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| Britain |
| UK elderly are “wasting too many bedrooms” |
| 2012-02-06 |
| h/t Gates of Vienna In yet another outrageous piece of social engineering from our coalition government, pensioners will be encouraged to downsize to smaller properties allowing local councils to rent their homes out as council houses and manage the tenancy. Local authorities will ‘help’ older people move from their homes into ‘more suitable accommodation’. Grant Schapps, the Housing Minister, who is a conservative member of parliament claims the scheme will solve a so-called ‘housing crisis’ as well as creating a system that will ‘permit access to various sources of wealth’ that are currently not being used to pay for care. |
| Posted by:g(r)omgoru |
| #27 As long as the homeowner/pensioners are ONLY being offered the opportunity, and remain free to make the decision either way, I can live with it. |
| Posted by: RandomJD 2012-02-06 22:49 |
| #26 Malthus was wrong. Repeatedly so. (excepting the imperfectability of man, and rejecting utopianism) |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2012-02-06 20:22 |
| #25 Personal peeve. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2012-02-06 15:49 |
| #24 Repeatedly hitting the macro keys? |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2012-02-06 15:32 |
| #23 Soilent Green, Animal Farm, 1984. You name it. |
| Posted by: newc 2012-02-06 15:01 |
| #22 Or repeatedly hitting the macro keys... |
| Posted by: Pappy 2012-02-06 14:09 |
| #21 BP, this topic is like abortion and autism. No use injecting reason. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2012-02-06 13:42 |
| #20 Accusing somebody of "siding with Malthus" is like accusing them of siding with the Law of Gravity. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2012-02-06 13:27 |
| #19 Most of you pehaps don't realise that you're siding with Malthus and Keynes against Smith and Ricardo. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2012-02-06 13:09 |
| #18 This Indirectly happens in the states when locals jack up the property taxes and force the elderly to move. Why do you think everyone in Florida has a new York accent. |
| Posted by: airandee 2012-02-06 13:06 |
| #17 It's trying to stop this harmful inter-generation redistribution. I thought that is what the NHS was for by withholding care so the |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2012-02-06 12:10 |
| #16 Ebbaique - I looked that up and its part of a larger context: Luke 22:45 And while all the people were listening, He said to the disciples, 46 “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, 47 who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.” Hmm.... I can think of a few people which fit that.... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2012-02-06 12:03 |
| #15 I agree with the Charity. The young generally poorer subsidise the older asset rich receiving pensions, other benefits/tax deductions etc/taxes on capital less than earnings. It's trying to stop this harmful inter-generation redistribution. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2012-02-06 11:45 |
| #14 #1 I don't see exactly what the problem is here. Because the government is making the decisions for you. If people want to have an extra bedroom, that ought to be their decision--not the governments. Such decisions are an erosion of personal freedom. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2012-02-06 10:53 |
| #13 Luke 20:47 They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.” |
| Posted by: Ebbaique Spereting5364 2012-02-06 09:58 |
#12 NMU's invocation of the commissars from Dr. Zhivago is actually right on the mark. Money quote from the article:Thethinking behind this initiative was provided from a report, ‘Hoarding of Housing’ undertaken by a newly created charity, The Intergenerational Foundation (IF), a left leaning, research-based think-tank which ‘promotes fairness between generations’ as they state on their website. Just the title of this gang's study ought to make your blood run cold. "Hoarding of housing" could also (and probably does to that crew) mean "hoarding of financial assets" or "hoarding" of ANY private property. |
| Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) 2012-02-06 09:41 |
| #11 Mitch, In the 50's and sixties UK built many vertical slums to house the poor.Alot of these became breeding grounds for crime and joblessness.They are now being pulled town and replaced with modern housing but the vermin remain the same! |
| Posted by: Paul D 2012-02-06 09:28 |
| #10 Maybe one of those extera bedrooms could be made available for drunken sailors returning from Liberty. might have to install floor drains, however. and BIG room numbers. |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2012-02-06 09:18 |
| #9 "Social engineering from our coalition government" says it all. Next if you are over fifty please report to nearest relocation faclity. For security please leave your valuables with the TSA representative for proper safe keeping. You will be provided will all that you will require at your new location. Free housing, free healthcare, free food requirements, free transportation and the knowledge you are helping your local authorities and your country. :( |
| Posted by: Dale 2012-02-06 09:09 |
| #8 I'm confused, are these pensioners in their own houses, or is this government-owned property? Back in the Fifties and Sixties, Robert Moses et al pulled this crap in places like the Bronx and the Lower East Side, called it "urban renewal" and used eminent domain to clear out old ethnics in healthy slums, in order to build his brutalist, dysfunctional vertical slums. I'd hope that you couldn't get away with that crap today in the US, but England's a different environment, one I'm not really familiar with to be honest. |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2012-02-06 09:07 |
| #7 The term the 'authorities' are avoiding is 'warehousing'. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2012-02-06 08:52 |
| #6 I think the key word here is "encourage". The government's definition might not be the one you use. |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2012-02-06 07:31 |
| #5 I'd prefer it if it (pensioners moving themselves to affordable locations) was done using market forces i.e. housing was efficiently allocated using high land taxes (an economically positive tax) and no taxes on incomes. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2012-02-06 07:07 |
| #4 Perhaps the pensioners want their children to inherit the property. Oh, wait; these are council houses. They aren't holding singles events for the 65+ crowd, are they? How undignified. At least when Henry VIII confiscated the wealth of the monasteries, the places were wealthy. |
| Posted by: Eric Jablow 2012-02-06 06:47 |
| #3 Too many welfare immigrants = too few houses and a skint nation.Thanks Labour. |
| Posted by: Paul D 2012-02-06 06:19 |
| #2 Sorry, BP, but I'm reminded of the scene in Dr. Zhivago where the local commissars moved thirteen families into the Doctor's house because they arbitrarily determined that there was enough room for that. This stinks. |
| Posted by: no mo uro 2012-02-06 06:13 |
| #1 I don't see exactly what the problem is here. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2012-02-06 06:01 |