This is the 1st of 3 articles criticising The Intergenerational Foundation:
(This article)
Simple example of how The Intergenerational Foundation is wrong about housing
The politics of envy in intergenerational analysis
The Intergenerational Foundation is a relatively new charity intended to help younger generations at the expense of older generations. They don’t put it quite like that! They say “We believe that each generation should pay its own way, which is not happening at present. British policy-makers have given undue advantages to the older generation at the expense of younger and future generations”.
(In what way are we – I’m 64 – not paying our way? I live on my private pension and life savings, and don’t claim benefits. I am by a large amount a net contributor to central and local government revenues, and this will still be the case when I qualify for my state pension next year. Speaking as a childfree person, I don’t accept that it is reasonable for someone with children to compare their finances unfavourably with mine. Having children is a lifestyle choice known to leave you worse off for the rest of your life).
Hoarding of housing
The Intergenerational Foundation recently published a report ”Hoarding of Housing: The intergenerational crisis in the market” (PDF). While they have accumulated a lot of facts, the conclusions they draw from them don’t always follow logically and inevitably from the facts. In effect, they are a “single issue” group, running the risk of falling foul of the law of unintended consequences. Here are quotes from their “Executive Summary” that should raise questions:
The current housing crisis is not principally about Britain having enough housing but about the way it is shared between older and younger generations. …
House ownership is virtually unaffordable for younger people in the parts of Britain where there is work. As a result, private renting has increased by over 50% during the last 8 years.
Important questions are: “how many individual family units are there in total?”, and “how many individual dwellings are there in total?” Is it really the case that there are enough houses but they are spread unsuitably across generations, or are there in fact not enough houses? Unless it is thought that older people shouldn’t have houses at all, or should share them with one-another, the proposals of the report primarily amount to re-distributing the houses that exist among the family units that exist.
Consider:
- High prices like this are often the result of “the law of supply and demand”. “Not enough houses” leads to a seller’s market, and higher prices. Build more suitable houses and the price will surely drop for existing equivalent houses! The report points out “The growth in new UK supply is extremely slow, at less than 1% a year. It has also been characterised by the building of small properties”. Well then! The population has grown much faster than that, partly through immigration, but especially because the birth rate is much higher than the death rate. (In fact, elsewhere, the Intergenerational Foundation acknowledges the truth: “Britain is widely acknowledged to have a “housing crisis”: a situation in which too many young would-be buyers are chasing too few, overpriced properties, brought about by the lack of suitable new housing built in recent decades.”)
- The report suggests that on average older people have more expensive houses. (That often goes along with “larger houses”). Indeed, this should be expected; the house you can afford after decades of work will typically be much more expensive than your first house. How will younger people be able to afford those larger and more expensive houses if the older people sell them? Especially if those younger people want those larger houses because they have families, and hence are likely to be financially constrained!
- In fact, might it not be the case that older people, “buying down” with their savings (if they exist) plus the money from the sales of their expensive houses, will drive up the prices of smaller good quality houses? Perhaps we need less competition, not more, for cheaper houses?
In my article “The myth of a baby-boom-led housing crisis“, I pointed out “My first house, bought when I was 28, was vastly inferior to my current house and hardly worth a quarter of it”. It wasn’t just smaller; it was inferior in every significant respect – a much smaller poor quality house on a poor estate in a poor location. That was the way the housing ladder worked – you started with something that you wouldn’t consider for the long-term, and that you hope you will never have to return to. (It eventually had to house 3 people: me, my partner, and her daughter. I suspect few families of that size would consider such a house nowadays. Apart from anything else, it would be illegal to build one!)
Some policy proposals from the report raise questions, for example “a property value tax”, “abolition of council tax concessions for single occupation”.
- What is the current basis of Council Tax other than (partly) a property value tax? It started with the old “rateable value”, after the much fairer “poll tax” was reversed.
- And why should single people (like myself) pay an even more unfair share to the local councils? I already pay three-quarters of what a family consuming far more council services pays.
