http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/oct/16/average-monthly-rent-hits-record-high-of-816-highlighting-housing-shortage Average monthly rent hits record high of £816 Social housing should be built to suit a range of incomes A report which underlines the simple economic reality that, where there is a shortage of a commodity, in this case rented accommodation specifically, but emphasised by a housing shortage generally, the price level of the available "stock" will increase. We have seen the level of rents increase significantly over recent years and with some regional variations, has increased in the past 12 months alone, by between 6.3% and 8.5% with a fall in Wales and the North of England. Higher rents combined with the growth in property values mean that landlords in England and Wales have seen returns of 9.4% over the past year. Landlords have plenty to be happy about, suggested Adrian Gill, director of Your Move and Reeds Rains....
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“The last five years have seen a low level of house building, less than half the new buildings that are actually needed", Median gross weekly pay for full-time employees, 2014 in West Dorset is £506 (Residency based figures) or £26,312 pa. In Weymouth and Portland the figure is £469 or £24,388 pa. These figures are taken from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2014, Office for National Statistics The reason for reproducing these statistics, is an article in today’s (15th October 2015) “ Independent” under the headline “David Cameron defends 'starter homes' that only the richest can afford”. Now, admittedly he was talking about London where the average house price is £522,000 and adding that his previously quoted figure of “starter homes” at £450,000 was an “upper limit” and he would prefer to see a “starter home” at a significantly lower price. No doubt thousands of people in London would agree with that bit. However, the fact remains th...
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/oct/07/pm-cameron-vows-scrap-rules-forcing-developers-build-affordable-homes-for-rent Cameron vows to scrap requirement to build affordable homes for rent Cameron will encourage developers to increase the building of homes for first-time buyers. Cameron either by accident or more probably design, conveniently ignores hundreds of thousands of people in this country who will never be able to afford to buy either low cost first time buyer homes or "affordable" homes. This country has a housing crisis created by successive governments, where people are unable to buy or cannot afford to rent. Tinkering at the margin with the vague prospect of owning a home at sometime in the future, is a not very well disguised bribe to attract votes, which has been the way of things for decades and has failed miserably. What this country desperately needs is a housing programme to build at least 800,000 new homes of which a minimum of 75% ...
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/11/03/80000-children-to-spend-c_n_4208853.html?1383550880&utm_hp_ref=uk More than 80,000 children in the UK will spend this Christmas homeless 21st Century Britain 80,000 children on the streets, one million households using "Pay day loan" sharks, 750,000 people reliant on Foodbanks. All just part of the misery that is Great Britain in the winter of 2013. Add to this the households facing fuel poverty due to the excesses of the energy companies or the households where overcrowding is a major problem due to the failure of governments to address the housing crisis. The neglect of successive governments over many years compounded now by the ConDem coalition with their drive for "austerity", has created this situation and we should all feel shame for allowing it to happen. In the first quarter of the 21st Century, Britain is becoming a nation where self interest and indifference in many parts of society, not ...
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/10/08/help-to-buy_n_4062479.html George Osborne's Help To Buy Scheme Could Threaten UK Financial Stability George Osborne The “help to buy scheme”, get a “foot on the ladder”, “only” 5% deposit needed, building “low cost” homes to meet the housing crisis, etc etc the array of cliché ridden headlines and news programme interviews are almost endless. All the rhetoric and spin aimed at one objective. That is, to convince a sceptical public that this government, the same as previous governments, is tackling the housing crisis in this country by encouraging demand for homes and thereby stimulating the building industry. The reality is of course, rather different. There is no doubt that there is a housing crisis of significant proportions in the UK today. Various measures have been proposed over recent months, all of which seek to address some element of the problem. Iain Duncan-Smith, the Work and Pensions secret...