A slippery slope to being forced to downsize?

Where I live there are many office blocks apparently in excellent condition on the main road which have been empty for a while and these are slowly being converted into flats. This is an excellent idea and more people living locally may keep the smaller shops in business. There are a couple of excellent bus routes, one to Heathrow and a tube to the centre of London so a car may not be needed.

No one is going to make us do anything we don't want. We are the generation which votes so they won't want to upset us!

I wonder why they keep attacking us and not the younger people who live together (married or not) have children and then separate? Surely this is one of the reasons so many more homes are needed. Yes, of course there will always be divorce but why are there so many? Is it because they didn't think hard enough before setting up home together? Is it because they don't work hard enough to make the partnership work? I am not suggesting that this applies to all splits but these days it is so much easier to start living together than it was when I was young and that must be a contributing factor.

No, I am not a smug long married who doesn't understand. My DS is separated from his wife and one of the above applies!

Social housing is another issue Nfk - I don't want to open up a whole new can of worms (where does that expression come from?) or to have the thread invaded by the lo taken over by the politics of the 'bedroom tax' as this has been done to death on other threads.

People who own their own houses should not be made to feel the should vacate them for any reason.

anya we have noticed a large amount of building going on, too, so perhaps this is the start of the building programme to alleviate the housing problem
(And they can go away and leave us alone )

I said on another thread that there are plenty of brownfield sites available for building, a lot of building land is owned by building firms who are not building for whatever reason, and there are many unoccupied houses

There is absolutely no need to force people to move or downsize, whether private, ha or council owned.

There just needs to be more building on land already available, both private builds and social housing.

Stop pressurising the elderly and making us scapegoats for the failure to provide enough homes, and start looking at the bigger picture.

Sounds just like my house Ann we only moved in 8 years ago and intend to stay in it till they carry me out feet first.

There's plenty of new houses being built where we live, mainly 3 bedroom semis, but also (on the new estates on the outskirts of our town) 2-6 bedrooms, detached and semis and terraces and apartments.

This story is not going to go away. In today's DT letters the opinion is that it is stamp duty and other costs stopping people downsizing. Well in my case , as others have said, it is my home, we worked and paid for it, we can afford to run it. We have separate bedrooms because it suits us, we have spare rooms for family to stay. we have a conservatory so "we" can get away from each other and here we will stay while ever we can.

We downsized nearly ten years ago. Because we wanted to. Because the rambling, extended house we'd brought the family up in and the rambling, hard to maintain garden had become a pain. A burden. So we moved to a two bedroom and a box room house in a town within walking distance of everything we need. It didn't free up any cash - financially it was a sideways move - but it has given us more time and none of the worry our friends have about heating, gardeners, maintenance etc they have in their big homes.

But, they love their big houses and can afford to keep them (even though moaning all the time) so why should they move? There are though a lot of older people, retired, with less money who can't afford the upkeep and maintenance who might like to move, but don't have the will power/backing/finance to do so. A bit of support for them would be a good idea.

Also councils and housing associations do have a problem. Is it fair that an elderly person should live in a large three or four bedroom house when there's a family of four squashed into a small two bed flat with no garden just down the road?

As popes go, this one seems the best so far!

Talking of downsizing.....did anyone notice that the Pope rolled up to the White House in a Fiat 500?

Wel done the Pope! Respect!

And no !!

I would be happy to downsize but the rabbit will not share!!

Me too loopylou

I am just stroppy resistant whenever someone tells me what I should be doing.

I agree loopylou.

Having bought our first house 18 years ago, three bed semi, nothing posh I have absolutely no intention whatsoever of being told to downsize or move away from here.
Bloody cheek in my opinion and should be addressed to second home owners/people living in massive mansions and those who spend more than x% of their lives living abroad for tax reasons.

Rant over

We moved into a tiny one bed house one year ago. Never looked back. No mortgage. Tiny front garden. Had the whole place insulated. Such an easy home to run. We have a caravan. Stored else where, so we travel around uk and Scotland every opportunity. Perfect life really. Some could say we bought a first time buyers home though!