Politics of envy
Of course younger people want to have some of the benefits that older people have accumulated without having to wait decades to achieve them. I’m sure I did when I was that age! Needless to say, the reverse is also true. Many older people (not including me) wish they had had the education opportunities that younger people now have. Instead of only 5% of people going to university in 1965, (with most children leaving school at 15), perhaps over 40% can do so nowadays.
There are undoubtedly problems for many (not all) younger people. Some of them would by now have inherited their parents’ homes had their parents not lived longer than previous generations did. The population growth makes jobs harder to find, (and many of the old unpleasant labour-intensive jobs such as coal mining have long since disappeared), and so too are houses.
But what are the correct comparisons? Obviously it is wrong to compare a current 30 year old with a current 65 year old! The latter took an extra 35 years to reach their current state, living in a significantly different national and global environment. But it is also wrong to compare a current 65 year old with the prospects in 35 years time of a current 30 year old. The current 30 year old will then have a much greater life expectancy, and so factors such as the time to accumulate wealth, and retirement ages and the number of years after retirement, are all very different.
There is no evidence that the policy proposals in the report will actually achieve the effects the report wants. There is no evidence that diverting attention away from building new houses to redistributing existing houses won’t make things worse. The report appears to be driven by ideology based on “it’s the fault of older people so they must be forced to change”.
I’ve written about this so-called inter-generational unfairness before:
The myth of the UK baby-boom
The myth of a baby-boom-led housing crisis
And see this article about one of the people behind the Intergenerational Foundation:
order lyrica 150mg pills – buy lyrica generic buy lyrica 150mg sale
order clomiphene for sale – order zyrtec 5mg generic cetirizine 10mg pills
desloratadine 5mg uk – purchase loratadine generic aristocort over the counter
buy misoprostol 200mcg online – synthroid 75mcg canada buy synthroid 150mcg pill
sildenafil overnight – sildenafil mail order usa generic gabapentin 100mg
tadalafil 20mg usa – cialis 5mg price purchase cenforce pills
brand diltiazem 180mg – buy diltiazem 180mg for sale zovirax 800mg usa
buy atarax 25mg sale – buy atarax generic order rosuvastatin 20mg
order ezetimibe without prescription – motilium tablet order generic celexa 40mg
viagra for sale online – purchase lisinopril without prescription purchase cyclobenzaprine generic
brand sildenafil 100mg – sildenafil 150mg cheap cialis 40mg
order toradol 10mg – order baclofen 25mg buy baclofen 25mg generic
oral colchicine – buy inderal 20mg generic strattera 10mg us
purchase sildenafil pill – cheap generic viagra order plavix 75mg pills
viagra 50mg sale – brand viagra sildenafil usa
nexium uk – nexium 20mg pill buy phenergan pill
cialis 5mg cost – cialis dosage 40 mg tadalafil online
buy provigil pill – order modafinil sale buy ed pills gb
buy generic isotretinoin – order amoxil 1000mg pills order azithromycin 500mg generic
furosemide us – doxycycline 200mg usa buy generic sildenafil 50mg
tadalafil 5mg ca – cialis 20mg uk viagra 50mg over the counter
buy tadalafil 5mg sale – brand cialis 20mg warfarin tablet
buy topamax – order topiramate 200mg generic imitrex 25mg for sale
avodart 0.5mg over the counter – order tadalafil 10mg generic cialis 40mg sale
buy viagra 100mg – viagra overnight shipping usa order cialis 40mg without prescription
male erection pills – order prednisone 10mg online cheap prednisone 10mg ca
order isotretinoin 10mg online – order amoxil 1000mg online buy amoxil 500mg online
lasix 40mg cheap – order zithromax 250mg zithromax 250mg sale
I didn’t know that.
Hello just wanted to give you a quick heads up and let you know a few
of the images aren’t loading properly. I’m
not sure why but I think its a linking issue.
I’ve tried it in two different browsers and both show the same results.
doxycycline buy online – generic hydroxychloroquine 400mg chloroquine 250mg canada
As the admin of this website is working, no hesitation very quickly it will be renowned, due to
its quality contents.
order cialis 5mg pill – Buy cialis without a prescription buy viagra 150mg generic
Hey! This is my first comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and tell you
I really enjoy reading your articles. Can you recommend any other blogs/websites/forums that go over the same subjects?
