In the run-up to Rachel Reeves’s 2025 Budget, the whispers are growing louder: older homeowners should “right-size”, “free up family homes”, “release equity”. It is a function of our current ignorance of what the Budget contains, particularly regarding possible new measures involving inheritance tax and stamp duty.

It’s also a politically convenient narrative that quietly shifts blame on to pensioners for the country’s housing crisis, when the real issue lies elsewhere: the failure to meet building targets.

It also entirely ignores any considerations other than the Government’s fiscal imperatives. What about pensioners’ lived experiences? Many have been in their homes for decades. Their walls are layered with family photographs, their rooms echo with memories of birthday parties and........

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