Pensioners to be encouraged to downsize

Does this mean that there will be mansions and castles on offer as the aristocracy will downsize too? If so I shall let my children know so they can buy one, both have families and work hard. With house prices going up so fast young people can't afford to buy, also more part time contracts than full time with low wages.
How dare anyone dictate where some one else lives if they have worked hard to pay for where they are living by having worked hard and paid their taxes. I'm sick of it.

A young couple probably wouldn't want to live as isolated as I am - but I love it - fresh air, no noise except for the birds, sheep and other wild beasties that visit my garden. A friend and I, out of curiosity, visited a new retirement complex when it was advertised. Some if the rooms were so small you couldn't 'swing a cat'!! Stretch out your arms and you touched both walls. No individual washing machine or drying facilities, could only use the communal laundry room. I like my washing dried outdoors when ever possible. I also learned that these units are hard to resell and are basically leasehold.
There are numerous estates being built on farmland in my area and they don't appeal either!! So it is on with the apron or the gardening gloves and enjoy Mother Nature!!

If you own or have a mortgage on your home I think it’s none of anyone’s business ! However you privately rent, especially if have state help with paying the rent or you live in social housing then a couple with more than two bedrooms should consider downsizing and tbh not just pensioners - if you have a four bedroomed council house but only two of you live there, surely the right thing to do is to downsize and allow a young family with children to have the larger home ?

I wrote a long post about this yesterday but couldn't find out how to post it ! so I am glad this has now been addressed ! My argument is ....just WHERE does he think 'old people rattling around in big houses' are going to go ? retirement firms that build specialist apartment blocks are WAY WAY too expensive, management charges, maintenance and ground rent AND often for sale for over a year as no one wants them because of this .........and for those in very small ordinary houses the cost is totally unaffordable ! There is no social care available and care homes are also too expensive ! Maybe he has a stash of cardboard boxes (biodegradable of course ! grrr), some tents, or just the street ......one way to get rid of more elderly from hypothermia ....no (meagre, worst in Europe) pensions to pay, no means tested extra benefits or fuel allowance, free TV for the needy .............simples ! think of the money he could save ! SO angry ...this is about the old country in the world that does not look after its elderly (mind you, some cultures have families that look after their own which does not happen now in this country !)..........

We do allow the smallest houses in Europe and they are really small.
I downsized quite a few years ago and I regret it every day.
I look around at what we call the ‘dolls house’ and think I must
Have been mad to think this was better.
I’d alway lived in large Victorian houses, used to love it when my husband came home and shouted ‘where are you’?
Now theres nowhere to hide…literally.
Don’t ever move unless you really have to, you WILL live to regret it, if the claustrophobia doesn’t get you first!

StephLP, I think we have differing views on what constitutes downsizing: a 3 bed house would be a downsize for us!

I would imagine that the council tenant issue regarding elderly residents staying in 'large' family houses is diminishing anyway.

Firstly, the introduction of the bedroom led to many tenants (below retirement age) whose children had flow the nest moving to smaller properties. Those who were lucky enough to be able to find one, anyway, but there were not enough available for all those who wanted to move!

Secondly, I think (but correct me if I am wrong) that social landlords have had the right for several years now to offer fixed term, rather than lifetime, tenancies. That means that newer tenants are far less likely to be allowed to remain in a house that is deemed too large for their needs when their tenancy comes up for review/renewal.

You won't get help from benefits for a rental property that has more space than you need.
Most people don't get help for properties with the right amount of space/bedrooms, because landlords set too high rents.

sadly we cannot take anything serious coming from a politicians mouth these days. a worrying time really.
I do agree that a house larger than you need is a waste.
heating,cleaning,maintenance etc. But then aren't we
encouraged to accumulate capital? nothing finer than a big house over the past 20 odd years! mad world.
maybe the government needs to look at a financial package
to help us move?!

PollyTickle

I’m very torn on this issue. I too like my spacious house with lots of spare bedrooms, rooms for hobbies, a garden to wander BUT I do feel guilty that young families live in cramped quarters with little or no garden.
I’d like to see empty town centres, where tumbleweed rolls about, adapted to be flats for the old or young with vibrant life going on below in the form of cafes, bistros, galleries, independent shops. Freeing up suburban housing for families with children to have space.
I take your point that more affordable housing should be made available but doesn’t that just use up green spaces?
Green spaces to grow trees to control our environment, crops to feed us and room to roam.
We can’t have it all ways.

This is an amazing idea and something similar to what is happening near me. Old pubs being converted into flats.

I've said this before, but there are lots of couples and singles for whom a 2 bedroom house with a little garden is ideal. The 2nd bedroom is great for grandchildren staying over, non-resident divorced parents, people having visitors to stay. But developers don't want to build them because there's not enough profit in it.
Second point. My concern as a daughter was that my mum would be rattling round in our old family home when my dad (who was in poor health in his late 50s) died. We encouraged them to move on retirement. She died in her 90s. It was a huge upheaval, but not as bad as it would have been when she lost her mobility in her 80s. A family with teenagers appreciated the extra bedrooms and larger rooms when my parents downsized. I downsized to a 2 bedroom flat at almost the same age.

Who the heck does Chris Pincher think he is to believe he has the right to dictate to others what they should do; his remarks smack if someone who sees older people effectively as second class citizens. I am staying put and I don’t care what Mr Pincher or anyone else thinks

We looked at the idea of downsizing last year BUT it would be to a small bungalow and they are nearly the same price as our large semi (if you can get one at all!) And lots of the bungalows available have been extended (e.g. a first floor put in - so it's no longer a bungalow). Personally, I would love to live in a comfortable apartment with a spare room for visitors, a balcony, and not far from the busy town centre & a supermarket to get into going to the theatre and cinema more regularly, and meet friends for dinner - but they are WAY too expensive (not just buying them but also the ongoing maintenance costs which can increase if they feel like it). I've no idea where Chris Pincher thinks we're all going to go !! I'm staying put now and will buy in help as and when I need it.