Appreciate it!
modafinil 200mg tablet – sildenafil pills 200mg buy sildenafil 50mg generic
free samples of ed pills – ed devices order deltasone 5mg sale
order isotretinoin 10mg generic – order accutane 40mg for sale oral celebrex
order flomax 0.4mg generic – ondansetron pills buy generic aldactone
buy simvastatin 20mg – valacyclovir 1000mg ca do my term paper
hollywood casino – write research paper teach me how to write an essay
online casino real money paypal – ampicillin online buy cheap acillin
order cipro 1000mg for sale – cialis 40mg sale tadalafil 5mg price
order sildenafil 50mg generic – sildenafil online vardenafil tablets 20 mg
Appreciate this post. Will try it out.
Hello there! I could have sworn I’ve been to this blog before but after looking at a few of the
posts I realized it’s new to me. Nonetheless, I’m definitely delighted I came across it and I’ll be bookmarking it and checking back regularly!
Wonderful beat ! I wish to apprentice while you amend your website,
how can i subscribe for a blog web site?
The account helped me a acceptable deal. I had been a little bit acquainted of this your
broadcast offered bright clear concept
Why is it I always really feel like you do?
order generic prednisolone 20mg – order cialis 10mg generic purchase cialis online
order augmentin 625mg generic – buy cialis 10mg without prescription tadalafil uk
bactrim 960mg generic – sildenafil 20mg sildenafil 100mg uk
cephalexin 250mg oral – cephalexin generic erythromycin 250mg ca
oral fildena 50mg – stromectol price buy ivermectin 3 mg for humans
buy rhinocort generic – purchase disulfiram without prescription order antabuse 250mg sale
cheap cefuroxime – ceftin 250mg generic purchase tadalafil sale
order ampicillin 250mg pill – buy cialis 20mg without prescription order cialis 20mg pill
amoxicillin 500mg price – buy vardenafil 20mg pill vardenafil 20mg oral
stromectol cvs – buy levitra 20mg online order levitra 10mg sale
order doxycycline pills – order doxycycline 200mg cost tadalafil 20mg
This is really interesting, You’re a very skilled blogger. I have joined your feed and look forward to seeking more of your great post. Also, I’ve shared your web site in my social networks!
I was reading through some of your content on this internet site and I believe this web site is very informative ! Continue posting .
tadalafil cost – cialis from canada modafinil 100mg price
Well, I don’t know if that’s going to work for me, but definitely worked for you!
Excellent post!
Excellent read, I just passed this onto a colleague who was doing a little research on that. And he actually bought me lunch because I found it for him smile So let me rephrase that.|
deltasone price – prednisone 40mg pill isotretinoin price
cheap amoxicillin tablets – azithromycin 250mg usa sildenafil pills 50mg
Pretty impressive article. I just stumbled upon your site and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading your opinions. Any way I’ll be coming back and I hope you post again soon.
You are one talented writer thank you for the post.
prednisolone pill – neurontin 600mg pills sildenafil 150mg brand
buy lasix online cheap – doxycycline for sale buy ivermectin 3mg online
z4wj9
222th
onug
buy generic plaquenil 200mg – buy plaquenil 200mg baricitinib 2mg brand
otdsd
msqec
0ovx
buy metformin 1000mg sale – atorvastatin 20mg brand buy amlodipine 5mg generic
0qddz
qj0hh
esl1
I think I will become a great follower.Just want to say your post is striking. The clarity in your post is simply striking and i can take for granted you are an expert on this subject.
