You make good points but unfortunately it's the older generations that needs convincing because they still control the country in terms of their vote share. Perhaps I should be less confrontational so that my point is better received but it's just very annoying when older people bang on about hard work and sacrifice when the landscape has changed entirely from when they were purchasing.
So what exactly should the older generations do about these matters?
This is a serious question. I am in my late 70's and would like to know specifically what I can do (that I am not already doing) to help my children and grandchildren and others in their position.
This new government has a massive job to do, which I suspect will take between 10-15 years to get things moving in the right direction and it isn't just the last 14 years of Tory mismanagement (and in part greed), that has landed us here. In my lifetime one of the earliest events I recall was the Oil crisis in the early 1970's, it set off all sorts of issues especially in the western world that change life-styles, e.g. the
raising of the school leaving age in the mid 70's would seem at first glance a side issue, but it wasn't, it change expectations for numerous generations to come, about the whole idea of 'leaving school' ....and what came after.
Other Caf contributors have already referred to housing issues, elsewhere and this is one of the greatest and most important issues that has changed enormously the lives of millions. It was (in living memory, well mine anyway) started post war with the building of what became known as 'prefab's', these were mostly single story accommodation but with the same living space as many '2 up 2' down terraced houses. This was a quick fix and supposedly to end the scandal for people who had been going off to war from overcrowded and 'ghetto' type mill towns, mining villages, dockside conurbations, etc. by building homes for those hero's, who had survived and were now returning in triumph. It may have allowed some 'traction' on housing matters but it did not stay the distance.
You could argue that overall, we have been 'doing housing' all wrong since the industrial revolution began, and we have not got much better at it. What you can afford or want to pay for a home is immaterial, if it isn't where you want it, able to last a lifetime and retain its value and these days takes into account climate change.
On an island where space was always going to be an issue, in terms of building (anything), housing dropped down the ladder. That is until it was first given a boost, but then a drawback when large swathes of the social housing stock (or the better social housing stock) got sold off... one way or another, but the people most needing it, practically doubled over the latter part of the 20th Century.
It's likely that the new government will get pushed into creating another 'building boom' to provide fit for purpose (including climate considerations) but this has to be much wider than the actual construction of houses, it has to involve the building of homes. The appeal of prefabricated construction elements is obvious, speed being of the essence, but these have to be items that last and retain their value, in particular since the idea of an 'Englishman's home (not becoming) his Castle, it seems is not fading away.
