Housing Crisis by Design

[DoorWasAJar]

Does anyone else think the housing ‘crisis’ is by design or AIBU? People die in the tens of thousands every year due to damp cold uninsulated housing they cannot afford to heat, what does the government expect to happen to them now, when the fuels prices are getting out of control? Why is it so hard for the government to do the most basic of things, people need proper shelter for God’s sake, not these vile new builds developers are vomiting in dribs and drabs while they hoard the development land. Then they use the guidelines for minimum room sizes as maximums. It just doesn’t seem reasonable to me that we’re not building at the proper rate we should be building at, to ensure the population have shelter.

Sorry for my incoherent rant, I’m just upset about this, many many children are growing up with a terrible quality of life due to this. We should be looking at countries where they’re getting right and learning from them. Off topic but Japan spend the same as the UK on healthcare but are 11 places ahead of us in quality of care.

www.dezeen.com/2016/09/30/phineas-harper-opinion-on-the-uk-housing-crisis-that-isnt-a-crisis/

OP, not sure what you mean ‘by design’. But the problem isn’t house prices per se - wait, hear me out. UK house price inflation has been meek compared with managing developed and emerging economies. The problem is that UK has a low wage economy, started by nu labour who, by design, created a welfare system that prompted low wages and subsidized low pay. At the same time we, along with other major economies have been printing money for about 15 years like it’s going out of fashion. Exacerbated by the Covid madness and the crazy lockdowns.

So, all in all, the housing crisis is a product of other decisions, mainly a purpose built low wage economy.

Agree about he healthcare point. Our healthcare system is broken, not because it’s underfunded, but because it’s not fit for purpose.

Our governments have been making short term decision for over 20 years now that have caused all these problems. Another example is relying on exported energy rather than building more nuclear and fracking capability, by caving into nimbys and blue haired time wasters who turn to protest but wouldn’t know a practical solution if it slapped them in the face. And now we have an entry crisis to add to the mix.

Japanese people tend to look after themselves and not eat junk like we do.

Also, the Tories want to build new houses because home owners tend to vote Tory, but all the NIMBYs keep threatening to vote Lib Dem as they don't want new housing anywhere near them.

The Japanese approach to planning, architecture and sense of place is different to ours here in the UK. They do high density, high quality (esp social housing) development really well but this does also result in some poor places and outcomes.

You seem angry at developers "vomiting up" new builds while also being upset about old, substandard housing. What do you want? What changes wohld improve the outcome? I think developers get a very bad wrap. They're private businesses that need to make profit. They (mostly) follow the planning policy set by national and local gov. If they build crap it's because planners, developers, politicians and the public at a local and National level spend too much time fighting about whether development should take place and there isn't any focus on what the development should look like in order to best meet everyone's needs.

@ILoveAllRainbowsx

Also, the Tories want to build new houses because home owners tend to vote Tory, but all the NIMBYs keep threatening to vote Lib Dem as they don't want new housing anywhere near them.

And Tory's and NIMBYs collide when development might happen near them (see Gove and Andrew Griffith campaigning against development being proposed on their patch)

And Tory's and NIMBYs collide when development might happen near them (see Gove and Andrew Griffith campaigning against development being proposed on their patch)

Yes, probably because if Gove didn't then he would lose his seat.

Most people want their children to be able to afford a house, but don't want more housing built anywhere near them.

I remember another thread where the OP was upset about housing being built near her and she said that it should be built on brownfield sites.

When I suggested that she could sell her house and buy one on a brownfield site, she didn't want to.

Quantitive Easing & low interest rates has inflated assets & devalued wages. We do have low productivity & not enough investment.

Not sure how it can improve, an ageing population & a crumbling nHS means we are likely to all get poorer. The new health tax is a drop in the ocean.

My pet hate is the term 'affordable housing', unless someone on minimum wage can afford to buy/ rent without state help it is NOT affordable.

Oh and the homeless crisis in this country is a national disgrace, there needs to be national scheme to requisition all empty, unused properties and a mass social housing build. It isn't lack of properties but lack of political will.

@Hyenaormeercat

My pet hate is the term 'affordable housing', unless someone on minimum wage can afford to buy/ rent without state help it is NOT affordable.

I’m having to move from Cornwall because I can’t afford a home on my minimum wage care job. I found an old little church for 35K and consider myself lucky but I’m leaving the mainland for this; going to a very isolated area on the Scottish islands, without ever having been there before. Hope it all works out, the survey said I’m better off tearing it down to start from scratch but I definitely can’t afford that. That’s more affordable housing for someone on minimum wage than the houses at £200K and upwards I see everywhere labeled as ‘affordable’.

To answer a PP, my problem with the new builds is the same as the old ones: poor quality, ridiculously small sizes, no storage, poor or no insulation, poor or no ventilation.

@Hyenaormeercat

Oh and the homeless crisis in this country is a national disgrace, there needs to be national scheme to requisition all empty, unused properties and a mass social housing build. It isn't lack of properties but lack of political will.

This too! I used to live in abandoned commercial property in my early 20s when I was an unemployed artist, otherwise I’d have been homeless.

