State Pension Age Rise, Gazundering and Air-Con

State Pension Age Rise, Gazundering and Air-Con

From Money Box by BBC Radio 4

August 15, 2026 · 24 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the rise in State Pension age, the issue of gazundering in the housing market, and the delay in a grant for heating systems that can also provide air conditioning.

Urgent action is needed to help people in their sixties on low incomes who face a delay of up to a year before they can claim their State Pension. That is the main recommendation of a new report from the Work and Pensions Committee. Pension age rises over the next two years from 66 to 67 and the committee of MPs fears some of the people affected by that delay face poverty unless the benefit rules are changed to give them more money. The Department for Work and Pensions says in February, 0.02% of the Universal Credit caseload was aged 65 or 66. It also welcomed the report saying it will consider the recommendations in due course. There’s growing concern in the housing industry over the rise in a practice known as “gazundering”. It’s when people selling homes are told by buyers just days before exchanging, that they must drop the agreed price by thousands of pounds or risk losing the deal. The Conveyancing Association says it’s a growing problem and is urging the government to implement reforms which would stop the practice “without delay”. The government says it's stopping gazundering by introducing "legally binding agreements that prevent buyers from walking away at the last…

People in this episode

Host: Paul Lewis

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Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Work and Pensions Committee, Department for Work and Pensions, Conveyancing Association

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