The return of 'my house is my pension'?

The old adage ‘my house is my pension’ – predictably popular in an era when house prices boomed – is now accepted to be an unwise approach to retirement saving. But is the government inadvertently reviving an outdated idea? Earlier this month, housing minister Grant Shapps announced that councils are to be given millions to help elderly people “stay independent” by downsizing and freeing up their homes for families. The plan, called the New Deal for Older People, will ease the housing shortage and improve incomes for the elderly, according to Shapps. Councils will be tasked with he...