MSE News: Ed Balls: 4G mobile sale should fund housing boost

D.A.

The 3G auction was such a mess, with Labour and Ofcom allowing the mobile companies to spend so much on the licences that they ended up with no money left to spend building their networks, hence why it's almost impossible to get 3G coverage outside towns and cities.

Here's a radical idea Ed - the government keeps control of the spectrum, but *leases* it to the mobile operators for a *sensible* price. Therefore, the government has a continuous income stream and the operators have enough money left to actually build out a decent 4G network.

Our politicians really are exceptionally thick...

Butterfly_Brain

jjlandlord wrote: »

Ultimately, I think that everyone wanting to live in a house with his own little garden is unsustainable.
It is less efficient in every way: space, heating, transport, public transport, etc.

We should start to build good quality, attractive flats, in small buildings as you can see all over the place on the continent, and convince people to live there, including families.

Yeah so that landlords can rob them blind with their extortionate upkeep fees, and where pray tell are children supposed to play?
I watched one of these Stalag's being built in my town, the walls are built using OSB board, which were thrown up in a couple of weeks :eek: and they are ugly.

propertyman

Pincher wrote: »

Sian Williams wouldn't go, smart AND cute. :T

She is a most dreadful woman- I could not bear to watch the BBC breakfast, she espouts her centre left views and contempt in interviews without any real understanding of poverty or the function of markets.

While being paid very well and living in "spendid isolation".

London is a media hub and the centre of politics, it was daft not to keep a studio for the main news and all the support and research in Salford - they have satellites. Just another example of the disconnect with how trhew world works.

And so the celebs can go on other channels, there are enough of them rather than us having to pay for it, why does the BBC have to compete?

propertyman

jjlandlord wrote: »

We should start to build good quality, attractive flats, in small buildings as you can see all over the place on the continent, and convince people to live there, including families.

Sadly it's quite clear that the Britsh psyche is disinclined to do so as everyone since the LCC found out when they started that in the 50's.

For those flats that do exist, living in them can be terrible for many when they are blighted with the few that can't live with respect for others.

What we need to start doing is building quarries to throw the pond life into.

Then living in flats might be palatable to a lot more!

jjlandlord

Butterfly_Brain wrote: »

Yeah so that landlords can rob them blind with their extortionate upkeep fees, and where pray tell are children supposed to play?
I watched one of these Stalag's being built in my town, the walls are built using OSB board, which were thrown up in a couple of weeks :eek: and they are ugly.

I believe I said good quality, attractive flats, as opposed to the current standard.
Where do children play in the microscopic gardens of new built houses?

The good thing about a nice little buildings for flats is that you free up land space to have a communal garden.

buglawton

Agreed, a lovely flat near large green spaces and tube stop IN BERLIN costs a quarter to a third of the London price.

Amber_Sunshine

Balls sums this idea up perfectly ...

propertyman

buglawton wrote: »

Agreed, a lovely flat near large green spaces and tube stop IN BERLIN costs a quarter to a third of the London price.

Largely because we , with a lot of help, levelled most of it so that 60 odd years ago they were able to start over with the planning and wider distribution of people and workplaces.

Unlike our Victorian cramped cities and Victorian infrastructure, which was experiencing gridlock in the 1900's, let alone 2000!