Comments on: Right-to-Buy is gutting social housing: replacement building fell a quarter in 2015/16

By: Ted

Ted — Sat, 13 Aug 2016 09:10:31 +0000

There are I read about 300,000 empty properties in the Uk at anyone time, these should be brought back into use. Social Housing should be given a re-vamp and at a time of low interest rates HA and Councils should be allowed to borrow to build and rent with a covenant that these properties cannot be sold for say 20 years in any RtB. The state has a lot of land to release for housing which it could sell to HA and Councils at preferential rates as long as iy was solely used for homes. Another issue is the second home market if you visit Cornwall for example and there are others, in winter some villages can have as few as one or two residents, this might sound like free market but at what price? Locals have to move and it destroys businesses.

Buy to Rent has been a great success for banks, right wing news papers and the Tory party, they all support each other, but as a housing policy it is a disaster, driving up house vales, rents and attracting the worst of the get rich quick types. Our local paper carries reports each week of land;words who defy the Local Council and tenants who are exploited, I have had many comments by people along the lines of them buying a property to rent as an investment or pension, though this might be great for them it is not a housing policy.

By: ted francis

ted francis — Sat, 13 Aug 2016 08:19:52 +0000

Council/social housing. (1) Quite simply remove the right to buy until supply exceeds demand or (2) require two-for-one replacements for each sale or a combination of both measures. (3) Impose 10 year covenants on resale of right to buy home.

Private sector. (1) Abolish the role of estate agents commission system to remove the incentive to hike prices, (2) outlaw gazumping, (3) limit the amount by which a home can be sold above its previous purchase price.

Compulsorily purchase any domestic property left empty for more than 1 year at a mandatory percentage less than the market place, to discourage homes being used as investments.

MOST IMPORTANT. Undertake a programme to encourage the principle that a house is a home not an investment.

By: neil

neil — Fri, 12 Aug 2016 22:31:22 +0000

I love RTB, As everytime a house is sold the getto gets smaller. housing estates are wrong in every way shape and form and all should be knocked down. so lets sell them all off and in time they get cleaner, less drugs and crime.

By: Carey

Carey — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 18:02:38 +0000

I never thought to see this rate of homelessness and seriously inadequate housing in the UK. I grew up in a time when it was quite rare to see people who were homeless, I used to go abroad and see the homelessness and thank my lucky stars I was British. There have been periods of high immigration before ie when I was growing up in the 60s, all through history in fact government planned and otherwise, so don’t blame immigration and never say it “uncontrolled”! Ridiculous statement! What is “excess demand” exactly? The fault lies squarely on Gvts that espouse the doctrine of survival of the fittest – oh the same ones that promote a national min wage of just £7.20 per hour (under 25s need not apply) for those “hard working families” they’re forever going on about. And at he same time allow multinationals to get away will £billions in unpaid taxes which could be spent on our infrastructure and services, inc fair cost housing. Its not as if these multinationals don’t use our infrastructure directly and indirectly! What a nightmare this country has become… for so many of us.

By: CR

CR — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 13:17:18 +0000

Yep, we all agree that Thatcher’s “Right to Buy” was a disaster, but the current housing crisis is much more a result of excess demand created by uncontrolled immigration over the past two decades and planning regulations that rightly put controls over what can be built and where.