Largest housing rally ever across the UK

Graham_Devon

The largest housing rally ever to happen in the UK took place today.

The National Housing Federation headed up the rally which took place predominantly in London, but most cities showed support.

Difficult to find a mention of it on the BBC website but other places seem to be covering it.

Thousands of people have gathered in Westminster at the largest rally yet to protest against the housing crisis.

The “Homes for Britain” event has received cross-party support with speakers ranging from leftwing film director Ken Loach to the Ukip leader, Nigel Farage.

Frontbench spokespeople from the Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats and Greens are also addressing today’s event – the largest protest yet at successive governments’ failure to address the shortage of affordable housing in the UK

“This is a country where people are homeless while mansions and penthouses stand empty,” she said. “The property market has become a giant casino where a generation of young people grow up without a hope whatsoever of getting a council house or buying their own home.”

Seems things are starting to happen. Just a shame it can probably be ignored for another 10-15 years yet before the pressure becomes too much.
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/17/london-housing-rally-protesters-gather-at-homes-for-britain-event

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

From the article....

the nation needs at least 243,000 homes a year to keep up with the number of new households being formed but over the last decade only an average of 137,000 homes a year have been built.

Better build some more houses then.....

Lets see what else....

before the credit crunch building was failing to keep up with growing demand, but since then the gap has become bigger.

Gosh....

So years of restricted lending has dramatically worsened the housing shortage.

Well blow me down with a feather.... Who could possibly have seen that coming?

How bad is the shortage now then?

Gavin Smart, interim chief executive at the Chartered Institute of Housing. - “In 2014, we built less than half the number of new homes we need to keep up with our growing population and help the millions of people who are being priced out of a decent home.”

Henry Gregg of the National Housing Federation, described the figures as “a damning indictment of our failure to tackle the housing crisis”.

He said: “With building numbers below half what is needed, we’re creating a housing shortage that will be felt for generations to come. Every year the country fails to build enough homes is another year that aspiring homeowners are priced out, young people are trapped in childhood bedrooms and families struggle with high rents.”

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/feb/19/new-build-houses-falls-short-despite-small-increase

Ouch...

Year after year after year of building less than half the numbers needed to keep up with growing population.

Sounds like very bad news indeed for anyone daft enough to think high prices aren't directly caused by the chronic housing shortage in the UK.

Still, never mind, maybe all this mortgage rationing will cause builders to flood the market and slow down HPI.....

The decline in construction in January accelerated a slowdown in activity seen last year, dashing the hopes of ministers keen to show that the government’s housing policies are generating development across the UK.

Construction industry output in January was down 2.6% on the previous month, dragged down by the decrease in housebuilding, the Office for National Statistics said.

A sharp fall in the number of mortgage approvals, especially for first-time buyers, was blamed for the decline, as homebuyers found themselves constrained by more stringent lending rules.

Housebuilders, wary of creating a surplus of homes and triggering a price fall, have halted some developments until the economic picture becomes clearer.

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/mar/13/decline-uk-housebuilding-drop-off-construction-ons-output-mortgage-approvals

Oh dear....

Better get lending back to safe, prudent, and historically normal levels then, where a 5% deposit and a decent (but not necessarily perfect) credit record was enough to get a mortgage at non-punitive rates above base.

michaels

You have it all wrong houses, it is not that we aren't building enough houses, it is that we are not letting enough people die, I blame the NHS

Graham_Devon

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Gosh....

Well blow me down with a feather....

Ouch...

Oh dear....

It's alright crowing on about lending, and pretending that if you press a magic button, everything will be OK again.

But the problem with that is that you miss the key reason of why lending was reduced in the very first place.

One of the most prominent reasons for the crash (and therefore, reduced lending) was that financiers believed they had eliminated risk. They hadn't. They had simply forgotten how to carry out risk assessments. The downfall of Lehmans Brothers caused a nigh on worldwide catastrophy.

To pretend therefore that if we only press a magic lending button again and ignore risk assesments and all problems are solved is somehwat naive (to put it politely).

Another downfall you display is the inability to think outside of the box. It's clear you think there is only one fix.... More and more, ever increasing lending. But there are other tools in the box. If you listen to what those who took part in this rally are saying, they are saying build council houses like we did post WW2. That doesn't require everyone to drown themselves in personal debts to help deliver a solution to the problems we currently face.

CLAPTON

Graham_Devon wrote: »

It's alright crowing on about lending, and pretending that if you press a magic button, everything will be OK again.

But the problem with that is that you miss the key reason of why lending was reduced in the very first place.

One of the most prominent reasons for the crash (and therefore, reduced lending) was that financiers believed they had eliminated risk. They hadn't. They had simply forgotten how to carry out risk assessments. The downfall of Lehmans Brothers caused a nigh on worldwide catastrophy.

To pretend therefore that if we only press a magic lending button again and ignore risk assesments and all problems are solved is somehwat naive (to put it politely).

Another downfall you display is the inability to think outside of the box. It's clear you think there is only one fix.... More and more, ever increasing lending. But there are other tools in the box. If you listen to what those who took part in this rally are saying, they are saying build council houses like we did post WW2. That doesn't require everyone to drown themselves in personal debts to help deliver a solution to the problems we currently face.

presumably council housing could be achieved without borrowing : just steal the land, requisition the materials and pay cheap EU labour

win win for some of the people

Graham_Devon

CLAPTON wrote: »

presumably council housing could be achieved without borrowing : just steal the land, requisition the materials and pay cheap EU labour

win win for some of the people

Making stupid points simply because you don't like the idea doesn't make for a good argument against the idea.

Clearly the government can borrow over long terms a very low rates at the moment.

Secondly, they are already hemmorhaging around £26bn a year on housing benefits. So much of that money could be directed into stock we own, instead of renting the stock from landlords.

CLAPTON

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Making stupid points simply because you don't like the idea doesn't make for a good argument against the idea.

Clearly the government can borrow over long terms a very low rates at the moment.

Secondly, they are already hemmorhaging around £26bn a year on housing benefits. So much of that money could be directed into stock we own, instead of renting the stock from landlords.

mortgage rates are very low at the moment, the problem is that the government has instructed the banks not to lend except to the very best 'risks'.

if you are suggesting the government buys land at the standard rate then the extra demand will cause land price to rocket.

a mad policy

Loughton_Monkey

Graham_Devon wrote: »

.........they are saying build council houses like we did post WW2. That doesn't require everyone to drown themselves in personal debts to help deliver a solution to the problems we currently face.

"everyone"?

Build 150,000 private houses and there are 150,000 extra people 'drowning in debt' [as you lovingly put it].

Build 150,000 council houses and... er... then it is everyone, because we are all taxpayers and it's our money.

Don't tell me, your beloved Labour party would pay for this by a 'property' tax? How many property taxes are they having?

[Deleted User]

C4 NEWS covered the subject tonight with an interview with john redwood(urghhh)and ken loach,redwood didn't come out of it well

CLAPTON

woodbine wrote: »

C4 NEWS covered the subject tonight with an interview with john redwood(urghhh)and ken loach,redwood didn't come out of it well

one might think that some matters of policy would be more important than whether you liked some-one

shortchanged_2

Hamish, was the UK building enough houses when the banks were dishing out IO mortgages like sweets,125% mortgages and liar loans?