To think this is a ticking time bomb (people priced out of housing)

[Batmanisreal]

It’s becoming clear that there is a problem with people not being able to afford housing like they used to be able to. This has been made worse by the introduction of right to buy by Thatcher in the 80s which reduced the numbers of council houses. The price of housing is going up and up, so more people are having to rent on the private market.

So what happens to these people who are privately renting homes, when they get to retirement age? If they can’t afford their rent?

I was lucky enough to be able to buy my house. I have young children who, by the time they get to the age I was when I bought my house, will probably not be able to afford to buy like I was. There’s a very big chance they will have to rent, possibly for the rest of their lives.

People who rent on the private market are at the mercy of whatever rents the landlords want to charge for those properties. And with more properties being rent out as short-term lets this is only going to make the situation worse.

I worry that we are heading for a situation where elderly people will end up on the streets, because there won’t be enough affordable or social housing to supply them with housing if they become homeless in the event of them not being able to afford their private rent anymore.

As a parent, I just find the whole situation so depressing.

There are a lot of sensible insightful posts upthread that talk about the savings trap

And that's your prerogative. Hopefully you've made/are making provision for your retirement so you'll have more options available to you.

If he has saved, then he isnt who is being moaned about is he?
He might not ever need care, he definitely needs to pay his rent and bills. The state would likely have had to pay his social care bill anywah given he only had £6k to spend on it...
He hasn't "lost" £6k. He spent it on bills.

In the UK, as it clearly says. And it's very representative from what I see (also in the UK, but around London to be fair). Most single under 35s simply can't afford to rent a self contained flat, let alone a house with a garden all to themselves.

It's not fair to ask these tax payers in shared houses to pay yet more taxes so that pensioners who have had their whole life to save, but haven't, can have lovely houses with gardens to enjoy at the tax payers expense.

READ THINGS PROPERLY it clearly says in my post that the PENSION COMPANY TOOK THE 6k because he withdrew it all out at once so it could go into his current account SO HE CAN PAY HIS RENT THE PENSION COMPANY TOOK 6K FOR THEMSELVES as a penalty for him needing his OWN MONEY to pay his bills. 6k on bills indeed 🙄

FFS im not disputing he needs to pay his living costs but this site is full of fuckers moaning about pensioners whether they save or not. They are always in the wrong.

This site is full of people moaning about pensioners (especially pensioners living in social housing) saying that they havent saved and moaning about them getting free social care. But how do posters know they havent saved. They may well have saved and then spent it on living costs.

people really dont like being proved wrong

Absolutely agree with this, but you're wasting your breath, as I have many, many times.
I am utterly sick of hearing about the golden years I seem to have lived through, when houses were cheap as chips, mortgages were easy to get and pay (the negative equity and soaring mortgage rates are brushed aside as irrelevant), moving was apparently free and we could afford to buy a lovely family home on one low salary.
The truth was somewhat different.
There was a thread yesterday when someone was asking why her house wan't selling, and the amount of people who were adamant the perfectly serviceable kitchen would have to be 'ripped out immediately' and were aghast that a three-bed house only had one bathroom. We've just had a sale halted because our cavity wall insulation 'wasn't up to current standards' with no negotiation, just walking away from a house for the sake of a £2k job that probably wasn't even necessary anyway.
People are not interested in hearing about people like you moving into a house with virtually no furniture or people like me who held a dinner party in our bedroom as it was the only decorated room. They want perfection from the get-go and think it's a perfectly reasonable expectation.
They also don't want to know about the dull lives we led to save for the deposit. They think it's entirely reasonable to spend as usual then complain they can't afford to save.
I worked out last month that to but our first house now (2up, 2down terrace), a couple would need a joint income of £58k, which sounds manageable to me.
We are being brainwashed into thinking that a problem that affects London and the SE (and always has tbf) is affecting every part of the country, and it just isn't.

Moaning about pensioners who havn't saved (when a lot of today's schemes were not available to them anyway) yet in the same breath moaning that today's young workers 'can't afford to save',

Housing is expensive for everyone now.

People on just the state pension and privately renting are just going to have to do what people on minimum wage do and privately renting. Find a studio flat they can afford.

Yes it will be small and there won’t be much money for much else.

That’s life sometimes.

