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

It was up to 5%
They are happy to accept 0%

I know, NotSpaghetti, but even so, when rents are upwards of £1000 a month and student loans take a chunk out of young people’s salaries even 5% of today’s house prices can be difficult to save. If a couple has to pay for childcare too, it’s all but impossible.

Doodledog

I think the need for huge deposits puts people off buying, particularly first time buyers who are paying exorbitant rents. Stamp duty is an awful tax, too.

I agree and it is sad that although so much is nowadays more accessible - travel, education, job choices and healthcare etc, a decent affordable home is seemingly more out of reach to so many. Very sad.

Doodledog there are some mortgages now where a "huge deposit" isn't required if you have been paying rent and can prove it.
They are known as "Track Record" mortgages.

I know there are at least half a dozen including Skipton.
Most seem to let you put down^up to^ 5%.

I think the need for huge deposits puts people off buying, particularly first time buyers who are paying exorbitant rents. Stamp duty is an awful tax, too.

The reason houses are not selling at the moment has nothing to do with affordability. There are plenty of people out there who want to move and can afford them. The problem is the very uncertain economic situation in this country and overseas, that mean many people have just put their plans, whether a new home, a new car, or even a holiday overseas, on hold until the economic situation is clearer.

Respectfully, I do not entirely agree MOnica.

Economic uncertainty, global, national, is certainly one of the reasons. But some people - maybe those that are "something in the City", or at least those who can fairly well weather the fluctuations in the economy, and are not badly affected by continuing Austerity - still buy houses because they are not going to be completely stymied by the % increases in their mortgage repayments.

On the other hand, families who have to budget every last 1p from their income simply cannot afford the price of many houses that would suit their needs, regardless. For those, affordability has always been an issue and will continue to be one even if the economy improves. Unless their incomes are hugely hiked, which is unlikely.

Of course, some will put their plans on hold because the economic climate is such that the future is uncertain. But to suggest that it's a one size that fits all is, IMO, incorrect.

I'm staying put. TBH I would consider moving if the process was less stressful but it's not so there we are. I love living here, it's the best of all worlds so there's zero motivation to move. We live in a free country so we have the choice of where we live.

I'll happily move out of my 3 bed semi and let a family move in, just as soon as the empty, multi million pound, 7 bedroom mansions owned by absent Russian oligarchs in London are forced to hand over their houses and let families move in. Seems a fair deal.

I doubt anyone would want a return to the sixties, where some councils bulldozed thousands of Victorian houses on the grounds they were slums, and housed people in concrete blocks of flats. These were builr in a hurry and while they had the amenities the old houses lacked, soon turned into modern slums and were often hated by residents. I would hope a return to cheaply built houses is avoided this time as this failed in the sixties.

I think we should at first look at the massive increase in population in this country in the last 10 years.
Where do all of these people live?

Who lives where and what sort of homes. Bought, Private landlords
Social housing etc. Who are the priority?

Plus families who just have as many kids as they can.but can't afford because the government keeps throwing benefits at them

SporeRB01

Norah

Part of the problem is the planning process, the developers must wait years for their planning to be approved.

I agree, large part of the problem is planning permission.

I do wonder why young families need so many bedrooms?

Nowadays, some people are working remotely or hybrid usually 2 to 3 days in the office and remaining days at home.

The bedrooms are converted to study/ offices to accommodate one or two people working from home.

I forgot, we've made 2 bedrooms into our offices.

Those 2 bedrooms have wall beds.

The bedrooms in the addition still have real beds.

We really don't need excess beds often any longer.

Indeed, Meandrogrog, and you can understand, then, why these people don't want to move!

After my husband died, several people asked me if I was planning to move. My family live within easy reach so I am not planning on moving away. The only local possibility would be a retirement flat with its unpredictable service charges. I live in a 3 bedroomed house as we downsized about 13 years ago.

I have a friend whose husband has a life-limiting condition. They live in a huge house with an enormous garden. I think she wishes they had moved about ten years ago whilst they were more fit and able to cope. It will be very hard now.

I cannot imagine any system where homeowners would be forced or incentivised to downsize, but ideally those who rent social housing ( there are no council houses round here as they have been sold off to social housing associations) should be able to swap a house which is too large for something more suitable in the same area, thereby releasing homes for families.

I’m told by a relative who builds houses that getting planning through for social housing takes years. Meanwhile he builds what will sell.

Chocolatelovinggran

One problem, for those in social housing, can be the lack of attractive alternatives compared to where they live.
A village near me has a small group of local authority housing dating from the thirties. They are three bedroomed homes with good gardens, opposite the primary school, and leading to the village green with a children's playground.
The residents are mostly older. They sit outside their houses, talk to each other and to the parents and children at the end of school. Many have an honesty box for produce from their gardens .
A downsize offer would be a small flat, in the centre of town, with no outside space, because that is all that the local authority have to offer.

How lovely that sounds. Wish everyone had the chance to live like that, it sounds idyllic!

I will not be happy if I were penalised through no fault of my own and made to pay bedroom tax or garden tax.
That won't happen if you are a pensioner, or if you own your home, or if you are not on benefits.

It is only working age people claiming benefits and living in rented accommodation who pay bedroom tax. I've never heard of garden tax. The rationale is that the benefit system should not pay for people to have more bedrooms than they need when others don't have enough. There are two very obvious sides to that argument, which IMO are equally valid.

