Babyboomers buying up property and renting back to the young

Graham_Devon

As the election looms, the intergenerational politics war seems to be heating up.

Though none of the political parties appear to be taking it that seriously, it appears to be the media that are talking about it. Whether it's Radio 5 (today), Newsnight who had an entire show devoted to it a couple of weeks ago, the guardian, the independent.... Not the telegraph though, they are just throwing around articles about the neverending riches of BTL.

The generational thing seems to be being talked about everywhere at the moment. Maybe due to the fact that the tories have so obviously targetted the over 55's vote?

Anyway, another day, another article (this one linked to what was being discussed on 5 live earlier).

Baby-boomers who have benefited from rising house prices are fuelling the housing crisis by buying up properties to rent out to young people who cannot afford to purchase, a new report warns today.

Britain’s stark housing divide is no longer based on class and income but is largely between the generations, according to the Chartered Institute of Housing.

A dramatic collapse in levels of home ownership among the young has been mirrored by a rise among older people. In England, the proportion of 25-34-year-olds who were homeowners dropped from 66.5 per cent to 36 per cent in 2013. Meanwhile, the number of 65-74-year-olds who own their own home rose from 62.3 per cent to 77.1 per cent.

The report warns that a “perfect storm” has left young people and those on lower incomes paying the price for the UK’s “broken housing market”.

It maybe a topic some do not wish to talk about and simply want to make a mockery of. Which is fine. But it doesn't make the subject go away.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/baby-boomers-buying-up-properties-and-renting-to-young-people-who-then-cannot-afford-to-buy-homes-10094548.html

Labour have acknowledged this, but appear to be too scared to tackle it head on....opting for a middle of the road, "soft touch" approach. Only the SNP seem to have grabbed hold of it...and their popularity among their voters is pretty high.

ukcarper

Graham_Devon wrote: »

As the election looms, the intergenerational politics war seems to be heating up.

Though none of the political parties appear to be taking it that seriously, it appears to be the media that are talking about it. Whether it's Radio 5 (today), Newsnight who had an entire show devoted to it a couple of weeks ago, the guardian, the independent.... Not the telegraph though, they are just throwing around articles about the neverending riches of BTL.

The generational thing seems to be being talked about everywhere at the moment. Maybe due to the fact that the tories have so obviously targetted the over 55's vote?

Anyway, another day, another article (this one linked to what was being discussed on 5 live earlier).


It maybe a topic some do not wish to talk about and simply want to make a mockery of. Which is fine. But it doesn't make the subject go away.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/baby-boomers-buying-up-properties-and-renting-to-young-people-who-then-cannot-afford-to-buy-homes-10094548.html

Labour have acknowledged this, but appear to be too scared to tackle it head on....opting for a middle of the road, "soft touch" approach. Only the SNP seem to have grabbed hold of it...and their popularity among their voters is pretty high.

I'd like to see some figures to back this up only one person I know is buying property and he is not using HPI on his home to do it.

Graham_Devon

ukcarper wrote: »

I'd like to see some figures to back this up only one person I know is buying property and he is not using HPI on his home to do it.

The figures are in the article. And my quote?

Not sure what you are asking for really? Figures to back up the figures?

ukcarper

Graham_Devon wrote: »

The figures are in the article. And my quote?

Not sure what you are asking for really? Figures to back up the figures?

I see you fail to understand the figures as it looks like the reporter does.

Graham_Devon

ukcarper wrote: »

I see you fail to understand the figures as it looks like the reporter does.

Well as you understand them, it seems, maybe you could enlighten us, and the journalist....and write to the Chartered Institue of Housing to inform them they have misunderstood too?

Lets start here though.... what do the figures mean, if they don't mean what is stated?

ukcarper

People move between age groups and home ownership increase rapidly in the 50s and 60s, I don't dispute the young are buying less but those figures do not prove that older people are buying more. Also the figures are people that own their own home not BTLs.

Generali

I agree that young people are being priced out however increasing proportion of older people being owner occupiers doesn't mean old people are buying up property: if I own a home and buy a BTL then the proportion of home owners my age remains unchanged.

I suspect that what is happening is that 65-74 year olds were of prime house buying age when the Right to Buy boom occurred. That was 30 years ago when RTB buyers would have been mid-30s-mid-40s. Old enough to have had a council house for a while and built up a juicy discount.

Loughton_Monkey

Graham_Devon wrote: »

......Lets start here though.... what do the figures mean, if they don't mean what is stated?

In England, the proportion of 25-34-year-olds who were homeowners dropped from 66.5 per cent to 36 per cent in 2013. Meanwhile, the number of 65-74-year-olds who own their own home rose from 62.3 per cent to 77.1 per cent.

What they could mean is that the proportion of 25/34 year olds in the population dropped from 66.5% to 36% over the same period, in which case what's the problem?

I'm not saying it does mean that, but the thing is we don't know.

You seem to have a blind spot when reading journalistic sensationalist pap in failing to understand the "weasel word" tecniques they use to exaggerate a point.

Over which period did the % ownership drop from 66% to 34%? Clearly not during 2013. That would be absurd. So was it, say, 2009 to 2013? Or 1950 to 2013? Thing is we don't know. And therefore the statistic is meaningless, and intended to 'shock' those naive enough to believe it.

Why do these journo's, charities, vested interest groups never do any research on, say, the proportion of 20/30 year olds in 1970 who chose to save up for a deposit before getting married or living together, as opposed to a similar proportion in 2005?

There may well be an unfortunate economic climate currently (and lack of new house building) causing anomalies in the home owning statistics. But similarly, there have been huge shifts in behaviour, attitudes, lifestyles, and choices between the generations. To rule out the possibility that the latter could be playing a large part is ignorant in the extreme.

ruggedtoast

It seems barely a day goes by that does not lay bare the iniquity of generational inequality. The eyes of the world are turned on the boomers and I am afraid to say that so far the Boomers are found wanting.

What other generation steals housing from its own children and then rents it back to them at a profit?

ukcarper

ruggedtoast wrote: »

It seems barely a day goes by that does not lay bare the iniquity of generational inequality. The eyes of the world are turned on the boomers and I am afraid to say that so far the Boomers are found wanting.

What other generation steals housing from its own children and then rents it back to them at a profit?

The youngests boomer will be 51 this year if boomers are such a problem isn't it about time all you young people stopped moaning and formed a party that represented them, after all there are more people between 18 and 51 than there are boomers.

purch

It's Deja-Vu all over again :eek:

If in doubt, repeat same thread with different title ad nauseum