Should older people move house to make way for the young?

"I don't know why we don't move to Scotland" yes after all the population of Scotland stands at around a mere 5 and a half million, compared to the overall of around 70 million for the UK as a whole. Maybe an incy wincy factor as to why we have a shortage of housing in many of the far more densely populated areas of the country.

I agree that RTB should be scrapped. The fact that AR bought her house is not ‘pulling up the ladder behind her’ though. Times change, and if a policy is wrong it needs to change too. The attitude that things have to stay the same just because they were once in place prevents progress IMO.

Even now, there were people pointing fingers Angela Rayner when she said she wanted to do that.

And quite rightly so. It's been blatantly obvious for years that their is nowhere near enough social housing across the UK. In 2024, Ms Rayner actually referred to "a council house revolution in the next 10 years" and "to stop new council homes from being sold via Right to Buy". The finger pointing was because she'd omitted to tell us that, actually, she'd bought her own council house, using the very same scheme she now wanted to ban, in 2007! A bit like pulling up the ladder behind her.

Casdon

There is no right to buy council houses in Wales either Allira, there hasn’t been for a number of years. What paddyann54 says could be construed as a load of eyewash as far as Wales is concerned, as what she describes is happening here too - I don’t know about England or NI.

I didn't even know one existed still in England.

There is no right to buy council houses in Wales either Allira, there hasn’t been for a number of years. What paddyann54 says could be construed as a load of eyewash as far as Wales is concerned, as what she describes is happening here too - I don’t know about England or NI.

I really don't now why we don't all move to Scotland!
Including all my Scottish friends who have moved away and live in Wales and England.

There is no sale of council houses in Scotland it was stopped a few years ago.
Local councils have a housing budget and if they don’t use it and some don’t for party reasons,the money gets taken back and given to a council who will build.
There have been around 140 ,000 housing association and council houses built here in recent years.Over 70% council
New houses come with solar panels,heat pump central heating and electric charging for cars.
A three bed semi detached is around £800 a month.
It is possible to include flats for pensioners ,in my small town 1960s pensioner houses are being demolished and new ones built to decant the inhabitants into.
It seems that English and Welsh councils / welsh assembly don’t have the will to build not that it’s a surprise.
It seems we have the only government on these isles who think of the ordinary folk and not the rich

I don’t think that’s fair. When people got used to getting up to 80% (I think) off the price of a house it would have been political suicide to withdraw the right. Even now, there were people pointing fingers Angela Rayner when she said she wanted to do that. I do think it should have been removed, but I don’t think there is equal culpability.

Margaret Thatcher may well have sold off a significant amount of the social housing stock madeleine45 but the 9 following prime ministers, both Conservative and Labour, did very little to redress that. They are all culpable in the current situation of their being a paucity of social housing.

Thatcher definitely has a lot to answer for, selling off council houses and not building any replacements. Oddly enough, some years later Grantham actually came up with a very good plan, which I knew someone who was involved. So as with many people families had grown up and there would only be one or two people in a council house, who had lived there for many years happily with their neighbours and social group. So the council came up with the idea of building some bungalows and offering that the group could all move there sort of en masse. That way they were still with their friends, there was appropriate provision and the buses etc and that freed up the 3 bed houses for families. Of course these days no one is prepared to build appropriate housing for single people whether old or young and the builders just try to get out of providing any social housing at a decent price so until there are practical and sensible chances to move and not be stuck miles outside a town centre with no bus available things will stay as they are

The difference now is that private rental costs have risen exponentially, and council housing is much less accessible, so people have to spend a much higher proportion of their income on rental costs, it becomes a trap they can’t get out of.
Exactly. And to make matters worse, many are privately renting ex council houses that were sold off cheaply and would once have provided decent homes, lifetime tenancies and reasonable rents, but now they have insecure tenancies and rents are astronomical. The houses were built with taxpayers' money and rents covered maintenance etc, but now we keep hearing about how landlords have to cover their costs, so rents include profit margins for both landlords and mortgage companies. Many rely on UC top-ups as wages are too low for people to afford to live, so on top of the profit margins taxpayers are paying for that, too.

An average salary after tax, NI and student loan is around £2000 a month, according to Google. If £1000 of that goes on rent, another £200 as conservative estimate for council tax, and there are still bills, food and commuting to pay for, there is not going to be much left to save, whatever choices people make. Obviously if couples are buying jointly the income doubles, but even then, if childcare is deducted, then as often as not one parent is working for next to nothing.

Also, 'average' salary covers all age groups, and younger people at the start of their careers are less likely to have achieved it yet.

We married young, and were still able to save for a deposit in a couple of years. Yes, things were tight at first, but it was quite usual for couples in their early 20s to buy houses - now the average age is 35.

I'm not sure how to make things better, as so many things are tangled together. IMO anyone working a full week should be able to earn enough for secure housing with money left over for living expenses, without needing benefits to do it. It's ridiculous that so many benefit claimants are working for their poverty, and are not allowed to save more than a certain amount, even if there were enough money to do so.

Casdon I think it’s all but impossible for young people who are on minimum wage or low salaries. If they earn an average or above average salary, it’s the choices they have made about what to do with their income that prevent them saving for a deposit. That’s why a lot of couples delay having children, and share housing with others for longer than they did in the past.

