MSE News: Parents' pensions could guarantee mortgages

foreversummer

What a dreadful idea. So do they want all but the most affluent in society priced out of home-ownership? The average hard-working folk in this country do not stand a chance. The majority of people in this country can only dream of a pension pot big enough to allow them a comfortable retirement, let alone to have spare to be used in this way. It is inconceivable that at a time we have a huge pension crisis looming that they think this is a good idea. Absolutely unbelievable!

McWulf

I'm all for simplifying the mess that we might call family taxation, but this (in isolation at least) is a bad idea. Bad for the parent who stands to risk their pension. Bad for those left behind by rising property prices.

grey_gym_sock

but, to look on the positive side ... this probably won't happen, or if it does very few ppl will take it up.

geoffky

Madness...Imagine prices falling 54% just like in another part of the uk(northern Ireland) and your son or daughter saying sorry parents but we wiped your pension out...Oh how i would laugh.

opinions4u

Utterly stupid.

We've had Brown destroy the value of pension funds with the tax grab in his first budget - still ongoing.

We've had companies greedily stopping final salary schemes for short term gain.

There isn't enough left over to support this scheme. Which will only artificially inflate house prices anyway.

Another raid on your pension fund is a really bad idea.

Idiot politicians yet again willing to pi$$ away your tomorrow so that they can gain popularity today.

McWulf

grey_gym_sock wrote: »

but, to look on the positive side ... this probably won't happen, or if it does very few ppl will take it up.

I suppose parents can always say "no". But that's not the point. Pensions are created for a specific purpose and the amount that can be contributed and the amont and time when it can be withdrawn is set in law. Why this fudge?

As you say, it won't happen. Just like Brown stopped the proposal allowing residential property to be held in a personal pension fund at the last minute. (Because of the market distortion it would create and others in this thread have mentioned).