My mum and dad moved into sheltered accommodation, sadly he died shortly afterwards but mum made many friends and lived there for a further 20 years. The problems started to show up when she and her friends got into their 80's and 90's and were joined by the over 55's whose interests were entirely different.

Everybody I know is trying to downsize their possessions rather than their house!

As I said on another thread my parents moved to a large and very roomy two bedroomed bungalow when they retired. They soon found that it just wasn't big enough, my father needed an office, my mother a workroom and bedrooms for the family. In their mid 80s, as grandchildren grew to big to share a bedroom with their parents they decided that enough was enough and they would sell the bungalow and buy a larger property. Sadly, my mother died suddenly, and my father decided not to move.

I can't see the Queen agreeing to downsize from Buck House to a semi in SW1.

Do you think that just maybe at the bottom of the article is the need for more people to BE moving because the surveyors are finding work thin on the ground and want more surveys to do?
Why do all these institutions feel the need to tell people the size of home they need to live in? In my experience and looking at the current family we all need a fair sized home - us because we spend more time in and around it - especially in the winter months - and those with children ranging from babies to young adults because babies need equipment such as prams and high chairs which need storing somewhere and those with older children/ young adults need space to get away from each other at times. The only one I can see who can manage in a slightly smaller home is DD who at the moment is living alone - but even so has four rooms to herself plus kitchen and bathroom etc - she still complains about lack of room but in her case nowhere in the small garden for a shed for her bike!
Homes have been built consistently smaller over the years and that in itself causes problems and the need for families to upsize more than downsize. I do think however that people who own houses left vacant and needing maintenance or refurbishing should be made to do it and get the building back in the housing pool whether rented out or sold - or a compulsory purchase order served and then bought by the local council for something like 75% of the market value. That should get a few more back in the system.

Do they mean people who own their own homes? If so, how could they be "forced" to move? Unless some sort of "under-occupation" rate on council tax was introduced. I don't think that would be fair - I didn't think it was fair for those in social housing to be charged for under-occupancy either. I think it is quite reasonable to have one spare bedroom.

However, some older people in large, heavy maintenance houses, might like to move to something smaller if there were attractive places available, with a garden if it was still wanted. Sometimes the cost of moving - which can be considerable and which could significantly deplete the surplus money left from the sale - would prevent people from moving so perhaps some contribution towards the cost might give the necessary incentive. If enough larger houses were made available through such a scheme, presumably that would bring the price of larger houses down and the knock-on effect would continue down the line - welcome for those hoping to buy their first home but presumably not for others. But would it be very fair for people who already have a fairly expensive asset to be able to get financial assistance to move? There are all sorts of things to consider - it's not straight forward.

I'm inclined to think there should be some sort of land tax to stop companies and individuals hanging on to land as an investment, because it is the shortage of land which fuels its ever-increasing cost and which pushes up the price of building new developments.

I also agree that some restrictions should be placed on foreign investors who just leave properties empty - there are areas of London that have been described as being like "ghost towns". If these properties were made available for rent or, if not, owners had to pay a substantial surcharge for leaving them empty, it should reduce rents across the board.

That'll be us then, Merlot, we are both handy around the garden, and have a few nice bottles of the red stuff put by.The tax man will never find us living ( like fairies) at the bottom of the garden!

roses They'll be very welcome so long as they provide the and do their fare share of the weeding.

I've always fancied a bit of a commune here but it would have to be mixed age groups. As my mother used to say, 'Old people give me the pip' and she was in her nineties

The idea of down sizing doesn't really work because if all the older people move into one or two bedroom homes what is going to be left for first time buyers? DD is just about managing in her one and a half bedroom flat but there is no way she could actually afford a three or four bedroom house.

Ah, but your OWN family Merlotgran, I don't think we can allow that!
However you could fit a few pensioners into the newly decorated mobile home in the garden so I will give the authorities a ring on your behalf and offer this freed up accomodation.