The British Obcession with house prices has ruined the economy

[Readabook1]

Most people in mainland Europe including the richer Swiss rent often buying later with 3 generations in the family home. Protected tenancies of 5 years upwards are common. In Germany the average family who rents has much more
free money to spend on goods and services -this means more money circulating in the economy (this is less so in the larger cities which have similar problems to us)
In GB families who lose their homes due to redundancy etc are often rehoused at public expense in private housing at 2-3 times the rent of social housing What a waste of money.
All political parties have continued to shelve the problem so they do not lose votes
As there is a shortage of affordable housing lower paid cannot get housing
and the only ones taking the jobs come from abroad and we complain.
We have a lot to learn from the EU actually but we missed the boat

[ThroughThickAndThin01]

But that doesn't make sense. If a family of three generations buy, then that makes a younger generation a house buyer rather than a house renter.

[cruikshank]

I agree that housing is one of the most pressing issues in the UK today. And while there is an obsession with house prices there are other root causes to it - 1) a stagnant economy based on service sector that is essentially low-waged and casualised meaning that house prices are the only growth area and this was jumped on as a sign of success; 2) the move from public sector renting to private sector largely unregulated rental provision causing insecurity which means the only way to have a long-term home is to buy one and lack of rent controls leading to the situation we are in now where NINE BILLION POUNDS in Housing Benefit every year goes to private landlords in order that they can pay their hyper-inflated mortgages using hyper-inflated rent monies that clearly the tenants can not afford (which is why they are claiming HB).

[ThroughThickAndThin01]

It's not a recent phenomenon though. 'an Englishmans home is a castle' and all that is around c17th century. It's not a housing issue of today, it's alway been the case.

[cruikshank]

Actually, it's only in the 2nd half of the 20th century that there was a boom in home ownership, peaking during the 80s and having another little flourish during the 90s after the crash, and that is decreasing now to around 1971 levels as we once again become a rentier economy just as we were before. Only now tenants have fewer rights than they did in the 50s/60s so of course people are more desperate to buy. But can't, because the average house is 8x the average wage!

[GhostofFrankGrimes]

The genius of Thatcher.

Sell off council houses and don't replace them. Win working class votes and tell everyone they have been "liberated" (by taking a mortgage) and are "investing" in the home owning democracy. It was short termism at its finest.

Today we have a shortage of council houses, assured short hold tenancies that are utterly useless for tenants and BTL landlords because apparently we don't have "homes" anymore we have speculation, investments and property.

It is an utter disaster.

[cruikshank]

Agreed. Especially about the "home owning democracy" - 40% of ex-council houses are owned by BTL landlords. All that she and her successors achieved was to move the tenants of those houses from the public sector, where the rent receipts when into the public coffers in pretty much perpetuity, to the private sector - where not only do rent receipts go to private landlords but we actually give them public money in the form of Housing Benefit at a rate, as I said, of £9 billion a year and rising. Even before you start looking at the societal effects of all that, in economic terms it is as you say a disaster.

[Readabook1]

ThroughThick&Thin 01 The scenario I gave is by no true of everyone: like here
people increasingly have to move from their families for work and if they move to a large city it is expensive especially if single person
Yes I suppose the grandchildren do eventually own the family home provided they stay in that area. In the meantime by the time they willhave had none of the hassle
we have with uncertainty. market going up and down etc I am not saying people
should not be homeowners but money is being wasted Money we need for other things.
Then of course there is the social care bill reduced if the elderly people are looked after by family.
finally they have decent pensions Succesive British governments have allowed
firms to close down their final pension schemes. With smaller firms this may
have helped but the larger firms had enough to keep these schemes at least
until the last decade or so Consequently some people thought buy to let was their
only option for a pension but everyone seems to have forgotten the additional
pension (not sure of name) over and above the basic pension So people were
encouraged to take out private pensions but look at the crap returns.
I think the original plan was to move debt away from Government whichis a good idea but the way it has been done was catastrophic
Both main parties have failed on housing Tories lets see you building more private housing so we can all buy Labour lets see more social housing!!!!

[RortyCrankle]

Hmm I'm not sure - when I bought my first flat it took every penny I had to pay the mortgage, especially with the high interest rates which went up to 15% at one point. Initially I slept in my living room and rented out my bedroom to make some extra money.

Now I'm retired and the mortgage is paid off, I feel secure knowing that if I have to go into a nursing home or similar, i can sell my current place and with money comes choice. I would not want to be at the mercy of my local council putting me in a cheap, cabbage smelling hell hole of a home. Unless, of course, I had dementia which would see me flying to Gravitas at the first sign.

[concertplayer]

The care system does not work like that. The fees "private" clients
pay are benchmarked somehow against what the Council pays.
The best thing to do for elderly care is have your relatives care for you
and you keep the money in the family Remember care homes are
mostly owned by profit making owners.
Otherwise go somewhere which has a lower percentage of elderly
so you will not be competing for care with others