What I am really struggling to understand, is why so many wealthy pensioners object to having to pay their license fee, but thing it is fine that poor young people should.
whilst watching the value of their mortgage free home rise year on year when virtually nobody under 40 can afford to get on the property ladder
Value increase on the property somebody lives in is a theoretical 'profit' only. Unless they sell up and downsize it's no help to anybody, pensioner or otherwise, rich or otherwise. That younger people can't get on the property ladder is not the fault of people who have lived in their family home for decades. It's more often than not 'buy to rent' landlords who snap up homes which would be withing the scope of first time buyers.
I take one board the theoretical profit, but many DO downsize. I feel more sympathy from SOME older people to the predicament faced by most younger people wouldn't go amiss.
For many elderly people living in comparative modest homes e.g. 3 bed semi-detached, there is little to no financial advantage in trying to downsize. My neighbours looked at the possibility and looked for 2 bedroom bungalows, of which there are many in this area. After all the fees involved in a move, plus any required updating to the bungalow, they would have had very little 'profit' from the sale. The upheaval outweighs the financial benefit. They stayed put until they died in the last couple of years.
Many young people who say they are hard up are actually better off than were my wife and I and a lot of other people in the sixties. We were in a two bed privately rented flat with running water..down one wall in what should have been the baby's bedroom. No chance of council accommodation. There were no social services handouts in those days apart from family allowance after you had a second child.
But we saved hard, didn't have a holiday for years and made do with second-hand furniture, until I managed to secure better jobs and eventually we bought our own home. I made a long term plan to pay off my mortgage and be debt free to be able to retire before I was sixty, which took a few sacrifices but not by our kids, I managed it just before my 58th birthday.
I do feel sorry for young people but many manage to succeed and get their own homes by sheer hard work.
I don't feel guilty in enjoying a good standard of living in my old age, I've earned it.
Getting on the property ladder is certainly far more difficult than when we bought our first house in the mid '80s but certainly not impossible in most parts of the country. London and the 'Home Counties' being an exception. My nephew and his partner bought their first house, 3 bed semi, when they were in their late 20s. He had only completed an electrical apprenticeship about a year earlier, and his partner works for fashion company. Neither is massively well paid, just made the decision to cut back on nights out etc to get the deposit.
Many young people who say they are hard up are actually better off than were my wife and I and a lot of other people in the sixties. We were in a two bed privately rented flat with running water..down one wall in what should have been the baby's bedroom. No chance of council accommodation. There were no social services handouts in those days apart from family allowance after you had a second child.
But we saved hard, didn't have a holiday for years and made do with second-hand furniture, until I managed to secure better jobs and eventually we bought our own home. I made a long term plan to pay off my mortgage and be debt free to be able to retire before I was sixty, which took a few sacrifices but not by our kids, I managed it just before my 58th birthday.
I do feel sorry for young people but many manage to succeed and get their own homes by sheer hard work.
I don't feel guilty in enjoying a good standard of living in my old age, I've earned it.
Getting on the property ladder is certainly far more difficult than when we bought our first house in the mid '80s but certainly not impossible in most parts of the country. London and the 'Home Counties' being an exception. My nephew and his partner bought their first house, 3 bed semi, when they were in their late 20s. He had only completed an electrical apprenticeship about a year earlier, and his partner works for fashion company. Neither is massively well paid, just made the decision to cut back on nights out etc to get the deposit.
Agreed.
It's a question of of priorities.
It makes me smile when I hear about people complaining that they are hard up, but have "smart phones. "
Very cheerful this morning. The sun is out, we are having breakfast at the Donkey Sanctuary, and we are booked for flu and Covid boosters this afternoon. All good. View from our table,
Posts
For many elderly people living in comparative modest homes e.g. 3 bed semi-detached, there is little to no financial advantage in trying to downsize. My neighbours looked at the possibility and looked for 2 bedroom bungalows, of which there are many in this area. After all the fees involved in a move, plus any required updating to the bungalow, they would have had very little 'profit' from the sale. The upheaval outweighs the financial benefit. They stayed put until they died in the last couple of years.
Getting on the property ladder is certainly far more difficult than when we bought our first house in the mid '80s but certainly not impossible in most parts of the country. London and the 'Home Counties' being an exception. My nephew and his partner bought their first house, 3 bed semi, when they were in their late 20s. He had only completed an electrical apprenticeship about a year earlier, and his partner works for fashion company. Neither is massively well paid, just made the decision to cut back on nights out etc to get the deposit.
https://www.businessinsider.com/naked-scottish-man-taking-pictures-biden-cop26-motorcade-report-2021-11?r=US&IR=T
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
There was none colder
With big ________ __________
View from our table,
My apologies, you are absolutely correct.