At the end of last year, The i Paper’s columnist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown wrote a piece setting out why pensioners like her have a responsibility to downsize their homes and make way for young people and their growing families.
It caused a stir among our readers – some agreeing with Yasmin, but others pointing out it’s not fair to ask a generation to part with their property because the UK has failed to create adequate housing for its population. So, we are continuing the debate: are pensioners morally obliged to downsize?
Ben Kentish, Debbie Stowe and Sam Harrington-Lowe all offer their perspectives.
Thinking of downsizing in retirement? Think again.
My parents did it – swapping their London house for a bungalow in the north of England – and soon came to regret it.
I grew up in a detached three-bedroom home in a leafy London suburb. My parents weren’t privileged – my Liverpudlian dad worked various blue-collar jobs before building up a bricklaying business, while my mum earned just over minimum wage as a nursery nurse.
They grafted for years to pay off their mortgage and, like many boomers, saw their home soar in value.
Then my dad’s career was cut short by Multiple Sclerosis. He wanted to downsize and move back to Merseyside (my mum reluctantly agreed) so they had spare funds. They sold our family home and bought a two-bedroom bungalow in “sunny Southport” (spoiler: it isn’t often sunny), freeing up a six-figure sum.
But they rapidly realised their mistake. My dad’s old stomping grounds were nothing like he remembered and my mum was marooned hundreds of miles from family and friends – vital support systems for someone caring for an ailing spouse.
From plentiful services and facilities (doctor, shops, cafes, frequent public transport) on their doorstop, my parents now found themselves in a semi-rural area where they had to choose between hoping the half-hourly bus turns up and driving everywhere, just when their driving skills were starting to fade.
Because of the lack of space in the bungalow, I spent my visits sleeping on an inflatable mattress on the living room floor. Other guests were out of the question, only increasing my parents’ isolation.
When my children came along, the logistics got even more complicated. We wedged travel cots on sofa beds or in corners, and squeezed past double pushchairs that blocked the small hallway. We crammed around a kitchen table for Christmas dinners – a far cry from our dining room in London, with its extender table and piano.
There was no room in the bungalow for the piano, my dad’s sole family heirloom, and it sat, forlorn and unplayed, in a garage until the damp set in and it had to be scrapped. It broke his heart.
Yes, I know many have it worse – and compared with my dad’s decline, the piano seemed trivial. But his physical suffering was compounded by mental pain that he’d thrown away the secure London life he’d strived so hard to provide for us.
But the move was irreversible. “Hot” property markets like London typically outpace provincial or rural ones, so once you step off the ladder, the price gap widens. Throw in moving costs and solicitors’ fees, and there’s often no way back.
Still, at least they had tens of thousands of pounds in the bank to see them comfortably through their twilight years, right? Wrong.
My dad’s health rapidly worsened – something my mum blamed on the ordeal of moving – and he soon needed multiple daily care visits, which cost hundreds of pounds a week. Had they stayed in their London home, with minimal savings, the local council would have helped fund it. But their cash resources meant my parents had to pay for the care themselves, until their nest egg had fallen below the threshold for council-funded care at the time.
While I understand the principle of those who can afford it funding their own care, and the authorities subsidising those who can’t, downsizing risks penalising pensioners who try to do the right thing.
My dad would have been enormously proud to have left his daughter a nearly-million-pound London home. And he would have done, barring the downsizing disaster. I will still be grateful for whatever I inherit. But one thing my parents will certainly leave me with is the determination never to downsize.
Perspectives
square Opinion Are pensioners morally obliged to downsize? Debbie StoweMy parents went from a three-bed to a bungalow – and lost my million-pound inheritance
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