IMAGINE a mortgage free Britain

[HarrowToCroydon]

For a moment, imagine if everyone in Britain lived in Government Housing. Everyone paid minimal rent, the cost to Government was 0 as the rent would cover upkeep and new buildings.

And society was secure in the knowledge that their children too will be housed.

How would you then spend your money which you have saved from paying a mortgage.

Will you be having a lot less stress?

If I was housed securely and nicely for 'cost' Im not actually sure I would spend the money freed up, i think id encourage my husband into an more rewarding job, something that he enjoyed and had less stress.

I might put it into private healthcare

how would houses get allocated? Wouldn’t there be competition for the best houses and best locations? So rents on those would be higher and create market competition, prices would go up? Or would it be based on a needs basis, so single or couple couple without children would get allocated smaller houses?

Think we are in a weird situation in the UK. People expect to make money on housing. And banks make money from loans. The bigger the loan the bigger the profit. Seems amazing to me that you can work all your life just to pay off a house. That then will get taxed upon your death. Sure you might get to enjoy it for a brief moment when you live in it. And it's a roof over your head. But you housing doesn't have to be expensive. The UK housing stock is also not really fit for purpose. Most of it could do with be ground down and recycled into decent energy efficient homes. I'd personally like to see decent large scale building programmes of sustainable housing. And better planned estates. Where people aren't divided by cardboard. And get access to green spaces. Where I live we have a surge of bland flat building. And absolutely no investment in local services - also all opportunities to make the village better, useful and worth visiting are passed up. It's all very short sighted.

Hmmmm…..isn’t that what places like North Korea are like?

I'd move somewhere where I could buy and own my own house!

How could the government afford to buy and build millions of houses? They'd have to borrow money, which means they'd have interest to pay, so the "minimal" rent paid by the occupants would actually have to be high enough to service the debt which is basically just the same as buying your home via a mortgage or renting it from someone with a mortgage. You've really not thought it through!

No thanks. As a childfree couple we would probably be allocated a small flat with no garden, instead of our lovely stone cottage with outbuildings and land.

Would use the money to buy a home away from the people I was forced to live next to. Which is what I already did 🙂

So we'd be reliant on the government to deal with any property repairs and improvements because they own all the houses 😂🤣😂🤣😂
Don't underestimate the effect of banks making profit on the economy and investments.

All houses are not equal. Would the government provide me with the larger than average house and land I currently have?

We have a smaller house but with a large garden, out in the countryside. Who would get to pick our house, it's unlikely a state run process would make the same decisions about trade off that we have?

Would I get to keep my lovely spacious flat all to myself? Or would I be expected to share?

85% of people live in government housing in singapore. Yes big flats in better locations can even be priced higher than tiny private condos in remote places. Some even close to a million lol (so equivalent of £600k here- but they are very spacious 1200 square feet and 3 bedrooms and the equivalent of living in Central London).

What happens is that the new flats are sold to young FTB at a massive subsidy (some of them are even as low as £150k which is very reasonable for a rich country like Singapore). Problem is that you have to wait 5 years for them. If you want to buy a government flat instantly, no problem, just buy a resale (existing government flat that someone is selling on the open market) but it would cost more but still cheaper than the private housing. My sister is a doctor and getting married next year, she wants to buy a property. She doesn't want to wait 5 years but at the same time she doesn't really want to pay the premium for resale or private (cos most young couples buy the new flats). she is trying to go for a sale of balance flat (the left over new flats) but apparently its like striking lottery.

Its not like north korea at all, you have to qualify for a mortgage and you need a 15% deposit (but it can come out of your compulsory savings fund- singaporeans save 20% of their salary and employer contributes 16%). You need to pay for internal renovations.

The advantage over a private home is that the government as the freeholder is responsible for all external maintenance and its a lot cheaper. The disadvantage is that you can only sell to singapore citizens and permanent residents. 89% of the country own so you don't need to worry that your kid wouldn't own (i suppose even if you have to wait, you will get there eventually).

Everyone paid minimal rent, the cost to Government was 0 as the rent would cover upkeep and new buildings.

