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by bdndndndbve 601 days ago
We need a housing policy reset, the OAPs shouldn't have the majority of their retirement assets tied up in a 1.4M illiquid house. They need an affordable off-ramp to downsize, and we need to build more affordable housing to deflate the market. This is wildly unpopular because lots of people are already over-leveraged trying to get onto the property ladder, but objectively it's the correct course to start to unfuck things.

The purpose of a house or apartment should be shelter for a family, not a retirement plan or an investment for a corporation.
2 comments
ghusto 601 days ago
Okay Mao.
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fragmede 601 days ago
> This is wildly unpopular.

Case in point. No one's suggesting confiscating anything, yet some people can't contain themselves at the suggestion that maybe housing policy is broken.

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ghusto 598 days ago
The policy of people paying for homes then keeping those homes, even when, gasp, they get old?!

Demanding that older people "downsize" is a policy, and not one that's very savoury.

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KaiserPro 601 days ago
> more affordable housing to deflate the market

hard yes

> affordable off-ramp to downsize,

I mean yes, but the hidden cost is moving outside of your support network. Downsizing is often very lucrative.

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avianlyric 601 days ago
> I mean yes, but the hidden cost is moving outside of your support network. Downsizing is often very lucrative.

If we had a sensible housing policy, it would be possible to downsize within your local community. Towns and villages would be made up of a good mix of different types of housing, for different parts of life. Then people could move into appropriately sized houses without having to leave their support networks.

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