The housing crisis

[MotherOfRatios]

Incoming rant, interested to hear what others think the solution is.

I'm mid 20s and I work in public affairs so not earning lots mid £30sk
My job is really focused in London and I do check the civil service website as I'm aware that there is jobs opening up in the north but I haven't found any that I like. Also many jobs continue to be in London for my type of work and no I don't wish to change sector. I love my job and the sector that I work in.

As one thing I see in regards to the housing crisis is change jobs/change where you live. So the above is the caveat that.

Renting is becoming more unaffordable. The average price of a room in London is about £1000. That is also a room, not a flat. (See article below) yes you could move further out, but I am in a job that requires me to be in the office four days a week for my organisation, and I have calculated the cost from commuting towns and it isn't any cheaper, plus I still enjoy a night out with my friends and as a woman I wouldn't feel safe getting an Uber back too my town because trains often don't run at 3am in the morning.

https://www.standard.co.uk/homesandproperty/renting/revealed-the-explosion-of-the-ps1-000-room-as-swathes-of-london-become-unaffordable-to-renters-b1072776.html

Some might say well buy a house or buy a flat, but I come from a black working-class family and I don't have the money for a deposit and rent takes up most of my earnings therefore I can't save for a deposit. Plus I've read various negative things about the shared ownership scheme, so even that is an option.

My tenancy on my current flat with my flatmates is coming up soon, and my landlord Landlord wants to raise it by a large amount, we have been looking at new flats, and the current prices are just so unaffordable.

Obviously they should build more social housing, but we have a problem in this country of wage stagnation combined with high house prices.

Does anyone else just wish the government would actually focus on the housing crisis? I have been thinking about low-paid workers in London and how if they can't afford to rent in London does that mean we'll see a mass exodus of waitresses and baristas? Then what happens to the economy? It really irritates me how the government don't take this seriously.

Doesn't the king technically own all the land in the country anyway? Fucker.

But yeah take a few of his estates off him. There's a whole bunch of other people that have got land off the back of him too and all they do with it is shoot deer etc. Have a bit of that as well.

But also like a pp suggested there are bits of public assets that get sold off all the time. Old nurses' accommodation, old municipal offices etc. Often these are in central urban locations. Instead of handing them over to some developer that has got a councillor in his back pocket, make them into affordable homes.

The policy has been to sell social housing sometimes at 70% discount. Defines economics.
Once built social housing will be sold at huge discounts so the problem continues.

@Incognitopah yes, my fantasy regime would certainly tax fantasists.

Yes! Government floods the demand side instead of the supply side. Then impose outrageous S.106 contributions on developers so the development ends up over priced when the units are sold. No one wants to talk about this

@Loria i assume you’re implying I am a fantasist? I’m just trying to understand your opinion my apologies

That isn't the problem but as usual this is the propaganda spewed out to distract the public from the real problem which is lack of building and policies fueling demand to buy so home owning voters think they're wealthier.
It's no longer foreign investors' fault. It's landlords so now they're leaving the market as laws make it unprofitable and more recently immigrants on migrant boats.

@Strawberries2023 the problem isn't lack of building. We're building plenty. It's more that it's expensive.

When people talk about supply and demand in the housing market they don't mean demand in the sense that there are loads of people needing houses but not enough of them. They mean demand for asset acquisition either through credit or investment. We've got plenty of that so prices rise because the money/financial strategies can rise to meet them.

@Strawberries2023 how did you manage to bring immigrants on boats into this?
properties are going up everywhere! It’s not a lack of housing!!! It’s just the government propping up an inflated industry

Immigrants on boats are the latest after the recent onslaught on landlords.
Don't you read or hear correspondents going on about we're a small island and the boats are dumping people taking up space etc?

A simple solution is for the king to set up a new property development company that will build for affordable rent. He will always recoup it back not just for himself but for his priced lineage ie William and Camilla's children in money and adoration from his peasants. 😅
While he's at it, he can invest in a new light rail system (not in London) too.

Maybe he could take over transpennine express?

