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

JaneJudge

I hate cleaning so although I wistfully drive past the nice big Victorian houses on the river, the reality of cleaning them and paying for the heating makes my rose tinted spectacles a little duller

Oddly enough I prefer older houses because they reuire less cleaning. They are far more forgiving of the odd sheen of dust or mark on a wall.

When we had a new house the slightest thing showed up that marred their pristine newness. everything had to be tidy otherwise it looked like a slum. Older houses understand and merely look relaxed and homely.

I would love to downsize, unfortunately one of my sons and his family live 200 miles away so we need the rooms. Then I have the other grandchildren come and stay when they are here. I want my family all around me.

This is just my opinion: if people are in council or housing association I feel they should be encouraged to downsize, even if they have lived there a long time.
However the council and HA need to give them an incentive because moving isn't cheap and decorating probably needs doing.
I do think if people are in their own owned homes its up to them. Again, its blinking more expensive and disruptive for home owners to move.

We live in 4 bed detached house. Across the road from us is the doctors' surgery, pharmacy, council offices, swimming pool/sports centre and theatre/cinema. I can walk to 3 shops/garages selling all the basics etc. The buses stop within 100m from our front door. We have 2 railways stations a 10 min walk away. One runs east/west, the other north/ south. The 2 bed flats near us charge £3250 per annum service charge plus council tax which is more than our council tax bill. I have a garden they don't. Give me one good reason why we should spend £1000s in moving costs and stamp duty let alone the stress invovled. We are staying put as long as we can!

We want to move but finding something which will suit our needs is difficult and houses like ours are rather static on the housing market. Moving is also very expensive so it has to be absolutely right for us to take the plunge.
I would also make the argument that as we age, we need help to do things like the garden so we add to the economy that way. It might be a small positive point but every little helps.
I am not so sure about social housing. I can see why it would be a wrench for anyone to leave a long tenancy but should it cost the country more to provide homes for young families whilst others are under occupied. It is certainly a conundrum.

Kitty55

Dear Doodledog, please stop putting ideas into the governments think tank we already pay enough and NO I don’t think older people should move out if they don’t want to. You may as well include single people too, when would it stop. It would be the beginning of a police state.

I'm not doing anything of the kind .

I don't think people should have to move unless they want to, and even then, I think there are a lot of things to be considered before doing so (as I have said on the thread).

The only way I would seriously consider moving and staying in my home town would be if one of my children decided to move back here and needed a larger house for their own family, in which case I would think about moving somewhere smaller and letting them have this one. That is a most unlikely situation though, as neither of them have children and they are both settled in careers in their own home towns.

I'm not giving anyone ideas, I am simply repeating the ideas I have read elsewhere, and asking for people's opinions on them.

Doodledog

Norah

BlueBelle

No young person would want my 3 storey Victorian house with no central heating, sash windows, and fireplaces but
I love it. One grandaughter loves it who knows what ll happen when I’m gone

I feel the same.

Nobody wants this old one storey home, no central heating, fireplaces, huge gardens, even larger yards.. we love it as much as when we married.

I always think your house sounds lovely, Norah. I can't really picture it (in my head it could be Downton Abbey or Little House on the Prairie), but you always describe it as homely and happy, which is what matters.

Thank you, it is lovely albeit a bit boring. Not Highclere. Very much an old one story family home with a Mansard addition and conservatory. Farmland and trees, no other homes to be seen.

storey

There is the same problem in France, however, I own my own flat, for 40 years, and if I cannot afford the costs I will have to move. I will cry but I will have no choice, Therefore, I don’t see why a person in social housing should have a spare room and refuse to move because they have lived in their home for years.

Norah - sounds beautiful and idyllic.
However, as I am on my own, I would like to see houses and people around me.

I would love to be able to buy a new build house and gift my present house to my daughter.

What an envious and privileged position to be in.

People should only move house if they want to. You have bought it and are entitled to have it.
I have a large house that is easier and cheaper to run than smaller houses I've owned. I have lots of visitors and family to stay and they don't have to find hotels for their visits.

What next?
Bungalows only available to the over 60's?
Large houses only available if you can fill every room with your children, and a requirement to move out when you cannot.
Nobody allowed to own more than one home?
Air B&B's banned.

Certainly should not have to move. Plus, there are just not enough suitable properties for downsizing. Where I am, in a semi rural area, 4 bed detached, anything like a two bed bungalow costs more than my house. My family do not live near me so when they visit they stay with me. Am I supposed to put them up in a Travel Lodge. I was brought up in council housing, 4 kids, and when the two oldest left to marry a year between each other, (those were the days people lived with parents until marriage) we moved to smaller council house.. Brother married so parents and I moved again. All to save money in rent and in accordance with council policy of renting appropriate sized home. After I left parents moved to 1 bedroom bungalow, again council owned. Of course all have been sold off now. If someoe could find a property I like, where I like and can afford then I'd move, Until then, I'm staying where I am.

