MBK and Thomas B Hall both alerted me to this statistic:
New research released by Barclays shows that the over 65s added £37 billion to the UK economy through spending on the Hospitality & Leisure sector in the last year.
Based on LVT/Domestic Rates of average 3% - 3.5% of the value of your main residence, pensioners' main residences would incur bills of about £40 billion a year.
So that's "ability to pay" sorted.
UPDATE: To put this in perspective, UK pensioners receive approx. £100 bn a year in state pensions, pension credit and other bits and pieces; £30 bn a year in public sector/civil service pensions; and £40 bn in private sector pensions, total = £170 bn.
According to HMRC, £14 bn is deducted in income tax (i.e. public and private pensions x 20%).
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