@Incognitopah if anyone bothered to use a calculator they might conclude otherwise but why let fact get in the way of a great headline? @Loria

😅😆

We have 'affordable housing' built near me all the time, affordable for who though? Certainly not me.

I think the housing situation is holding the whole country back. Imagine if people were spending all that rent in cafes, getting their done, putting it in pensions, having children. The whole economy seems to be built around house prices.

It definitely impacts productivity & we need the economy to be based on something other than house price growth.

The issue here is having a London centric economy. It would be better if the demand for one city was spread over the whole country.

I agree there is a London centric economy which isnt helpful either.

This is definitely an issue that has more than one cause.

People are moving out of London to other places and it's driving locals out of those places because of rent increases

If LL's increase rents annually in line with inflation it is best, then no big rent hike after 4 or 5 years of no rent increase.

Interesting thread. The high cost difference is pushing people out of London which is impacting primary schools.https://twitter.com/jburnmurdoch/status/1649388574914015232?s=46&t=R4IjbOioATwsveZSPFz0AA

Doesn't the king technically own all the land in the country anyway? Fucker.

Not according to The Guardian. The chart says The Crown and Royal family own only 1.4%

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/apr/17/who-owns-england-thousand-secret-landowners-author

These are only multimillionaires who have that!

@BMW6 that's freehold etc. Shocking enough figures anyway.

But I was meaning this:

https://www.thecrownestate.co.uk/en-gb/resources/faqs/#:~:text=Under%20our%20legal%20system%2C%20the,England%2C%20Wales%20and%20Northern%20Ireland.

Not only has superior title but if any bit of the country lies unclaimed for long enough the king gets the freehold.

Fuck me, we need a revolution.

Loria
I read your helpful link and further on. C & P from your link

"The Crown Estate, by convention only, through its appointed legal advisors Burges Salmon LLP, deals with the vast majority of instances where property may be deemed subject to escheat throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It must be ascertained beyond any reasonable doubt that a property is deemed subject to escheat before The Crown Estate will consider dealing with it.
The Crown Estate does not take any action which might be construed as an act of management, possession or ownership in relation to the Property, since to do so may incur liabilities associated with the Property."

The Crown Estate belongs to the reigning monarch 'in right of The Crown', that is, it is owned by the monarch for the duration of their reign, by virtue of their accession to the throne. But it is not the private property of the monarch - it cannot be sold by the monarch, nor do revenues from it belong to the monarch.

So no, the Monarch do not have ownership. Their personal wealth is not added to.

Furthermore from your link

Where it is desirable to sell land which is subject to escheat The Crown Estate is, in principle, prepared to transfer such interest as it has to an appropriate person or body in order to return the property to private ownership. In so doing:

• The Crown Estate can only sell the whole of the land subject to escheat in one transaction, as to sell part would constitute an act of management regarding the remainder;
• Any sale would be subject to any mortgages, legal charges or other encumbrances which might exist against the former freehold interest;
• The Crown Estate is required by statute to achieve the best consideration, having regard to all the circumstances, for any disposal of land; and
• Since The Crown Estate accounts to the Treasury, for the benefit of the public purse, it will always require a contribution to its legal costs from anyone seeking to purchase
• property or land subject to escheat.

In some cases, it will be necessary to undertake a local consultation exercise to ensure that any sale, if agreed, is in the interest of the locality and is made to an appropriate purchaser.

Anti landlord policies are encouraging landlords to sell up. Nothing wrong with this if the government could offer a social alternative but they can't. The government need to hold off on further anti landlord policies until they have alternative housing to provide.
Great news about some properties starting to need planning permission to be air b&bs. Hoping for more of that.
Great news about second homes starting to pay double/x3/x4 council tax. Hoping to see more of that.

Residential housing - even in national parks/beauty spots/the seaside/the capital should be for long term housing. Visitors should stay in hotels/caravan parks etc.

I don't understand why government/local authorities don't look to buy /build some housing with mortgages. If they are paying 1k a month housing benefit to the landlord anyway they might as well pay a mortgage as at least that would end after 30 years etc. Like for homeowners it might be more expensive at first and they would need to maintain themselves but rents only keep going up.