OP I am in a big block of a new ish build
They are over insulated and I know this is very common among new builds.

I think the standards new builds have to pass make them very warm.

No storage, yes. But we are a horribly overpopulated world. Take it to a nationwide level and it's grim and getting worse.

@Hyenaormeercat Commercial property landlords can rent out their properties for a cheap rent in exchange for ‘live in guardians’, not sure whether you’re familiar with this? I remember camelot property and some other companies doing this. Not entirely sure how it’s legal, they must sign a waiver or count as employees or something... I remember having to pretend I didn’t live there when I was renting an artist studio in East London and council came to check on us. They wanted £10K from the owner of this old factory/warehouse to turn it officially residential but he didn’t/couldn’t pay.

I do think we have a price crisis by design. There was a great programme explaining how Blair wanted property to be that way but it has vanished from iplayer. Funny that.

@EmmaH2022 I’m glad your is insulated well, but what do you mean when you say it’s over-insulated? Is there no sufficient ventilation? That’s not good but it can be fixed by adding ventilation. Are your heating bills very low due to the high level of insulation?

Just found this article claiming that our natural uk population is dropping and by 2025 we will rely on migrants to fill the gap, as they did in Japan... I remember reading there’s a world wide fertility/birth rate shortfall, with the exception of Nigeria, IIRC.

www.ft.com/content/7a558711-c1b8-4a41-8e72-8470cbd117e5

‘The natural population of the UK will begin to decline by the middle of the decade, leaving the country dependent on migration to increase the working-age population, according to new data.

Falling birth rates and an ageing population mean more people will die than are born annually by 2025, marking a long-term reversal of a historic trend, projections released on Wednesday by the Office for National Statistics showed.’

@EmmaH2022

I do think we have a price crisis by design. There was a great programme explaining how Blair wanted property to be that way but it has vanished from iplayer. Funny that.

Ah that’s annoying, I’d love to watch it! Do you know what it was called? Was it video or a radio programme? Sorry I can’t remember if iplayer is just for video. I had to stop paying tv license since not having a tv anymore so I haven’t been on it in ages ☹️

If you drive on any motorway in this country, all you do is pass by miles and miles of fields. We have plenty of land but it seems planning developers want to destroy what is left in already over populated towns and cities by cramming in flats and tiny homes.

It's not the new builds that are the cold houses.

No, it's not by design, but it has been mishandled, and not really been given the proper priority it needs, for far too long. 18 Housing Ministers in the last 17 years, or something along those lines, it's not a sexy job in political terms unfortunately.

This report has just been published - it's a chewy read but you can flick through and get the idea.

I work in this area and I do talk to MPs and I know that they are genuinely concerned about the chronic shortage of truly affordable and social rented accommodation. Many of them are feeling quite positive about the new initiative underway from Michael Gove, even though a couple have said they are not big fans of him personally, they do believe that he has a chance of really getting things moving.

If you read the report it focuses on finding solutions to provide enough really affordable homes.

Report

You talk about damp, uninsulated housing and then talk about new builds. New builds are dry & insulated but they are small, making them less expensive to heat. Larger houses cost more to heat.

But home owners (and landlords) must take some responsibility for the poor condition of some of Britain's housing. People buy houses and don't budget for ongoing maintenance or learn how to maintain them. Then when something goes wrong they either ignore it, move or bodge it.

To answer a PP, my problem with the new builds is the same as the old ones: poor quality, ridiculously small sizes, no storage, poor or no insulation, poor or no ventilation.

Can you post a link to a new build property that fits this description of poor build quality, no insulation and no ventilation? I’ve just had a look at some new builds online in Cornwall and they look absolutely fine!

'65% of elderly Japanese live with family, the Japanese benefits system is very strict, anything seen as a luxury has to be sold before you can access government aid' stopped reading after this....wouldn't work here in the UK if you had to sell your flat screen TV before you could claim UC, don't think Japan do care in the community for pensioners either. There health system might be better on paper but you really need to be a patient there before saying its perfect. Every country has its problems imo, funny how you never hear about refugees fleeing to Japan though!

It is by design but not in the way you mean

Housing prices are being kept high because too many mps (all parties) and/or their family members are landlords and property developers etc and it benefits them to have housing prices high and little social housing available

The current housing minister is a landlord who voted AGAINST A motion to make housing fit for human habitation legally defined

@sst1234 you make excellent points the one I would dispute is the short term poor decision making has been for at least 40 years mainly as we haven't had a left wing govt in that time - and I agree new labour don't count!

They're private businesses that need to make profit. They (mostly) follow the planning policy set by national and local gov.

See my original point! They are far too closely linked for my liking

My pet hate is the term 'affordable housing', unless someone on minimum wage can afford to buy/ rent without state help it is NOT affordable.

Totally agree

It isn't lack of properties but lack of political will.

Exactly

@TonTonMacoute how can you work in this area, inc talking to mps and NOT know/be aware of the huge and accepted conflicts of interest there?

Does that report (I'm not wading through it right now!) include higher nmw, building actually affordable homes and plenty of good quality social housing? Refurbishing unused properties?

There needs to be a cap on how many houses one person owns. Nobody needs 10 houses.