Brexit just keeps on giving

[Leftinlimbo]

This is not progress - now the government is going to relax the laws allowing housing to be built near our waterways without any concern for the environment:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-66642878

Standard story isn't it. Give pensioners free energy handouts to live in large, economically unviable (for them) houses.

Import large numbers of people.

Do not build the necessary amount of housing.

Anybody who thinks our housing policy is in any way joined up in this country is completely nuts.

The problem is at some point idealism meets reality. And as regards housing, we are rapidly approaching that point.

I'm not sure I'd blame brexit for this. I mean I understand that uk doesn't now have to follow eu rules regarding environment. But I don't really see this as one those brexit problems.

@Rewis yes- I'm hugely anti Brexit- but don't think this is a Brexit thing- more appalling housing planning policy

stop with the ageism.
Apart from the first part, i agree

We are going to need to reform the rules on freehold, specifically so that potential vertical dwellings can be maximised - this will need to be Tennant centered so you don't get anonymous corporations failing in maintainng medium rise and higher rise buildings.

These will need to be built on brown field and re developed town centres, the costs will be huge as you'll need to work in an urban footprint and reconfigure around existing utilities and buildings, possibly in heritage areas too.

Well also need to repurpose office buildings to a high standard residential, and not the poorly insulated, porrly ventilated, poorly soundproofed sweat boxes they are now.

It's not easy, it's not cheap - it is a choice.

It's not ageism.

It's a fact.

And no I won't stop it, because it is stupid and it is destroying the country.

@FoodFann
Not this ageist nonsense again.
Why should people have to downsize when they get older. People in their 60s usually have at least 30 years left to live and should be able to enjoy their homes they have worked for.
If they all started downsizing then you would be complaining that the 'oldies' are buying all the starter homes and first time buyers can't get a look in. Blame successive governments of all colours for a shortage of all types of housing. Also the Tories were supposed to be fixing the leasehold issues but have shelved it.

Drum roll for you! Absolutely spot on
If I sold my house , I'd pay a fortune to downsize, not prepared to pay more for less in my case

Here we go. It's the fault of the over 60s to have a family home that they worked and paid for.

The only real housing policy this government has is to enrich the owners and shareholders of large developers as much as they can and fuck everyone else.

So there you have it: if you are over 60, it's all your fault.
Nothing to do with selling all the council houses.
Nothing to do with the number of empty buildings.
Nothing to do with government tax policy encouraging greenfield sites over brownfield sites or renovating older houses.
Nothing to do with the unregulated private rental market.

Perhaps if the money from the sale of council houses had been reinvested in more homes , or vat reduced on renovated older homes, or government policy changed so more affordable private housing was built....

But no. Let's force the over 60's to sell up and move to a pokey flat somewhere. Because it's all their fault.

The "over 60s" don't all live in massive homes.
Some live in small houses, flats, or even (gasp) rent.
That's the problem with stereotypes. Don't blame a particular age group for housing problems.

@averylongtimeago - it's so tiresome, isn't it. Let's blame the over 60s.

@Fightyouforthatpie and @CallistaFlockfart exactly. This requires joined up thinking.

@SpunkyGibbon - it's also the type of housing to downsize too- my FIL who is 84 would like to sell his 3 bed bungalow to move closer to us- problem is we are in a more expensive area , he doesn't want a flat for all kinds of reasons peculiar to him , nor a house due to stairs and not an over 55 flat either as he's conscious of resell issues and enormous service charges - meaning he really wants a 2 bed bungalow without an enormous garden, affordable , but in a pleasant area near us and in very good Nick as he says he can't be arsed with renovation - these are rare and like gold dust!! Even with £500k to spend. It's really not just a case of shoving all over 60s in new build flats- many really have an aversion to them for not illogical reasons.

This is exactly what has happened to us. Both adult DC now back at home.

👏wins thread

What about all of the spare bedrooms in houses owned by under 60's? The family's with 2 sitting rooms where one could be an extra bedroom? The games rooms? The offices in spare rooms? The people who let their children have their own rooms when 2 could share as per government age guidance? The second home owners? The under 60's who are renting homes too big for them?

See the issue?

People who own their homes are under zero obligation to compromise their quality of living or their home THAT THEY OWN. The idea is ageist and is, quite frankly, cuntish behaviour.

"It is unthinkable that England, in 2022, had about 250,000 officially recorded uninhabited dwellings — ‘a lot more than five years ago,’ points out Chris Bailey, campaigns manager at Action on Empty Homes — although, depending on methods of formulating data, that figure can rise to upwards of 650,000."
https://www.countrylife.co.uk/property/why-there-are-so-many-empty-houses-in-the-uk-and-how-we-should-be-using-them-251379

Not to mention abandoned comercial buildings that could be repurposed.

Isn’t that the fault of this crap government though and not Brexit as such?! Just because we’re not in the EU doesn’t mean that they can totally disregard previous rules. Can only presume someone is getting a back hander!

What's destroying this country is ignorance.

It’s enabled by Brexit though.

As is the Government’s ability to force through votes to allow water companies to keep pouring raw sewage into our protected waterways.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-59040175.amp

It’s a national disgrace.

@GasPanic is one of those posters who has to criticise anyone who doesn't live the exact same experience as they do.

Doesn't like old people living in the houses they bought. Doesn't like people having 3 children.

Must be really confusing inside that head.

there are plenty of half-empty office buildings that could be converted. They would be quite good retirement flats for many people - nice and central with good transport, put a GP in there, a pharmacy and so on, and it would be great. Then you can shove all the oldies in there and buy their houses off them. They can live the high life with whatever profit they make

Do we get a say in this or will there be a mass roundup and transportation programme, possibly with dogs and whips to enforce obedience? presumably there'll also be locked gates to keep us all in at night, will there?

It is ageism. The fuel allowance isn't granted specifically to enable pensioners to live in unviable housing.

You make a habit of this too.

This is a good point. Often the smallest room in a 3 or 4 bed house is barely big enough for a single bed plus chest of drawers, so people who, on paper at least, have one or more "spare" bedrooms don't necessarily have a ton of space. Obviously there's still a need for what space there is to be shared out more fairly via taxation, incentives etc, but the cramped housing stock is a problem that needs to be acknowledged.

I wonder how much the housing crisis might be eased by a rise in emigration. Brexit may have made it harder to leave the country, but will surely lead to a brain drain.