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Deleted member 1740
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How many of these houses are going to be affordable?
A Million New Homes by 2020
- Thread starter SwingsitlikeHogan
- Start date
Bunkermagnet
Journeyman Pro
Surely anything and everything is affordable if you have the money? Perhaps the question should be "how many of these houses will be low cost"?
How do they stop people from buying them cheaply and then re-selling them at a profit, ie market rate, shortly after?
The Government will go a very long way to protect the retired vote - claiming otherwise is naive. And the retired vote is exactly why they (and I) are sh*t scared of the EU referendum!
You have a cynical view of the housing market in Surrey (and other similar areas), which is why I used the adjective cynical; in no way whatsoever was your statement fact - show me a 'Russian Oligarch' who would choose to live in a Suburban 1950s 3-bed semi and I'll happily retract the comment! This isn't Chelsea and Kensington we're talking about here (although I obviously agree that foreign investment in London has driven up prices across SE - but that isn't anywhere near the main cause of the housing shortage).
Of course I am not in favour of the Government 'forcing' people from their homes - what I am hugely in favour of and have been stating all along is the Govt offering incentives for people to move out into more suitably sized properties for their needs, and thus allowing young families to move into the vacated properties and subsequently allowing first time buyers more choice at that end - liquidity! Incentive schemes are offered at the bottom of the ladder to help first time buyers, so it must be something that has been considered on other rungs too.
However, in my opinion (which you may view as cynical) Govts avoid potential controversial policies toward the retired/elderly, especially those that can be spun into a witch-hunt by the Mail.
Sweep
Journeyman Pro
In hindsight my choice of the word cynical could well be taken as harsher than I intended. I should have probably said that I thought you were being a bit harsh on the government, which as a cornerstone of it's political standpoint is in favour of aspiration. Simply put, if people think they will lose or be put under pressure to give up what they have worked for and invested in, they won't work hard and invest in the first place. You only have to look at the flak the government has received on the "bedroom tax" where they have tried to move people on benefit to more appropriate sized housing for their needs to get an idea of how unpopular such a strategy would be, especially considering that it was tax payers money that was paying for larger houses than people needed in the bedroom tax case. Another emotive example is inheritance tax. People quite rightly would like to think that they can keep what they have earned when they have already paid tax on those earnings. TBH I don't really see how you can incentify people to move to a smaller property. At the very least they will want the market value for their home and most of course will intend to leave their house to their kids. In any case, even if you could persuade people to downsize, the house would still go on the market for the market rate. No-one in their right mind is going to sell it for less than its worth.
SwingsitlikeHogan
Major Champion
In Glasgow we live in a 'valley'. On one side in the last ten years a huge amount of new housing has been built on the top of the hill heading south of Glasgow. In the heavy rains of last few weeks the flooding of the streets and gardens of homes around us is the worse it has ever been. Are the two in any way related?
Even with us - both neighbours in the semi next door have paved their driveways and they do not have any 'lateral' drainage off their drives They are both slightly higher than us. Water was pouring down the driveways and then from the bottom of their driveways into the gardens of our home and those further down from us - and our garden and those of our lower neighbours were flooded worse than they have ever been. That's how it works.
Even with us - both neighbours in the semi next door have paved their driveways and they do not have any 'lateral' drainage off their drives They are both slightly higher than us. Water was pouring down the driveways and then from the bottom of their driveways into the gardens of our home and those further down from us - and our garden and those of our lower neighbours were flooded worse than they have ever been. That's how it works.
ger147
Tour Winner
Wettest Demember since records began apparently...
http://news.sky.com/story/1616989/december-2015-the-wettest-since-records-began
http://news.sky.com/story/1616989/december-2015-the-wettest-since-records-began
SwingsitlikeHogan
Major Champion
This is true. And in the London commuting belt where a few of us on here live - prices are increasing inexorably - driven by the budgets of those wishing to move (with their young family) out of London The £500,000 stamp duty step up applied some measure of restraint but that has gone now. So houses that were previously on at just under £500k (such as 3 bed 1950s semis!) are now on the market for >£500k. And of course as we are surrounded by green belt the opposition to new housing is significant.
I'm personally a Tory, for many of the reasons you outline above (aspiration), so this isn't necessarily aimed at the current govt, but all govts in the last 20 years.
As I stated, I am no economist and don't have the silver bullet, but still believe incentives can be offered to get things moving. Perhaps something even in combination with relief on inheritance tax of x% for downsizing to a 1/2 bed. I also don't buy that people want to leave their house to their kids - many of their kids will have their own houses and kids of their own - what they want is to leave the maximum capital to their kids. With an incentive to release much of that capital earlier through inheritance tax relief of some kind it may just give a few people a nudge, which could domino.
And of course, they should receive market rate. But this may control the unsustainable rise in prices in the area - the 3 bed semi I bought was worth 50k less 1 year beforehand, and a year later is worth 50k more, with absolutely no change to the area to influence this - where will this end!!
So I think we're getting closer to the same page
and apologies if my language also came across as harsher than it was intended. I'm just passionate that the govt should at least be trying something to change the situation for my generation, rather than being so terribly passive about the crisis!
Hacker Khan
Yurt Dwelling, Yoghurt Knitter
Oh stop bringing in weather related evidence into a discussion about why there has been a lot of flooding recently. It's the immigrants fault stupid. Or The Governments. Or Donald Trumps possibly, I've slightly lost track of the discussion to be honest.
ger147
Tour Winner
I know, it'll never catch on...
SwingsitlikeHogan
Major Champion
Yes it rained - it does in Glasgow - but it most certainly was the fact that our neighbours had both paved their driveways that made the flooding in our garden and under the house worse. Previously their drives were gravel and rainwater didn't flow down them and into our garden as it did recently.
ger147
Tour Winner
It rained in Glasgow more in December 2015 than it has in any of the previous 104 years since they started keeping records. That is the only fact I am aware of, the rest is merely speculation.
