[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by Damien

There are loads of policies aimed at boomers. The whole method of addressing the problem with house prices by essentially getting the government to underwrite homes (Help to Buy, the soon-to-be 95% mortgages backed by the government) is to make sure they don't let houses prices fall by increasing supply.

The average price of homes since 1970 has gone from an average 4x salary to 8x.

What would actually help people buy homes is bringing that average down. Banks won't lend that ratio. However the risk of negative equirty plus people who view homes as a investment mean that's not going to happen anytime soon.

It's ridiculous the current Government's policy is to underwrite more housing debt.



How do they want to tap into it?

The Government has aimed most of their cuts at younger people whereas the biggest increase in benefits was aimed at pensoners with the triple-lock. The money isn't coming from that generation.

Nothing will either, it's a big voting block so I wouldn't worry so much about it.

You make my point perfectly well.

There are loads of policies aimed at boomers. The whole method of addressing the problem with house prices by essentially getting the government to underwrite homes (Help to Buy, the soon-to-be 95% mortgages backed by the government) is to make sure they don't let houses prices fall by increasing supply.

Rubbish. How as any of that helped people born in the 40s/50s?

The average price of homes since 1970 has gone from an average 4x salary to 8x.

Exactly my point. Poor government policy has allowed this. Raiding the 40s/50s birth groups, which is what Javid and other postulated, would be pure theft. Hyperbole or not.

The Government has aimed most of their cuts at younger people whereas the biggest increase in benefits was aimed at pensioners with the triple-lock. The money isn't coming from that generation.

You have a mild point there in so far as the Tories wanted to lock in the pensioners' vote. But the 40s/50s birth group paid their taxes (including up to 95% or summat for highest earners), paid their NI and it seems to me to be right that the government should protect their pensions because most of them have no other income. Before you go into criticising the triple lock, I understand and accept the rational for reducing it to a double lock in present fiscal circumstances.


Just about the only thing that governments have got right is the financial side of Covid. In all other respects, they have incompetently led us to the argument we're having.

"Baby boomer" is a condescending, insulting categorisation of a hard working subset of the population - who are obviously on the way out due to age.