Debate House Prices


In order to help keep the Forum a useful, safe and friendly place for our users, discussions around non MoneySaving matters are no longer permitted. This includes wider debates about general house prices, the economy and politics. As a result, we have taken the decision to keep this board permanently closed, but it remains viewable for users who may find some useful information in it. Thank you for your understanding.
We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum. This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are - or become - political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

Cons Mistake On Bedroom Tax - Not Enough Small Houses Anyway

The Cons biggest mistake on Bedroom Tax was not to do an audit of some sort before inventing the policy - they seem to rush things without thinking them through. Now they have done a climb down on some families and the disabled, maybe they will have time and a chance to actually see how many 1 or 2 bedroomed flats/starter homes there are - and maybe even kickstart the economy by building a few more - all those construction workers standing around idle with no infrastructure to work on . this is just silly!
«134

Comments

  • Generali
    Generali Posts: 36,411 Forumite
    First Post Combo Breaker
    Bricklayers can't build roads. The skills aren't transferable. They probably aren't very good at auditing the British housing stock either.
  • robmatic
    robmatic Posts: 1,217 Forumite
    The Cons biggest mistake on Bedroom Tax was not to do an audit of some sort before inventing the policy - they seem to rush things without thinking them through. Now they have done a climb down on some families and the disabled, maybe they will have time and a chance to actually see how many 1 or 2 bedroomed flats/starter homes there are - and maybe even kickstart the economy by building a few more - all those construction workers standing around idle with no infrastructure to work on . this is just silly!

    Maybe these people could look at houseshares, like young waged people and students have to.
  • Wookster
    Wookster Posts: 3,795 Forumite
    Labour's mistake: spending money like it was going out of fashion... oh and not building enough houses.
  • grizzly1911
    grizzly1911 Posts: 9,965 Forumite
    Wookster wrote: »
    Labour's mistake: spending money like it was going out of fashion... oh and not building enough houses.


    Perhaps it wouldn't have been so bad if they hadn't all been sold at knock down prices.
    "If you act like an illiterate man, your learning will never stop... Being uneducated, you have no fear of the future.".....

    "big business is parasitic, like a mosquito, whereas I prefer the lighter touch, like that of a butterfly. "A butterfly can suck honey from the flower without damaging it," "Arunachalam Muruganantham
  • System
    System Posts: 178,145 Community Admin
    Name Dropper First Post Photogenic
    Wookster wrote: »
    Labour's mistake: spending money like it was going out of fashion... oh and not building enough houses.

    You're rapidly becoming the mirror image of DLW. A blue version.
  • michaels
    michaels Posts: 28,367 Forumite
    First Post Name Dropper First Anniversary Photogenic
    Perhaps it wouldn't have been so bad if they hadn't all been sold at knock down prices.


    Ah - so they were sold at knock down prices and then actually knocked down? If not I presume they are actually still in existance and have people living in them and thus have nothing to do with whether or not we have enough houses now?
    I think....
  • grizzly1911
    grizzly1911 Posts: 9,965 Forumite
    michaels wrote: »
    Ah - so they were sold at knock down prices and then actually knocked down? If not I presume they are actually still in existance and have people living in them and thus have nothing to do with whether or not we have enough houses now?

    If those properties had been maintained as a social housing stock those prepared to buy would have needed to look elsewhere creating demand.

    We wouldn't be spending so much money on HB to line private landlords pockets.

    It would of course been beneficial if those sale proceeds had been reinvested in housing stock.

    Sell assets at undervalue and then effectively pay rent (HB) to private landlords doesn't seem like a very good strategy to me.

    Appreciate it helped shore up the economy for a few years and transferred some of the debt burden to the private sector.
    "If you act like an illiterate man, your learning will never stop... Being uneducated, you have no fear of the future.".....

    "big business is parasitic, like a mosquito, whereas I prefer the lighter touch, like that of a butterfly. "A butterfly can suck honey from the flower without damaging it," "Arunachalam Muruganantham
  • ukcarper
    ukcarper Posts: 17,337 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Name Dropper
    michaels wrote: »
    Ah - so they were sold at knock down prices and then actually knocked down? If not I presume they are actually still in existance and have people living in them and thus have nothing to do with whether or not we have enough houses now?

    As the policy only applies to social housing we do have fewer houses.

    I think the figure is that 30% of ex council houses are BTL meaning that the housing benefit paid on is a lot higher than if they had not been sold.
  • MacGirl80
    MacGirl80 Posts: 23 Forumite
    Most of the people making the rules are so far removed from reality that it is scary.
  • CLAPTON
    CLAPTON Posts: 41,865 Forumite
    First Post Combo Breaker
    Very interesting.

    I didn't know we had a surplus of 3 and 4 bed properties and a shortage of 1 and 2 bed places.

    Encouraging really, as we can correct this situation a lot more cheaply than if the opposite had been the case.
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 345.7K Banking & Borrowing
  • 251K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 450.9K Spending & Discounts
  • 237.7K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 612.5K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 174.3K Life & Family
  • 250.8K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.