Could Europe come to the rescue of Britain's failed housing policy?
There could finally be a small light at the end of a very long tunnel for Britain’s under 35′s where housing is concerned. We’ve had 13 years of Labour government when meeting housing needs were ignored to fuel a massive debt based economy based on intentional housing shortages policy. We’ve also had almost 2 years of an ineffective and incompetent housing policy under the coalition government. But things are looking a bit brighter with proposals from the European Commission to tackle the buy to let mortgage market.
Buy to let buyers prices genuine home seekers out of the market.
This buy to let mortgage market sucks up first time buyer houses from real people and families looking for a home and puts the properties into the hands of people who have no interest in providing homes they just want to make money at whatever cost to people. Ending the ability of landlords to use rent from the house to be used as income for the mortgage on the house will finally start to tackle landlords who are milking the housing benefit system and having the tax-payer foot the bill for their increasing property portfolio.
It’s going to increase the supply of lower priced homes for genuine buyers – real young people and families looking for a secure home in which to bring up their children rather than short term unsecured expensive housing that is currently all that is on offer.
Tackling the buy to let market is only a very small part of tackling the massive housing crisis that there is in Britain but at least the European Commission is beginning to make some sort of effort.
Legacy of Gordon Brown to the next generation.
The only real long term solution to the legacy that Gordon Brown has left to the generation of under 35′s is to build massive amounts of housing as soon as possible. Britain needs to be building between 300,000 and 400,000 houses a year to put right Gordon Brown’s economic policy of building a debt based economy based upon housing shortages and homelessness.
Sadly we’re almost 2 years in to a tory/libdem coalition government and things are getting even worse. The new governments housing policy is based on the imagined world of junior school children. When George Osborne announced that cutting housing benefit would bring rents down every GCSE student of economics fell off their chair rolling around the floor laughing their heads off. Cutting housing benefit without boosting house building was not going to bring rents down and any fool could see that. And as expected, that policy has failed with rents hitting record levels as housing benefit is cut and young people are driven closer to living on the streets.
Europe to rescue for housing of Britain’s lost generation.
I’m not a fan of Europe but on this policy I’m right behind them. The last government and this present government have ignored not just the aspirations of the under 35′s but also their basic needs in order to please the baby-boomers and the European Commission could be the only hope for Britain’s ignored generation.
With the buy to let landlords out of the market unless they can really afford to buy the house then prices at the lower end of the market should start to drop – hopefully there will be substantial drops in house prices. Why should young people have to pay rent to a buy to let landlord when they should be able to purchase the homes themselves.
Hopefully this is only the start of the European Commission getting involved in the UK housing market. As badly run schools are taken over and run under special measures so it is time for a failed housing policy in Britain to be taken over by the European Commission and be run from Brussels under special measures.
European housing policies needs to come to UK.
We need to see the same degree of tenant rights in the UK that housing tenants in Europe have. That means an end to short term unsecured tenancies. It might even mean bringing in rent controls. I know what it’s like to live under a free for all unsecured buy to let market. In the last 15 years I’ve had 12 different addresses as buy to let landlords just offer short term contracts and kick out tenants in order to make a fast buck when they get another buyer. I know things are a lot worst now for young people than what I had to put up with as a tenant. There needs to be a lot more protection for tenants in the UK and buy to let mortgages have to come to an end.
Hopefully this is just a start to a change in a failed housing policy in the UK. Hopefully this government might step up to the plate and start to tackle the way that housing has gotten out of control and is now a national disgrace.
Is Europe the answer to Britain’s failed housing policy.
If our own government is not able or willing to tackle the crisis then it has to be tackled by an organisation such as the European Union who is up to the job. I may generally be anti-Europe but on this issue if the only way to tackle our housing crisis is through the European Commission then roll on the referendum and long may the Federal Union of the States of Europe reign.
