My kids will only ever own a property if their g/parents leave them massive amount

Norma_Desmond

Just two of the more polite words that spring to mind about the OP -

MERCENARY and GRASPING! :eek: :mad:

WrenBoy

I do agree with previous posters - we are all entitled to leave our money to whoever/whatever we choose. It is a bit ghoulish to circle round waiting for pickings.

I also think that many people have some nostalgic rose-tinted vision of the past, when everyone who wanted a property could afford to buy it, when the country was well run and the government wasn’t taxing us to death, etc etc.

However to those of us old enough to remember the 1970s – 3 day week, winter of discontent, etc will know that our lives today are much more affluent. Nobody could afford to buy property then. Most people couldn’t even afford a telephone or a TV or a washing machine (luxuries then but considered necessities now). The only good thing about those days was that there was no easy credit, so poor people could not make themselves any poorer.

And in the 60s, when the highest rate of tax was 19 and 6 to the pound (that’s 95p in the pound).

And in the period just after the war, when there was plenty of cheap housing around (I’m told that a five-storey house in Notting Hill could be had for £300). But it was only cheap because nobody could afford to buy it.

And what about the 1980s, the last housing boom? I was an unskilled office worker then and thought I’d never get on the property market…..

Today everyone can work hard and get what they want, our opportunities are endless and only limited by our own negative thoughts.

Rimo2021

littlesaint wrote: »

No, I know what you mean (and I work in Bethnal Green). My grandfathers were a gardener and a bus mechanic and I hope they would be proud of me and my sister. I think that generation sacrificed a lot for their children, and many did not own properties.

I think you are right, I think part of the problem is that renting is not what it used to be in terms of security of tenure. Personally I think giving tenants more rights would have 2 good results:

1. Many young couples are putting off having children until they can buy because they feel that living with the possibility of being forced to move with a month or two's notice is too insecure with a family/children in schools etc.
If they had security of tenure and controlled rent rises the difference in renting and owning would be greatly reduced. People could get on with their lives and whether you were an owner/renter would be much less significant.

2. If tenants had security of tenure and controlled rent rises, this would have the effect of making the landlord's business much less 'liquid' in that he couldn't just get rid of tenants and sell in the space of a month or two. I'm no expert but I believe this would have the effect of lowering the value of the property and would probably put off 'amateur' landlords and prevent them ramping up the market as it would presumably be harder to get a mortgage on such a property.

margaretclare

WrenBoy wrote: »

I do agree with previous posters - we are all entitled to leave our money to whoever/whatever we choose. It is a bit ghoulish to circle round waiting for pickings.

I also think that many people have some nostalgic rose-tinted vision of the past, when everyone who wanted a property could afford to buy it, when the country was well run and the government wasn’t taxing us to death, etc etc.

However to those of us old enough to remember the 1970s – 3 day week, winter of discontent, etc will know that our lives today are much more affluent. Nobody could afford to buy property then. Most people couldn’t even afford a telephone or a TV or a washing machine (luxuries then but considered necessities now). The only good thing about those days was that there was no easy credit, so poor people could not make themselves any poorer.

And in the 60s, when the highest rate of tax was 19 and 6 to the pound (that’s 95p in the pound).

And in the period just after the war, when there was plenty of cheap housing around (I’m told that a five-storey house in Notting Hill could be had for £300). But it was only cheap because nobody could afford to buy it.

And what about the 1980s, the last housing boom? I was an unskilled office worker then and thought I’d never get on the property market…..

Today everyone can work hard and get what they want, our opportunities are endless and only limited by our own negative thoughts.

I do so agree with you, and I can look back a little bit further than the 1970s/1960s.

When I married my first husband in 1957 there was a desperate housing shortage. We couldn't even get on the council waiting-list in his home town because he'd been away in the army (as many young men were then) and his link with his home town had been broken. Living with in-laws was what many couples did and it was considered quite normal. Only when you'd had a child or two and still living in the spare bedroom at the in-laws', would you be even considered eligible for the council waiting list. We bought our first home in 1962 and it was a rare thing to do then. No talk of 'housing ladders'!

Fast-forward to 1990 when I bought this 2-bed bungalow for £58K. Interest rates were 15% then! I was paying £500 a month on the mortgage, £250 a month on a rolling loan, so this used up most of my £1100 a month salary. My husband bought food etc out of his benefits. He died in 1992 coincidental with my redundancy from the NHS. Because he 'didn't believe in' life assurance when he was younger and still insurable, I wasn't left a wealthy widow.

I think every generation has had its own difficulties and circumstances to deal with. The best thing any family can give to a child is an appreciation of the value of education - and not necessarily a 'media studies' degree!! - and strong values. The value of money, saving, those kind of things. It was what my desperately-poor grandparents taught me all those years ago, so don't anyone laugh at me for 'still saving at my age'. We may live another 20 years and we don't know what we may need in that time. Going on cruises etc does NOT appeal, although we do plan nice holidays - Niagara in July, so we're not as penny-pinching as all that.

Margaret

littlesaint

I quite agree Rimo. If renting was more attractive, perhaps we would not have such an overheated property market. You never heard people describing rent as dead money twenty or thirty years ago. On the continent, everyone rents.

skylight

I do try to instill into my kids that if they want something, they will have to work hard at school, get a decent education, get a decent job and save up to buy it.

I do worry about their future, but to be honest, I am more worried about them crossing roads etc right now than where/when/if they ever get to purchase a house.

OH and I do not own our own home - and this mentality of having to have a purchased house in the UK does amuse me! The rest of our European counterparts don't have that view.

And with regards to my grandparents - they have all worked damn hard all their lives and I am very happy to see them spend their money as they see fit - but they don't spend it! Its a fight to get them to spend it. Both sets are intending to leave all their cash split equally between their children (my parents) and not the grand children (me!) and thats the way it should be.

On the flip side though, I can see what the OP means. As a parent you do worry about what happens to your children and there is plenty of cash available. But its not her cash to toy with! It belongs to someone else and what they want to do with it is their business. Discussing taxation and wills with all relatives is a good idea, regardless of age - not neccessarily inheritance though.

viktory

We are in a similar sitution here. My BIL has no children, we have two. DH parents have a lovely house in Suffolk. I do hope that they live long, long lives and spend every penny available. I also hope that when they do die, they give any money left to whomever they choose, even if it is the local cats home - but if they chose to leave it all to us and none to the BIL, we would ensure he got his fair share.

My children are growing up fast (one has already left home) and they expect nothing from us or their grandparents - and that is how it should be. If someone wants to help them, I want the help given because they (or us)want to, not because they feel obliged.

We also live in rented accomodation, so the children know that there is no point in killing us off early

The OP's views do leave a rather nasty taste in the mouth.

HugoRune_2

miss_bargainmad wrote: »

That's precisely what we do do with the grandparents - my children love them to bits.

My side are such a shower of *****, extremely dysfunctional and don't understand the meaning of the word family.

your right, none of your side of the family do

Gorgeous_George

I've just read the original post and decided not to read further as I'd probably have a coronary.

I hope the in-laws live to be 110 and then leave what's left to a cat's home - and I don't even like cats!

(I resisted the urge to use CAPS lock).



GG

oldMcDonald

Gorgeous_George wrote: »

I've just read the original post and decided not to read further as I'd probably have a coronary.

I hope the in-laws live to be 110 and then leave what's left to a cat's home - and I don't even like cats!

(I resisted the urge to use CAPS lock).



GG

If I could thank you more than the once for this post then I would