You think 'minimal rent' would cover the cost of maintaiming existing housing AND building new housing to a decent standard????

they manage it in singapore. Its flats as its a very dense city but you can choose your unit and location. There is a bidding process for new flats but if you hate what you have been allocated, you can reject it. Or if you can't be faffed just buy a private home (if you have 1 million pounds budget), or buy a resale hdb flat (what is on the open market- people do sell their government flats routinely for a myriad of reasons.

I think I prefer the current system where I get to work hard and save my money for the house I actually want to live in, I don’t want to be allocated a government house where I don’t get to choose.

So would the people churning out 5 or 6 kids get the big houses by default? And the childless/ child free stuck in 1beds? Rather pay for my own house.

Absolutely not

I live in a large detached house with plenty of bathrooms and living space to keep my family intact

It's also in a "nice" area

It's worth every single penny of my mortgage money

I didn't always live in a big house in a nice area. I used to own a terraced, ex-council house. Loved the house, hated feeling frightened every night

You lost me at the 3rd sentence . Soooooo how would you spend the money saved ??🤣

well they are saving money. top rate tax in singapore is 20% so higher earners have a lot more money to buy property. In london, a 1200 square feet flat in central london would be well in excess of a million (or perhaps more, i don't even want to know). I am currently looking at 3 bed flats in zone 3 for £600k (and its not even quite enough). If i could get a government flat in central london for £600k i would be buying that lol.

My cousin spent the same amount as I did on her first property, a government flat ( the equivalent of £400k) and i think she got twice the square footage.

Would all the houses be the same size? Otherwise who would determine the size?

Would older couples be forced into a one bed flat and then not have the space for a carer to sleep over?

Would grandparents be unable to have their grandchildren to stay and help with childcare because they don't have a spare bedroom?

What if one of the couple has an accident and needs medical equipment, would they be upgraded to a 2 bedroom so that the other person actually has a room to sleep in? What if they need a carers room as well?

I work from home because I am disabled, do I get an extra room as an office or am I expected to perch on the sofa?

Do couples with children have to move multiples times for each child born to accomodate the extra rooms needed?

What if someone with a disabled child needs to be within certain distance of a specific school would this be prioritised?

What if there aren't enough houses in certain areas so workers are prioritised so elderly people are moved out but they provide the childcare for the workers?

What if you are already mortgage free and then your house gets knocked down to make way for government housing, you get moved to a different area, lose your support networks and get expected to pay rent for the privilege

Does the royal family get house in these? And Richie Sunak and really wealthy people? Or are these just for the plebs, widening the gap between generational wealth even further as you have to be even richer to acrue assets

What happens when the country realises it has a monoply on housing and puts the rent up extortionately because there is literally no alternative place to live?

Are the rents consistent across the country when wages arent?

You obviously don't get sarcasm 🙄 🤣

but can your children afford to buy your property. or your grandchildren?

can carers afford to live in your area? They wouldn't come to help you if they can't afford to rent or buy in your area. You would get old one day and probably need someone to change your diapers. Unless you plan on changing them yourselves or getting your children or grandchildren or some live in help to change them for you. Who is teaching your grandchildren and can they afford to buy or rent in your area on their wages. when lots of people can't afford housing and start resorting to a life of crime, can you afford a private security system to keep them out of your detached house.

Most importantly, do you have private healthcare. Can you afford private healthcare when you get sick because the NHS would not function if their workers cannot afford a roof over their head (immigrants may stop coming if that is the case).

even in london, the median house price is £533k. The threshold for a couple is £1 million, for a single is £500k. So yes in London, a divorcee woman owning a terraced house or a generous flat in a nice area would probably pay inheritance tax and that would feel unfair, but that is a very isolated case.

Most people would not pay inheritance tax and for couples, it would be relatively easy to mitigate it by downsizing.

Sorry to be pedantic but i hate people trotting this out (and voting tory because they promise to axe inheritance tax) when the vast majority of people wouldn't be affected. And the 'average' people in London who would be affected- so many of them are already downsizing to help their kids out so it wouldn't really apply anyway.

I wouldn't.

I like lots of space, large garden, distance from bullying, arguing neighbours, so I'd have moved somewhere else to get away from 'all the same' allocated housing