We recently upsized ..simply because it was a lovely house in the area we wanted to live in by the sea.. and it’s far too big for us on our own but when the stream of summer visitors come it’s not big enough!
I love the fact I have space ..and feel privileged ..but I amnot giving it up.. Till I can’t get up the stairs ...

We downsized back in 2003 in our early sixties.
Both our children had gone there were two spare rooms.
We sold our house and bought a two bedroom flat in a lovely leafy neighbourhood. We love it here, we live not far from Greenwich, we have woods, parks, buses that run very regularly so dh doesn’t drive anymore. Our local community centre has a coffe shop, we can walk to or our woods have a cafe. If we want to travel further we borrow our dd car or go by train which is free pass to London. Don’t regret it at all.

4 beds here, but me and partner have separate beds, 44yr old son has another, and 4th bed for grandchildren that stay over on a regular basis because mum and dad are shift workers in lfb and met police. How can we downsize!! ridiculous idea!! Also, no first time buyers would be able to afford it unless they had hefty inheritance!

I am stuck at the top of a chain ATM waiting on No.5 to be granted a mortgage. I can assure you that buying and selling is not for the faint hearted. I would love to stay in our cottage home which we bought, semi-derelict, 48 years ago. Over the years we refurbished and extended at little cost as DH was in the building industry (carpenter/joiner) and had many friends in the other trades, until we had a wonderful family home (at which point both DDs went off to Uni never to return permanently!)

Fast forward to now - I am a widow, poor, as DH's modest private pensions died with him, savings gone after paying care home fees for 2.5 years, house especially heating and kitchen, in need of total refurbishment, inside and outside walls needing painting, huge garden which for years supplied all our fruit and veg now totally overgrown/out of control. I cannot DIY or afford to do repairs or pay a gardener or other tradespeople.

For me the answer had to be to sell up and move to a modern, smaller, downstairs flat, communal garden, designated parking, in the same village. To my surprise the cottage sold easily to an early retired couple, with young grandchildren, desperate for a big garden and a 'do it upper.' The biggest surprise was that I have made a substantial profit from the downsizing, giving me a 'nest egg' for the first time ever. In addition the flat is 2 bands down for council tax, will be much cheaper to heat, insure, etc.

So sorry to be leaving our Family Home but needs must.

Owen Patterson once decided that Pensioners should be encouraged to become agricultural workers who - obviously because of their advanced age - might cost the farmers more than the East European migrants he wanted us to replace as we would naturally work at a slower pace. He had the answer to that though - exemption from the minimum wage (though he later denied saying this).

Prior to that, some minister or other, also told us that we should not save money, but spend it, to boost the economy - and that banks should not reward savers with attractive interest rates.

Then we had the halting of the 'triple-lock'... and now yet another call to downsize (this is not the first).

When government ministers retire (on the generous pensions we fund) and put on their wellies, go into the fields themselves to pick fruit; when they spend their money instead of hoarding it; when they stop buying second homes at the taxpayers' expense and downsize from their own 5/6 bedroomed properties... I might listen.

When they stop looking at short-term fixes for problems that they have largely created, and institute some long-term, affordable and sensible plans to address these problems - plans that don't include making themselves and each other richer than they already are... I might listen.

Until then - not to put too finer point on it - they can go hang.

Strangely when looking to buy our first house I never thought of old folk sitting in big houses I wanted. First house was a very small terrace from a couple who had outgrown it with two children. Over the years moved up to bigger houses . Surely it's a progressive system as first time buyers can't afford large properties, can they? Of course the sale of council property didn't help, so many of those who purchased in the 80s then passed the profit from the Council house on allowing recipients to buy a more expensive property had they only had their own funds. Reduced social housing available, increased demand on private housing, prices increase
on private sales. It's supply and demand. I live in a 4 bed house but overall its the same size as the 3 bed I left. As family do not live locally I need accommodation for when they visit. No way would I move into a retirement village type place and not be able to enjoy my family staying with me when they visit. Accommodation I would consider and in an area I like and considered old person type would be far out of what I could afford. Does the idiot not know there is a high demand for housing from all us baby boomers.

Well, there seems to be only a limited amount of info available on Chris Pincher, but I can't find anything suggesting that he is married or has children.

If that is correct, I hope he does not have the audacity to be living in a family-sized house!

Why don't they concentrate on stopping people buying second homes in tourist spots. This must contribute to lack of housing in rural areas and pushes prices up for locals. We downsized last year though not by that much. It's a bit of a project which is taking an age to organise tradesmen to come. We are optimistically hoping we survive to see it's completion . Our neighbours are a mixed group and the younger ones help the older ones. I'm happy to stay here thank you very much.

I'm not going to any community of older people either! I want to upsize not downsize so people can come and stay. If they haven't planned properly for a growing older generation they should move aside and let Labour take over, they always have been better with the NHS & other provisions for ordinary people

As a previous poster says we will spend the money on gardeners and cleaners etc. We worked hard to get the home we have and are staying put until the grim reaper rings the bell.

I feel the same - if we upgrade our area, a big chunk of the money will go on a new home and the interest rates won’t provide much income from any balance. Fortunately our house is big enough to let part of it out. So we’re staying put for now.
(And we’re still fit enough to have granddaughters to stay etc so it’s good to have the space.)

* I meant to say, "not to put too fine a point on it" *