The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Money
Windrush generation fall into frozen pension crisis
Thousands of British pensioners from the Windrush generation have been denied their state pension in full, and continue to miss out on tens of thousands of pounds.
Many from the Caribbean who came to work in Britain in the 1940s, 50s and 60s to help plug a skills shortage, and who have since returned home, have found their state pensions frozen.
There are more than 510,000 retirees worldwide with state pensions that will never rise in value. Retirees in Britain and certain countries, where there is a reciprocal agreement including the EU and America, receive annual increases under the “triple lock”. This has led to unusual rules in the Caribbean, where British pensioners living in Jamaica or Barbados see their pensions increase every year. Similarly, any British pensioner living on a French island that is considered a department of France has their pension uprated in the same way. But residents of other islands lose out.
John Duffy, of the International Consortium of British Pensioners, a campaign group, said: “Frozen pensioners in the Caribbean live with the absurd postcode lottery that sees pensioners living on the British Virgin Islands having their pension frozen, while those in the American Virgin Islands, less than 40 miles away, are paid the full pension we should all be entitled to receive.”
Mother and daughter Nancy Hunte, 90, and Gretel, 66, who were both Windrush émigrés, are struggling to make ends meet on a frozen pension since returning to Antigua.
Since moving back to her homeland in 1993, Nancy has missed out on between £60,000 and £70,000. Her pension was frozen by the British Government at £39.33 a week, less than a third of the current basic state pension she would be entitled to if she lived in the UK, which is £134.25 a week.
Nancy took advantage of the Government’s invitation to British citizens living in the Caribbean and emigrated in 1958 to find work. She moved to Leicester and was joined by her husband and three children a few years later, including Gretel. However, she has not received the pension she expected after working in the UK for 33 years.
Gretel left the UK two years later to be close to her mother after working in British factories for more than two decades. Gretel reached state pension age last September and faces the same fate as her mother. Her payments will be stuck at the same level for the rest of her retirement.
Gretel said: “My mum has dementia and needs looking after but I can’t afford it on her pension.”
Reverend Max Hughes, 82, who also lives in Antigua, has been receiving a capped British state pension for 12 years since he moved from Jamaica, where his pension was rising every year. Mr Hughes’s wife Eunice Celestine also had her pension frozen. A married couple living in Britain will receive £220.05 as of April on the basic state pension. However, Mr and Mrs Hughes have been stuck on the same pension since 2009, when it was £152.50, meaning they are over £50 out of pocket every week.
The pensioner emigrated to Britain in 1955, where he worked for 30 years, first on the railways and as a signalman in Leicester, then becoming a social worker. He said: “It’s unfair after I worked in the country for 30 years. I’m still the same person who was getting increments when I reached pension age. It’s difficult to pay the bills because prices are rising every day.”
Baroness Ros Altmann, who has previously backed campaigns for the end of frozen pensions, said: “It’s unbelievable. It’s another example of how this problem is continuing to affect more and more people who are really going to struggle through retirement when they never expected to.”
Many people from the Windrush generation were not treated as they should have been and were made to feel unwelcome, she added. “If people were in that position and left for those reasons then it’s a double injustice.”
There are hundreds of thousands of retired Britons around the world who have been dealt the financial blow. However, there is hope for more than 130,000 Britons in Canada, after the Canadian government called for a renegotiation of a reciprocal social security agreement, which could put an end to the frozen pension crisis.
The pensions minister said the Government would “respond shortly”. This has sparked hope it could open the door to further agreements.
Sir Roger Gale, from a parliamentary group on frozen British pensions, said: “It is simply unacceptable that successive governments have denied UK pensioners, including those living in parts of the Caribbean, their rightful pensions, leaving elderly citizens, many of whom have proudly served our country, without the retirement they deserve.”
Sir Roger said there was “absolutely no justification for continuing this immoral and shameful policy”.
The number of Londoners buying second homes outside the capital has quadrupled following successive lockdowns and travel restrictions.
There was a 309pc rise in Londonbased buyers purchasing a second property elsewhere in Britain last year compared with 2019, according to Knight Frank estate agents.
Londoners dominated the second homes market, accounting for 35pc of all sales outside the capital. This was nearly triple the 13pc share in 2019.
These rises in sales all occurred despite the fact the property market was closed for months during the first lockdown last year.
Overall, second home purchases by buyers across the country jumped 59pc year-on-year, fuelled by the stamp duty holiday, which meant their tax bill was cut, paying just the 3pc surcharge on the first £500,000.
The South West and the Cotswolds were among the most popular areas for London- based buyers. The numbers reflect Knight Frank sales data, which is focused on the higher end of the property market.
Families have sought more space to work from home and host extended family during lockdowns, Knight Frank said.
Separate research by private bank Coutts found the most popular places for second homes in the South East were Oxford, Guildford and Tunbridge Wells, with west Cornwall and Gloucester in the South West also proving popular options.
In Wales, many Londoners are hunting out coastal locations, according to Carol Peett, of West Wales Property Finders, a buying agent. “Some want to be on their own on a cliff top,” she added.
Christopher Bailey, an agent at Knight Frank, said that demand for what he termed “raw” coastal property – on a rugged waterfront overlooking the sea – had soared.
Ms Peett added: “There has always been a steady stream of buyers from
‘In the past two weeks, I have taken on more clients than I usually would in a year’
London, but since the third lockdown it has been absolutely ridiculous. In the past two weeks, I have taken on more clients than I normally do in a year. I’ve never been so busy. It’s 18-hour days, seven days a week.”
Winter and Covid restrictions have acted as a further catalyst. Buyers want to plan for their summer holidays and are wary of booking trips abroad, Ms Peett said. “They realise that there is so much demand for British holiday rentals they can let them out and get a good return,” she added.
The trend to bring moves forward means that Britain’s second- home buyers are getting younger. “People are buying second homes in their late 20s,” Ms Peett said. One young couple recently paid £310,000 for a home – £40,000 over its asking price.
She added that bidding wars had become commonplace. Another couple paid £1.5m for a house – 25pc more than the £1.2m asking price.
Country house sales jumped 11pc last year versus 2019, despite the spring housing market shutdown, according to Knight Frank. Prices of rural homes worth £5m or more rose by 7.9pc.