Build 50k Houses in London Plus.....

kabayiri

Generali wrote: »

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People can like it or lump it but the fact is that the highly productive services industries of London and to a less extent the SE subsidises most of the UK north of a line you can draw from The Wash to The Bristol Channel.
...

Obviously, speaking on behalf of Northerners I like it. Who wouldn't like free money? (Well, I guess some Scots moan despite the free money but still...)

How many of these highly productive workers are commuting from outside London though? I've done it. I've sat on the motorways pretending to move along with hundreds of thousands of others every weekend.

Would commuters from the North and elsewhere get some kind of discount?

Generali

kabayiri wrote: »

Would commuters from the North and elsewhere get some kind of discount?

I think it would be perfectly reasonable for the brightest and best from the north to get a discount. London should remain open to immigrants from Derby and Hull and so on of course.

Whaddya reckon Martin? :money: See he agrees. London-centric media innit.

wotsthat

I'm living in an East Midlands hell hole earning a London wage. I was happy enough already but to find out Londoners are keeping my taxes down too - well I'm as happy as Larry.

I want to do something which the SNP, in a similar situation, find impossible to do and that's to say thanks Westminster and thanks to everyone in the SE.

I was down in London last week for a meeting. I'm feeling quite guilty I didn't give a little back by buying one of your crazily priced sandwiches or coffees. I was quite parched by the time I got home.

kabayiri

Generali wrote: »

I think it would be perfectly reasonable for the brightest and best from the north to get a discount. London should remain open to immigrants from Derby and Hull and so on of course.

Whaddya reckon Martin? :money: See he agrees. London-centric media innit.

So London gives the rest of us money; well paid jobs; tourism; and career opportunities.

And what do we give them in return?

Coronation Street.

Hmm

(Best keep this under wraps in case the compo lawyers get interested)

kabayiri

wotsthat wrote: »

...
I was down in London last week for a meeting. I'm feeling quite guilty I didn't give a little back by buying one of your crazily priced sandwiches or coffees. I was quite parched by the time I got home.

By not buying that overpriced sarnie and coffee you are reducing the demand for poorly paid staff in London.

These staff would be those struggling to find accommodation in London and then pay for accommodation without state assistance.

This reduces the state assistance bill, and reduces the demand on London rental property.

I wouldn't say you're guilty; more of a visionary - seeing a way to help London!

michaels

wotsthat wrote: »

I'm living in an East Midlands hell hole earning a London wage. I was happy enough already but to find out Londoners are keeping my taxes down too - well I'm as happy as Larry.

I want to do something which the SNP, in a similar situation, find impossible to do and that's to say thanks Westminster and thanks to everyone in the SE.

I was down in London last week for a meeting. I'm feeling quite guilty I didn't give a little back by buying one of your crazily priced sandwiches or coffees. I was quite parched by the time I got home.

Yes but you are left to fraternize with the shallower end of the gene pool; those with the gumption to better themselves have upsticks to London where the opportunities are, leaving behind those whose evolutionary niche is to survive off the benefits the wealth creators moral compass mandates them to provide....

wotsthat

michaels wrote: »

Yes but you are left to fraternize with the shallower end of the gene pool; those with the gumption to better themselves have upsticks to London where the opportunities are, leaving behind those whose evolutionary niche is to survive off the benefits the wealth creators moral compass mandates them to provide....

If that's the case, as someone with a rent seeking habit so deeply ingrained it's adjusted your genetic coding, I can only assume you live so far North that Santa is your next door neighbour.

Generali

wotsthat wrote: »

If that's the case, as someone with a rent seeking habit so deeply ingrained it's adjusted your genetic coding, I can only assume you live so far North that Santa is your next door neighbour.

Ooooh!

Ten letter thing.

kabayiri

Something puzzles me.

The article mentions "finance" as being an issue.

How can this be?

If you can't make profit from new build in London then where the heck can you make profit?

How many shops are under utilised in London, which could be turned back into residential units? That doesn't strike me as an expensive exercise.

Is it really just NIMBYism holding London housing development back?

Is it more important to have that Organic Tea bar on the high street, rather than another dwelling for workers earning moderate incomes?

cells

its interesting that he says the councils/HA have lots of housing stock that could be demolished and rebuilt at a higher density. This is already starting to happen but it is extremely expensive to do and can only work at current and even higher prices

To build on a greenfield site or brownfield is just the build cost. To demolish an estate is a lot more expensive and takes so much time.

You have to actually demolish whats already there (can run to £10k a property). You have to compensate owners beyond fair value usually 10% or more which means a £500k home you want to knock down needs a £50k plus compo bill. Then you have to spend twice as much on the build cost. Its all very expensive and takes a lot of time

The idea is not bad but its only possible with high and higher house prices. Its not a solution to ever increasing prices and rents its a way to entrench it but to allow more people in