Pensioners to be encouraged to downsize

I don't think "older" people should be made to feel guilty about first time buyers/families not being able to afford houses or there not being enough.

As others have said, we have worked hard over the years paying our mortgage and all the bills. We had our youngest children (I am divorced and remarried) a bit later in life so can't downsize for a while anyway. We intend to move in 3 years time when I will be 57 and my husband 59 to be nearer my eldest daughter but we will still need a 4 bedroom house (which is what we currently have) as our children will be 18 and 21 and both extremely unlikely to have moved out. We will still have a mortgage as well so it is very far from downsizing.

We could move again once we have both retired and children are a bit older but why should we, with all the expense and upheaval of moving again - we have been in our present house for 21 years so don't fancy moving twice in a relatively short period.

So we have decided to spend the rest of our lives in our "new" 4 bedroom house (once we have moved) and will get a stair lift if we start struggling with the stairs!!

The price of houses today I cannot afford to downsize. I shall stick to my paid for 3 bed house thank you

.....and another thing....who exactly ARE these olds "rattling round" in enormous villas? Perhaps he's speaking about 99% of the conservative party members, the other 1% doing said rattling in mummy and daddy pile ..eh?

In the rural area where I live, there used to be a lot of small rented cottages.
Now most of them are very posh and are used as holiday accommodation and / or to house visiting medical staff etc.
That's fine, as it's giving people an income and helping the local economy which does rely a lot on tourism.
It means, tho, that there are now very few properties available to rent.
Some social housing has been built but more is needed.

I love my large house and large garden and have no intention of downsizing. We worked hard to get it and both love our own space. Gardening and stairs keep us both fit and being in the middle of the country we get plenty of walks. Seven miles from the nearest shop is not going to be perfect for young people and most young people couldn’t afford it anyway. Why don’t the government concentrate on making more affordable houses in areas where work is? Can’t imagine any of them living in shoe boxes either!

We don’t live in a large house and have thought of downsizing in order to help our son, who has a disability, onto the property ladder. We’ve looked at shared ownership on 1 or 2 bed apartments for him. It’s an idea but to help him, not this Govt. who is filled with millionaire ministers with multiple homes and property portfolios.

What about the Royals? They might want to think about downsizing. Just a bloody thought, Ma’am ?

I agree. I'm in a small development of all older people's houses. It's blooming claustrophobic, and a daily reminder that we're going one way. Get me outa here!

I love our big bushy garden,too. Every plant, every stone and all the visiting birds . Only rich people would be able to buy it now with the ridiculous price of houses so I am not moving over for anyone like that, thank you. I refuse to live in a dog box.

I downsized from my unwieldy 3-storey Edwardian semi, to
a more convenient ground floor flat after my husband died.
Alas the person who bought the house cemented the front garden, uprooting the flowering trees we had planted, and turned the house into three flats. Fortunately the council did
not allow the parking space in the front garden he had hoped for - but too late to save the trees.

I completely agree with the minister! We are in the process of moving from a 3 bed detached house and are looking for a modern, easy to heat and clean apartment. That will free up our family home to a young couple already on the property ladder who want room to start a family. This in turn will free up a smaller property for first time buyers. I have family in Australia who live in various retirement villages and they have a very full and varied life. There are shops, a cinema and theatre, golf course, swimming pool and leisure club, restaurants and bars. Lots of different clubs etc and families visiting all the time so always different age groups, young children about. Can't find somewhere quite like this where we are looking but if there was one I'd be quick to move in. We have to look to the future of our family and our planet. There are plenty of houses with bedrooms hardly ever or never used. Such a waste. As for downsizing meaning less belongings - bring it on! We have been decluttering for over a year (think the charity shops are full of our 'things') and still have so much 'stuff' that we don't use/look at/wear/need.

When talking about houses there are always comments saying that the owner worked hard all their lives to pay their mortgage.

I do not think I worked any harder than people that pay rent, mortgage payments are often lower than rent and finish at some point.

Pollyj

It shows how out of touch he is thinking most first time buyers could possibly afford these large houses to start with!

That really isn’t what he said.

The gist was that if and he actually said three bed semis become available for families this will free up housing further down the chain for first time buyers.

I think healthy communities are ones composed of people of all different ages and backgrounds. Ghettoising people just creates a sense of isolation from wider society.
I think the same about vast new estates in the middle of nowhere full of young families.

As we have family staying at least once a month we need 3 bedrooms in our home. Also DS1 moved in for 4 months when his job ended during the first lockdown. This house is smaller than our last house with only one lounge but I don't think we could go any smaller ATM.

I would like to downsize but stay close to where I am near family and friends. A 2/3bed bungalow would be lovely - they don't build bungalows any more because they use more land. lots of bungalows near me have been extended up and down into quite large properties making them too expensive to downsize into. I can't see many builders wanting to build smallish properties for downsizers - these ministers have a cheek... sounds like the old bedroom tax on council properties.

What planet is this man on?

There is no way that a young couple could afford a large house. They would have to do as we did, with enormous interest rates, trade up and up through the housing ladder. We moved four times in twelve years but have been here for over forty years and are not moving! We have space to get away from one another (sometimes necessary!), a garden and lovely neighbours of all ages.

I am keeping my home as I intend to stay and unless having the worst possible ill-health, hope to have a live-in carer if I make advanced old-age rather than go into one room in a 'home', but who knows what lies ahead?

I wonder if this would Minister sell his home for strictly altruistic reasons?

He is not forcing anyone to do anything. If you want to stay in your larger house stay in it. Nobody needs to get in a flap about it....

Agree with those who say more affordable family homes please to be built. I have had numerous family members and their children live over the years. So pleased we didn't size down and I really like where I live and my neighbours too. I feel safe and happy and like others spent years working hard to pay for it.

Well, this will lose the government even more votes from pensioners! (I have yet to meet any of their "grey voters" in any case!) Why should we be forced to downsize when we have worked all our lives to support and, in some cases, pay off mortgages on our houses? It will put more strain on the NHS mental health services if pensioners are unhappy living in their "communities", in one or two-bed flats. I agree that more should be done to help young people get on the housing ladder, but, as some have already said, this is unlikely as they will be the ones looking for one or two-bed flats to start them off, and in my area these are still being built for the over 55s. How about pensioners who still have single grown-up children living at home because they cannot afford the rents in the area, and do not qualify for a mortgage on property, with one-bed flats starting at £250,000. How about grandparents who help with childcare in their homes, or who want to keep a spare room so that family or friends can stay occasionally? It may be a cliche, but I do wish that MPs would live in the real world.

I understand that Britain has the laxest laws relating to new build room sizes. If I remember correctly (but I have not checked) I have read that we allow the smallest room sizes in Europe. Good for builders bad for people.

All the new build 'apartments' one sees feature a beautiful kitchen..... in the sitting room/dining room. They have condensed three rooms into one - with little storage space. It must be very difficult to actually live like that.

No doubt they want to shove us in more of those miserable chicken coops. I for one would like more space and out of the city. If they pay me to make the move I want, ok, other wise not interested.

Nobody is forcing anyone to do anything though.
If you don't want to downsize, then don't.

We are downsizing a little. Moving nearer family who will be there forever( in family built house) .what we got for house will just cover every thing. In dearer area. Every thing seems to have”balanced out” well. I just hope it goes ok. Getting some new furniture as well. Quite exciting.

Even if we did downsize, which we don't want to do yet, no first time buyer could afford our house!

I’ll downsize when my husband and I decide, not when a government minister tells me to.