cheap levitra 10mg – order clomiphene order clomiphene pill
বাংলা প্রশ্ন উত্তর সাইট তল্লাশি, আজই আপনার সমস্যা নিয়ে প্রশ্ন করুন , অভিজ্ঞ ব্যক্তিগন আপনার প্রশ্নের উত্তর দিয়ে সহযোগিতা করবে । তাছাড়াও অন্যাদের প্রশ্নের উত্তর দিয়ে, জিতে নিন আকর্ষণীয় পুরস্কার । তল্লাশিতে যেকোনো বিষয়ে প্রশ্ন করতে পারেন।।
ventolin 2mg over the counter – buy ventolin pill cheap dapoxetine 30mg
levothyroxine cheap – order plaquenil 400mg pill order plaquenil 200mg generic
tadalafil for sale online – viagra 100mg england sildenafil viagra
zanaflex for pain buy zanaflex australia is zanaflex considered a narcotic what is stronger baclofen or zanaflex
strong viagra cialis 20mg price how often can i take cialis 20mg cialis what does it do
Is it okay to put a portion of this on my weblog if perhaps I post a reference point to this web page?
deltasone 20mg pill – prednisone 40mg pills amoxil online buy
diltiazem canada – buy gabapentin 100mg pill order gabapentin 100mg pill
furosemide online order – brand acyclovir 800mg cost doxycycline 200mg
ventolin generic name albuterol over the counter ventolin inhaler for sale ebay when will generic albuterol hfa be available
I happen to be commenting to make you know of the fine experience my child found reading your web page. She mastered so many pieces, including what it is like to have an incredible teaching mindset to get the others quite simply master a variety of grueling topics. You undoubtedly exceeded our own expected results. Thank you for producing those practical, safe, informative and also easy tips about the topic to Kate.
order cenforce 100mg – stromectol cost order motilium 10mg online
thank, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your article. I really appreciate your wonderful knowledge and the time you put into educating the rest of us.
Just what I needed to know thank you for this.
Hello.This article was extremely interesting, particularly since I was searching for thoughts on this subject last couple of days.
viagra us – order cialis 5mg generic buy cialis 20mg
zanaflex liver alcohol tizanidine can i take a zanaflex with cocaine which is stronger flexiril (cyclobenzaprine), zanaflex (tizanidine), and skelaxin (metaxalone)
zanaflex highest doseage zanaflex cost zanaflex 4 mg weight loss what is the street value of zanaflex 6mg
Most often since i look for a blog Document realize that the vast majority of blog pages happen to be amateurish. Not so,We can honestly claim for which you writen is definitely great and then your webpage rock solid.
Have you given any kind of thought at all with converting your current web-site into French? I know a couple of of translaters here that will would certainly help you do it for no cost if you want to get in touch with me personally.
cost provigil 200mg – order rhinocort online budesonide ca
I like to spend my free time by scaning various internet recourses. Today I came across your site and I found it is as one of the best free resources available! Well done! Keep on this quality!
I simply desired to thank you very much all over again. I do not know what I might have worked on in the absence of the actual solutions revealed by you about such a area. Entirely was a distressing matter for me, nevertheless understanding your specialised strategy you solved it made me to cry with fulfillment. I am happy for the service and in addition wish you recognize what a powerful job you are providing educating many others via your web page. More than likely you haven’t come across all of us.
I as well as my pals were found to be taking note of the great information found on your site and so unexpectedly developed an awful suspicion I had not expressed respect to the web blog owner for them. Most of the men were as a consequence stimulated to see all of them and now have in truth been enjoying them. We appreciate you truly being indeed thoughtful and for deciding upon variety of important information most people are really desirous to discover. My sincere apologies for not saying thanks to you sooner.
I and also my friends were actually checking out the best information and facts found on your website and so at once I had an awful suspicion I had not thanked the site owner for them. All of the ladies were definitely as a result glad to learn all of them and already have really been loving those things. I appreciate you for getting really accommodating and also for making a decision on this kind of exceptional resources most people are really wanting to learn about. Our own sincere regret for not expressing gratitude to sooner.
I simply needed to thank you very much once again. I’m not certain the things I would’ve taken care of without the entire ideas documented by you about such topic. Certainly was a very distressing issue in my view, however , seeing the skilled form you solved it took me to weep for happiness. I will be happier for the support and even sincerely hope you really know what a great job that you are putting in training men and women all through a web site. More than likely you haven’t come across all of us.
order accutane for sale – amoxil 500mg us order tetracycline 500mg for sale
Might we expect to see more of these same problems in the future?
We can see that we need to develop policies to deal with this trend.