Britain is living through the best time ever

ukcarper

lessonlearned wrote: »

UK Carper - I too was brought up in substandard housing.

Spent the first 4 years of my life living in one room with my parents, till they managed to get something better.

As for the little boy I guess you'll never know what happened to him.

But little boys and girls born into such circumstances can sometimes do well in the end, despite their shaky starts.

i am under no,illusion that life is tough for many people, through no fault of their own.

How to cure it..... I have no idea. We justbhave to do what we can with what we've got.

I just happen to think that if I wasand now going to be poor or sick then I would rather be poor and sick here in the UK.

My future DIL comes from Venezuela. Her country is in a shocking state and she worries about her family's safety.

Without getting all preachy I genuinely think things really could be a lot worse and that we are truly blessed here. I really have nothing else useful to add so I shall now take my leave.

I don't think anybody is disputing that this is a very good place to be born.

It's true that people from poor under privileged backgrounds do well but you must admit you stand a much better change if you aren't. I personally think that your parents and friends have a very big influence on how you behave and that starts to happening long before you go to school and has a detrimental effect on the rest of your life. How to solve the problem is extremely difficult but it would have been easier to address the problem in the 80s when it started to take root.

JencParker

CLAPTON wrote: »

if higher prices have 'remained' then that means that people are buying them
i.e. that the houses are being afforded.

By overseas investors or RTB landlords and the few that are earning enough.

Generali

Without bothering with Google I would bet my bottom dollar that the UK is in the top decile (i.e. top 25 countries in the world) in terms of:

- GDP per head
- Life expectancy at birth
- Maternal life expectancy
- Infant extantcy (proportion of babies born alive that live beyond the age of 5)
- Size of industrial sector
- Size of tertiary sector
- Literacy
- Numeracy
- Proportion of under 30s with degrees
- Patents
- Nobel prizes per capita (or perhaps even absolutely)

If you can get over the crappy weather and the propensity of the populace to moan and moan and moan then the UK is an okay place to live. As long as you don't live in one of those Northern Hell Holes that drag the place down.

JencParker

lessonlearned wrote: »

Its true if you not earning then are you not going to be able to get a mortgage. But then that was always the case.

But, obviously depending on where you live and how affordable property is in thAt area, then RTB can be a means to help give people stability and increase prosperity.

Sorry to use my son as an example again.

He earns just over the minimum wage, around £13k' clearing just under £1k a month. His mortgage payment is £267. It is tight but doable. He would not be able to live in his house if he was paying the market rent if £550 - not without government help in the form of HB or WTC.

As it is he is standing on his own two feet, paying his way without any help from benefits. He is managing to save a little and has started a pension fund. He has security of tenure and stability. He has taken out insurance to cover him in the event of sickness or redundancy.

He is beginning to prosper.

Property ownership confers stability and security which in turn leads to increased prosperity. For those that cannot raise a deposit RTB can be the stepping stone they need.

Stability and security is also found in social housing - it is private renting where that is lacking and as social housing is being sold off, and now housing association properties are going to be sold off, that leaves private renting as the only option for most, regardless of income.

ukcarper

Generali wrote: »

Without bothering with Google I would bet my bottom dollar that the UK is in the top decile (i.e. top 25 countries in the world) in terms of:

- GDP per head
- Life expectancy at birth
- Maternal life expectancy
- Infant extantcy (proportion of babies born alive that live beyond the age of 5)
- Size of industrial sector
- Size of tertiary sector
- Literacy
- Numeracy
- Proportion of under 30s with degrees
- Patents
- Nobel prizes per capita (or perhaps even absolutely)

If you can get over the crappy weather and the propensity of the populace to moan and moan and moan then the UK is an okay place to live. As long as you don't live in one of those Northern Hell Holes that drag the place down.

Is anybody disputing that. You don't have to go north to find all the Hell holes.

Generali

ukcarper wrote: »

Is anybody disputing that. You don't have to go north to find all the Hell holes.