Aint that the truth

Its grim and will get worse
But what does make me laugh is the kids who want freedom of movement and immigration when there is a housing crisis and do not understand thew basic concept of supply and demand
AI is destroying jobs
We are heading to at first a society like the Victorian era with huge poverty - after oit will regress to the medieval era with most people having bugger all and a crap life

I think we'll see British shanty town/slum type landscapes in the coming decades tbh. Most countries have areas of extreme poverty where people without means live. The only reason we don't already see these is because people in the country's past actively fought to make sure it didn't happen here, via a strong social safety net.

Buying will also be off the cards for some as if on uc they cant gave savings over 16k and are deducted below this.
But also doesnt make sense for people in more unstable relationships.

Our nephew is in a council house. It does have advantages because although they cant just move they can swap so actually could get area with good schools etc and dont pay thousands over lifetime on mortgage costs and stamp duty.

Why bother having a house if its likely to end up used for care.

Yes, I agree, people living in tents and vans is becoming more common. Rents and house prices are going to remain high and out of reach for many people. Sharing with others is a good option, but some people have mental health issues or can't get on with other people and end up having to fend for themselves.

The pressure of population will lead to people having to live this way as they cannot afford housing and social housing is increasingly unvailable to single people who don't have children, whatever their age.

I don’t think the very obvious point has been mentioned yet that the deaths of some people who reside in social housing will free up housing for others, those in need like some pensioners. Although perhaps not enough.

Birth rate will likely drop even more. Dating might not be possible if your housemate doesnt like it.

That's true but the population has increased by several million in the last few years, driven by immigration, all while the birth rate has been falling. I don't see that changing significantly with proposals for free movement, safe routes being set up, all putting pressure on housing costs and social housing.

Not just the UK.

Exactly. Young people starting out their lives flat share with others and have done for as long as I've been around. Then they move on to the next stage of their lives.

At 67 I'm renting and have a two bedroom flat (before people start ranting, I'm not in the UK, I don't think there are any one bed flats in my town) and have a lifetime of accumulated furniture and possessions. I most certainly do not want to get rid of most of it and move into shared accommodation with a bunch of other people, of any age.

But it’s not merely a few years is it
Say you buy a one bed flat, in a so so area, need modernising. You do so for 10 years. You are then promoted, can get a more modern flat in a better area. At 40, you buy you house. At 50, you have a lovely 3 bed house in a nice area, lovely garden, and you enjoy it for the next 40 years.

10 years sounds not that long in the scheme of things. Sadly, people are desperate for instant gratification nowadays. The notion of investment (money, time, effort) is a concept that has lot value. Yet it is those who do so who get the rewards -and then get resented for it).

I rent a house. Market rent is £1250, small 2 bed place, housing benefit cap is £650 - he is on state pension and housing benefit and he is 70 and has had a few heart attacks. What happens now? Do I sell? Do I bring my rent in line with market rates. What happens to him?

This is the real situation and numbers.

I'm not in the UK but plenty of young people here have gone "flatting" when they leave home and would rather do that than live at home with parents. Most of them enjoy it, why is it seen as so dreadful in the UK?

Why should someone in the early days of their working lives expect to be able to afford to live alone? That comes a bit later on in life, and always has done. That seems to be a part of the problem, people leaving school/uni and expecting to be able to live the same life as those who have been working for years.

Some people never do anything other than low paid jobs. They still deserve the dignity of having a home and enough space to call their own instead of living with strangers.

There will be a lot more house sharing even if people don’t want to
I’m in a row of 8 semi detached houses. The only semis in what is a very expensive road to live on , hello to my neighbours with their indoor swimming pools. They are big for semi detached houses with much larger than average gardens. Currently 4 are lived in by a solo person at one point 5 were lived in by a solo person.

This isn’t an argument about downsizing and the morales of it but it’s just what has happened to society. It’s gone from 12% to 33% single adult occupant. It’s a societal shift in one generation that’s enormous. Four divorces in my friendship group within the last 5 years that’s 8 houses instead of 4. No one wants women and men to feel compelled to stay together but it’s just the way of the world.

I see a future where the better off start to move even further away from what will become even less desirable areas due to over crowding.

Yep, I feel your pain! I got that the first time you posted it but why oh why do so many on here NOT READ things properly then try to argue about something they have already been told about. They are in such a rush to post that they just skim read and miss vital points.