I think many houses these days are larger than those built pre and just postwar and certainly larger than the new Wimpey houses which were being built when we were first house hunting in the late 1960s. The ubiquitous semis with a box room as the third bedroom! And one bathroom.

Better to have a small, fenced garden than living in a high rise, but that is just my preference.

I think this isn't quite the situation. It's more nuanced - and the 2026 standards will change things.

The UK builds the smallest houses in Europe. The modern model seems to have very small rooms with the emphasis on the latest trend in kitchens and bathrooms.
Children now expect a room each where mine always shared until they left home. Starter homes have a box room which ends up housing a six foot teenager as the parents can’t afford to move up to something bigger.
These tiny homes are crammed into new estates with an equally tiny garden each, surrounded by tall wooden fences. They have no storage space and the children’s play areas which were on the plans never materialise. This is the 21stC equivalent of the tower block.

And most, Allira (such as the Leeds project) are not just marching across the land with no thought for infrastructure.

I'm pleased to hear that NotSpaghetti

Perhaps it's just here!

Norah

^Part of the problem is the planning process, the developers must wait years for their planning to be approved.^

I agree, large part of the problem is planning permission.

I do wonder why young families need so many bedrooms?

Nowadays, some people are working remotely or hybrid usually 2 to 3 days in the office and remaining days at home.

The bedrooms are converted to study/ offices to accommodate one or two people working from home.

Part of the problem is the planning process, the developers must wait years for their planning to be approved.

I agree, large part of the problem is planning permission.

I do wonder why young families need so many bedrooms?

We live in an estate built for the Londoners that came up to East Midlands with their jobs in the 1960s. At first, my neighbours were mostly elderly but they have since passed away.

Their houses were bought by local couple with young families. They are upgraders not first time buyers.

Anyway, the young ones ie fresh graduates cannot even get a job let alone buy a house.

Economic problems of this country are the results of bad decisions made by the government (increase in employers insurance and minimum wage) and previous government.(Boriswave)

One of my daughter’s former colleague has just bought a house and now told she will be made redundant in a few weeks time.

I will not be happy if I were penalised through no fault of my own and made to pay bedroom tax or garden tax.

Part of the problem is the planning process, the developers must wait years for their planning to be approved.

Menopauselbitch

If you own your own home then it’s your’s to do with as you please. If you were fortunate enough to have been given a council with very cheap rent to bring up your family in then you have been very fortunate. It was never your house, so I feel the government should build more 1 bedroomed places and yes you should have to move to make way for new families. My friend has just gone into a small flat with assisted living, it’s only two floors high and really nice. I think it’s only fair.

I don't think one bedroom places are suitable for older people, or not many of them anyway. Most people want to be able to have friends or family to stay, now and then, and couples don't necessarily want to spend every night together. I often move into a spare room when my husband snores, and if someone is ill and infectious it is not a great idea to share a bed with them. Older people may need overnight care, too. Restricting people to one bedroom on the grounds of age seems to me rather unkind.

I think more two bed homes should be built - not in ghettos for old or young, but as places where people can start and end their time on the 'property ladder'. The 5 bed/4 bath ones that are so fashionable are only really ideal for families with children at home, and that stage of life is fairly temporary.

I'm not keen on the way people are stratified by age. I understand some of it - families might want to live near schools, and older people might prefer easy access to medical centres and public transport, but most of need most services for most of our lives, and IMO it's better to live in a mixed environment. In some ways, that might mean older people moving out of family homes, though, despite the fact that they are often too expensive for the young.

We moved in here when I was in my late 30s, with small children. There is hardly anyone nearby as young as that now, partly because of the location meaning that older people just stay put, but also because the location means that houses are expensive compared to others in the town. You can get a modern estate house for less than a decent sized terrace in the town centre, so that's what families do. First time buyers go for the universally popular two up, two down cottages, and move onto the estates when their families arrive. It will be interesting to see who buys the older houses when we oldies die off. An older woman nearby has gone into a care home, and there is a youngish man and young children in her house now. It didn't go up for sale, so I don't know if it's a permanent arrangement- he may be a relative or a short-term renter (I haven't seen a mum on the scene), or it may be that the tide is turning, and the area will become more mixed again. I'd like to think so.

My daughter lives in what was a 2 up/2 down that has been extended. Her neighbours include older people who have been there for decades, youngsters like her buying their first homes, renters of various types and families. It has a great sense of community.

M0nica I think you might be interested in the way Sheffield University (or is it the University of Sheffield) is doing research into MMC - they are finding ways of moving the "factory" site onto the build site (looks like it's a big polytunnel) so it does away with the shipping costs of some MMCs.

I think this will help a lot. They can put these in quite small spaces - infill and brown sites.

And most, Allira (such as the Leeds project) are not just marching across the land with no thought for infrastructure.
I think another big project that seems integrated is near Cambridge.

I am not 100% convinced yet but optimistic.

If you own your own home then it’s your’s to do with as you please. If you were fortunate enough to have been given a council with very cheap rent to bring up your family in then you have been very fortunate. It was never your house, so I feel the government should build more 1 bedroomed places and yes you should have to move to make way for new families. My friend has just gone into a small flat with assisted living, it’s only two floors high and really nice. I think it’s only fair.