A million in savings and not rich? What??!

You could buy a house in cash for that, no mortgage needed.

@FediThing

ah yes, but not in central London which is what passes as a normal location for the political class

Do they mean savings or do they mean property?

There are older people in some cities who have very little cash but accidentally now live in an area with high property prices. They paid off their mortgage when property prices were low, they're too old to move to another area, and cannot sell their house because all the other houses in their area are just as expensive. I could see why they wouldn't consider themselves rich as they can't easily access their wealth.

But to actually have a million £/€/$ cash in the bank seems something very different? Surely a million on your bank balance is rich by anyone's measure?

@FediThing

It an interesting distinction because in corporate financial management terms its almost meaningless (and so too to economists) but for the people effected its central to their financial standing.... however, I understands there are some mitigations likely to be put n place to cover the circumstances you outline (how that will play out remains to be seen)

Seems like support networks need to be considered when evaluating wealth of vulnerable property owners who live in the property they own?

They're not just living in a property but in a supportive web of friends they may have known decades. Old friends are things money cannot buy.

This seems to be a consequence of commercialising everything, ignoring community life, and treating houses as investments rather than habitats 😞