I agree. I've been to Slough and Hastings and some hideous bits of North Kent too. Romford is whatever it is the kids say these days that is the opposite of 'awesome'.

It's just that Hell Holes are easier to find up North.

ukcarper

Generali wrote: »

I agree. I've been to Slough and Hastings and some hideous bits of North Kent too. Romford is whatever it is the kids say these days that is the opposite of 'awesome'.

It's just that Hell Holes are easier to find up North.

The local Tory council is making a good job of turning my local once reasonable if not good town into a dump. This in in an area where it is surrounded by very nice towns. Still it's keeping prices down a little and although it's my nearest town I'm fortunate enough to be in the borough of one of the nice towns.

lessonlearned

ukcarper wrote: »

I don't think anybody is disputing that this is a very good place to be born.

It's true that people from poor under privileged backgrounds do well but you must admit you stand a much better change if you aren't. I personally think that your parents and friends have a very big influence on how you behave and that starts to happening long before you go to school and has a detrimental effect on the rest of your life. How to solve the problem is extremely difficult but it would have been easier to address the problem in the 80s when it started to take root.

Of course people stand a better chance if they have a support network.

I'm not sure that we have declined so very much since the 80s. Was it all really roses before then.

i just remeber the austerity years if the 50s and they were quite grim. My childhood was quite Spartan, better than some of my contemporaries though. And of course my parent lived through the 30s and the war years - not exactly a picnic.

I can remember my English grandmothers house as being little better than a novel, no NHS so she acted as the local midwife (no qualifications) delivering babies, laying out the dead etc She was a keen gardener and something of an amatueur herbslist and made all their home grown medicines and potions, like many women of her generation.

A doctors visit was £5 - more than a weeks wages.......

I think we do have it better now. I am sure that advances will be made and that our lives will continue to improve in many areas. The advances in medicine, science and technology will be astonishing.

The disease which struck down my husband at the age of 49, which eventually paralysed him and which killed him at the age of 57 will become curable in the fullness of time.

It might not be a straighforward upward trajectory, there will probably twists and turns and set backs.

We could of course have some major catastrophe befall us - a weather event, a plague, a war - whatever. But that's for another thread......

ukcarper

lessonlearned wrote: »

Of course people stand a better chance if they have a support network.

I'm not sure that we have declined so very much since the 80s. Was it all really roses before then.

i just remeber the austerity years if the 50s and they were quite grim. My childhood was quite Spartan, better than some of my contemporaries though. And of course my parent lived through the 30s and the war years - not exactly a picnic.

I can remember my English grandmothers house as being little better than a novel, no NHS so she acted as the local midwife (no qualifications) delivering babies, laying out the dead etc She was a keen gardener and something of an amatueur herbslist and made all their home grown medicines and potions, like many women of her generation.

A doctors visit was £5 - more than a weeks wages.......

I think we do have it better now. I am sure that advances will be made and that our lives will continue to improve in many areas. The advances in medicine, science and technology will be astonishing.

The disease which struck down my husband at the age of 49, which eventually paralysed him and which killed him at the age of 57 will become curable in the fullness of time.

It might not be a straighforward upward trajectory, there will probably twists and turns and set backs.

We could of course have some major catastrophe befall us - a weather event, a plague, a war - whatever. But that's for another thread......

I don't think we declined as a hole but I believe parts have it's not about the conditions people are living in but attitudes.

lessonlearned

JencParker wrote: »

Stability and security is also found in social housing - it is private renting where that is lacking and as social housing is being sold off, and now housing association properties are going to be sold off, that leaves private renting as the only option for most, regardless of income.

True...... Good social housing is vital but I can't see any government of any Colour showing much enthusiasm.

what is needed is another council house building programme similar to that undertaken in post war years but I can't see it happening any time soon.

I agree RTB is probably just tinkering at the edges but I suppose its better than nothing.

Don't know if anyone has been watching the £100k house. Very interesting. More help for self builds might also be a way forward.