My family do not live near me so when they visit they stay with me. Am I supposed to put them up in a Travel Lodge?

Same here - especially as two bedrooms are filled with "stuff" that they use when they come.

Just a query Tenko but if you sell a big property because of possible IT, surely you’d still have the same amount of wealth to be assessed when you die? Perhaps you’re much younger than me (and others here) and just plan to spend it.
I’m sure you’re fully aware, but for others - at the moment, you’d inherit your spouse’s tax free allowance, plus £175 main dwelling allowance, so for a widow/er, one’s estate could be around £800K before tax is due.

I’m sure things will change in future. I think there are plans to add one’s pension pot in to the final estate.

When I was a child in the 50's many of the council houses built were small properties for the elderly, obviously they were cheaper to build than family homes and were used to free larger social housing for families.
I don't really see any objection to moving older people who are in social housing to smaller properties, provided they are local to where they live and there are good facilities inside and outside their new homes.
Obviously if someone owns their own home it is up to them whether or not they downsize, but it is something that I have chosen to do and am happy that I did it.

I’m in social housing with my adult autistic son and we recently downsized from a 3 bed to a 2. The house we were in was a large 3 bed and the house we’ve moved into is a largish 2 bed. I think it was a great move for us. I found it really difficult keeping up with the housework on top of working and caring for my son.

HobbyCat

I’m in social housing with my adult autistic son and we recently downsized from a 3 bed to a 2. The house we were in was a large 3 bed and the house we’ve moved into is a largish 2 bed. I think it was a great move for us. I found it really difficult keeping up with the housework on top of working and caring for my son.

My son's MIL is still rattling around alone in a three bedroom house since her husband died several years ago. The council have not maintained the property well and it needs quite a lot of money spending on it.
She knows it would be better for her to move and she would be happier, but she needs encouragement and so far has only been offered flats in different areas which do not appeal to her at all.

I’m sure things will change in future. I think there are plans to add one’s pension pot in to the final estate.

There probably are, but why? Surely one's private pension pot dies with you. Pension providers/insurance companies are the ones who gain anyway as many people never receive the full amount plus interest back in annuities.

I live in an old cottage, two-up, two-down so could hardly down-size but I need to move to somewhere without stairs or on a steep hill.
There are no bungalows or ground floor flats for sale here under £500,000. There are lots of retirement flats with huge service charges.
There are also lots of old council houses with three bedrooms, occupied mainly by single old people. They couldn’t down-size if they wanted to as there is nowhere at all which is smaller and cheaper.
The answer is, of course, to build lots and lots of affordable homes and housing association homes. That’s not going to happen as builders are only interested in large expensive houses.

MaggsMcG

This is just my opinion: if people are in council or housing association I feel they should be encouraged to downsize, even if they have lived there a long time.
However the council and HA need to give them an incentive because moving isn't cheap and decorating probably needs doing.
I do think if people are in their own owned homes its up to them. Again, its blinking more expensive and disruptive for home owners to move.

Yes I agree that tenants need to be offered an incentive, perhaps help with moving and decorating, maybe with replacing old flooring? The usefulness of having a larger property on their books would mean a lot in monetary terms to a local authrority or HA as their stock of empty family homes is usually very low.

watermeadow

I live in an old cottage, two-up, two-down so could hardly down-size but I need to move to somewhere without stairs or on a steep hill.
There are no bungalows or ground floor flats for sale here under £500,000. There are lots of retirement flats with huge service charges.
There are also lots of old council houses with three bedrooms, occupied mainly by single old people. They couldn’t down-size if they wanted to as there is nowhere at all which is smaller and cheaper.
The answer is, of course, to build lots and lots of affordable homes and housing association homes. That’s not going to happen as builders are only interested in large expensive houses.

Where I lived previously it was not unusual for a housing association to convert a larger house into smaller flats, costing less than small new-build properties, despite the cost of adding suitable bathrooms and kitchens.

Allira

^I’m sure things will change in future. I think there are plans to add one’s pension pot in to the final estate.^

There probably are, but why? Surely one's private pension pot dies with you. Pension providers/insurance companies are the ones who gain anyway as many people never receive the full amount plus interest back in annuities.

A private pension that you've saved for yourself does not die with you, unless you've used your pension pot to pay for an annuity. A company pension may be payable (perhaps at a lower rate) to your spouse, but the company's pension pot never does belong do you.
I think that you are right, changes mean that your private pension pot will become part of your estate.

I admit I have not read all the posts here, but for me.....

if only there were being built suitable houses for those of us on their own, affordable etc.... then we could consider it.... make suitable and affordable and many of us would continue to downsize.....

Certainly not, I was married at 19 with a 30 year mortgage, nobody helped me, we weren't an entitled generation