Cable Forum - View Single Post - Financial watchdog tells the elderly to downsize to tackle housing shortage

Ignitionnet · 18-09-2015, 09:41

The comments section is pretty entertaining. Gross, massive overreactions ahoy. Alongside complaints about patronising and denigrating pensioners which are beyond comedy given the bidding wards politicians have to bribe them for their votes.

It's simple - either give them incentives such as zero stamp duty and fixed estate agent costs to downsize, or tear up the banal Town and Country Planning Act, ignore complaints from NIMBYs whose primary concern in a sad number of cases is their property price, and build.

That said I'm not entirely sure what impact providing incentives to downsize will have. The government, in co-operation with the market, will still work to ensure those homes are ridiculously overpriced relative to incomes as they fear the fallout from house prices dropping back to historical averages.

It's neither in the politicians' or the big house builders' interests to supply the right properties in the right places in the required quantities. Some in the public and press go absolutely insane at the merest perceived slight to retirees and start handing out accusations of pitting the generations against each other. A bit late to worry about that.

18-09-2015, 09:41	#4
Ignitionnet Inactive Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Leeds, West Yorkshire Age: 47 Posts: 13,995	Re: Financial watchdog tells the elderly to downsize to tackle housing shortage The comments section is pretty entertaining. Gross, massive overreactions ahoy. Alongside complaints about patronising and denigrating pensioners which are beyond comedy given the bidding wards politicians have to bribe them for their votes. It's simple - either give them incentives such as zero stamp duty and fixed estate agent costs to downsize, or tear up the banal Town and Country Planning Act, ignore complaints from NIMBYs whose primary concern in a sad number of cases is their property price, and build. That said I'm not entirely sure what impact providing incentives to downsize will have. The government, in co-operation with the market, will still work to ensure those homes are ridiculously overpriced relative to incomes as they fear the fallout from house prices dropping back to historical averages. It's neither in the politicians' or the big house builders' interests to supply the right properties in the right places in the required quantities. Some in the public and press go absolutely insane at the merest perceived slight to retirees and start handing out accusations of pitting the generations against each other. A bit late to worry about that.