Once they are on the housing ladder it is often cheaper than renting, certainly after a difficult first couple of years.

I agree.

With average salary Choices Made prevent buying.

People spend more now, than in past, on stuff. Saving is not priority.

M0nica

Casdon

I think it’s all but impossible for young people who are on minimum wage or low salaries. If they earn an average or above average salary, it’s the choices they have made about what to do with their income that prevent them saving for a deposit. That’s why a lot of couples delay having children, and share housing with others for longer than they did in the past. Once they are on the housing ladder it is often cheaper than renting, certainly after a difficult first couple of years.

But that has always been the case. This is why, in the past, we built so many council houses. Before the depredations of Mrs Thatcher one third of all households lived in council homes. Secure lifetime tenure, and with maintenance the responsibility of others. Although as so many tradesmen lived in these houses, many were kept in beatiful order by the tenants, and upgraded with central heating, new kitchens and bathrooms etc.

The difference now is that private rental costs have risen exponentially, and council housing is much less accessible, so people have to spend a much higher proportion of their income on rental costs, it becomes a trap they can’t get out of.

Absolutely not! I now live alone in a 3 bed detached home as my children have recently bought their own homes. I worked hard to buy it on my own and have no intention of moving. It is full of memories of my family growing up and now my grandchildren.

Many of our generation got married at a younger age and therefore had two salaries so were perhaps more able to save for a deposit for a house, although only the man's salary was taken into account when mortgages were offered.

Now so many young people remain single for longer and are trying to do the same on one salary. Rents are far higher proportionately although people do expect to rent a house or decent flat now. We rented three upstairs rooms in an old lady's house when we were first married.
Even on a good salary, house prices in some areas are out of the reach of first-time buyers.

Casdon

I think it’s all but impossible for young people who are on minimum wage or low salaries. If they earn an average or above average salary, it’s the choices they have made about what to do with their income that prevent them saving for a deposit. That’s why a lot of couples delay having children, and share housing with others for longer than they did in the past. Once they are on the housing ladder it is often cheaper than renting, certainly after a difficult first couple of years.

But that has always been the case. This is why, in the past, we built so many council houses. Before the depredations of Mrs Thatcher one third of all households lived in council homes. Secure lifetime tenure, and with maintenance the responsibility of others. Although as so many tradesmen lived in these houses, many were kept in beatiful order by the tenants, and upgraded with central heating, new kitchens and bathrooms etc.

MartavTaurus

OK it's all but impossible , to quote the phrase my post followed.

I can see where you are coming from. My son is just about earning nearly double what my husband was earning when he retired. However, he will now have to pay more tax and his student loan will have an extra 3% interest added. He is saving to buy a house and has since he started earning. He also had to ensure that he had enough put by because of the very real threat of redundancy during these troubled times.
Last time we went to see him, we looked at Estate Agents and found that the properties were over £500000 for where he needs to be so instantly he loses the first time buyers stamp duty allowance which means he will have to save to pay for that too. We were also shocked that the prices of everything were so much higher than what we pay and we don't live in a poor area by a long shot.
Now, don't get me wrong, I am not saying he is hard done by, but when you look at the higher salaries, you do think that the world is their oyster. He is a lucky boy in so many ways although to be fair, his progress has been through very hard work, but he will be paying rent for an awful long time.

I think it’s all but impossible for young people who are on minimum wage or low salaries. If they earn an average or above average salary, it’s the choices they have made about what to do with their income that prevent them saving for a deposit. That’s why a lot of couples delay having children, and share housing with others for longer than they did in the past. Once they are on the housing ladder it is often cheaper than renting, certainly after a difficult first couple of years.

OK it's all but impossible , to quote the phrase my post followed.

MartavTaurus

It's impossible to save even if you're on a six figure salary. DS earns around £120k, but earning more has actually made him financially worse off due to taxes and national insurance.
The Bank of mum and dad is often the only way to buy property, or to move up the ladder, but, without downsizing, I doubt whether many parents have spare 10s of 1000s lying around? Especially if you have several children. So it's catch 22 all round.

Well no, it isn’t impossible - but compromises have to be made. My son has saved a very good deposit for his first home, because he moved back home after university. What sucks away younger people’s saving power is often the amount they have to pay on renting, commuting, and living costs, particularly if they are in big cities. It’s not always earning a very high salary but having high outgoings that gets them to where they need to be

I know there are losses but he is earning in the top 5%.

Because childcare support worth 10s of 1000s is withdrawn at that level.

MartavTaurus - surely if you are in the top 5% of earners in the UK you should have significant buying power! Is he wanting to live in Richmond or Chelsea?

I do realise over 100k there is more tax with loss of the taper etc... but even so!

It's impossible to save even if you're on a six figure salary. DS earns around £120k, but earning more has actually made him financially worse off due to taxes and national insurance.
The Bank of mum and dad is often the only way to buy property, or to move up the ladder, but, without downsizing, I doubt whether many parents have spare 10s of 1000s lying around? Especially if you have several children. So it's catch 22 all round.

When my DS and his GF bought their first (modest) home in the late 90’s, they hadn’t enough for the deposit (should have listened to mum when she suggested saving a bit every pay day!) So the bank of mum and dad lent them it.

Back then, after a few weeks there was some cash back scheme connected to the mortgage, and when they received that, they were able to reimburse us.

Never heard of anything similar nowadays.