BBC blog - Politician says lowering prices is "politcal suicide"

Turnbull2000

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markeaston/2010/04/do_you_want_house_prices_to_ri.html

Increasing supply of cheaper properties, introducing measures to help first-time buyers, expanding the social housing sector - these ideas would, to a greater or lesser extent, reduce demand and bring average prices down closer to incomes. But the politicians won't put it like that because, as one of them put it to me, "that would be political suicide".

FATBALLZ

The fact that making house prices more reasonable is 'political suicide' just goes to show how much the homeowning generation gives a crap about their descendants.

carolt

It would be nothing of the kind.

It just goes to show how out of touch politicians are with their constituents.

What they mean is 'it would make me and my mates down the golf club poorer'. They have absolutely no idea of the wishes of ordinary people - this is just one of many examples...

Wookster

At least Vince Cable says he thinks house prices are still over valued and that is "worrying."

(from the Chancellor's debate).

FATBALLZ

Wookster wrote: »

At least Vince Cable says he thinks house prices are still over valued and that is "worrying."

(from the Chancellor's debate).

Did he say that? I remember one girl asking about what are they going to do to ensure that when people like her graduate they can get jobs and buy houses. All 3 chancellors explained at length about the job situation and ignored the housing bit.

FATBALLZ

carolt wrote: »

It would be nothing of the kind.

It just goes to show how out of touch politicians are with their constituents.

What they mean is 'it would make me and my mates down the golf club poorer'. They have absolutely no idea of the wishes of ordinary people - this is just one of many examples...

I'd like that to be true, but I don't think it is. From personal experience the vast majority of people I have worked with over the years all preferred high prices and didn't take too kindly to anyone suggesting prices might fall at some point.

chucky

FATBALLZ wrote: »

The fact that making house prices more reasonable is 'political suicide' just goes to show how much the homeowning generation gives a crap about their descendants.

the majority of property is owner occupied - nearly 70%

if the majority is owner occupied why would politicians do something to antagonise the majority of the electorate to gain the vote of a minortity (non-home owners).

why is this 'political suicide' comment a surprise?

Emy1501

FATBALLZ wrote: »

Did he say that? I remember one girl asking about what are they going to do to ensure that when people like her graduate they can get jobs and buy houses. All 3 chancellors explained at length about the job situation and ignored the housing bit.

Vince Cable has been saying prices are too high since 2004 when he raised it with Gordon Brown. Ken Clarke on Question time a couple of weeks ago said personal debt and House Prices were too high and Merveyn King said it back in 2005.

The reality is of course that as most people own the belief is rising house prices are a good thing especially as a fair few are relying on them for a pension. Of course as more and more young people struggle to get on the market and once we reach the stage where ownership is only about 50% then I suspect our government will start to change their tune.

twadge_face

Credit where it's due: I think that's a pretty fair article about the sorry state of things.

Haha, credit in a credit crunch. Geddit?

chucky

Emy1501 wrote: »

Of course as more and more young people struggle to get on the market and once we reach the stage where ownership is only about 50% then I suspect our government will start to change their tune.

that sums it up basically and not too far from the truth.

it probably won't be happening for a generation at least though.

Kohoutek

Labour's deliberate open door immigration policies must have contributed massively to the shortages of affordable and social housing - from 1990 to 2000 the UK's population grew by 1.3 million, from 2000 to 2010 it grew by 4.5 million. I'm not sure what the figures on new house building are between those periods, but it seems likely they didn't catch up with the population increase.