very first people who had been housed there were shown on old film and the Man of the couple still lives there now (or when the tv show was filmed anyway) and was speaking about having an interview for the Home.
He had a small plaque as well that stated that he and his family were the first occupants and the date they moved in.
My Uncle and Aunt had lived there but were not the first... though they didn't have to wait long and lived there until 1982.

@SalaDaeng does housing get included in that means cost though?

Jeremy, when you stop at traffic lights, open the car doors and invite pedestrians to jump in your car. As the owner of a car with empty seats, you are morally obliged to take them wherever they want to go.