http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/14916954.Workers_struggling_as_rents_now_more_than_a_third_of_the_average_pay_in_Weymouth_and_west_Dorset/ Workers in Dorset face struggle with rents rising to more than a third of the average pay The scandal of high rent charges is not just restricted to Dorset, but is a problem for most regions of the country. It is a problem brought about by successive governments since the 1950's taking a policy option of curtailing house building, particular in the social housing sector. It is also an economic reality, that by restricting the supply of affordable housing, including those for rent in either the private or social housing sectors, the price level for housing general ly is forced upward and held at artificially high levels as demand for homes increases. This has been particularly the case over the last twenty years and has become even more chronic over the last few years as house building generally has fallen to record low levels. ...
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http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/apr/30/uk-throes-of--housing-crisis Revealed: UK ‘is in the throes of a housing crisis’ Revealed: UK ‘is in the throes of a housing crisis’. Revealed!? Many of us have been shouting from the rooftops for years that this country has a housing crisis. That crisis has become even worse over the past 20 years and now rates as an national outrage which should not be tolerated by any decent society in this 21st Century. It is a crisis brought about by decades of neglect and indifference by successive governments who have viewed "housing" as a manifesto topic where they can make all sorts of promises and when elected, find all sorts of "reasons" why they are only able to build a fraction of the number of houses and flats actually required. Over the past 6 months, house building organisations, economists and housing charities, have identified contributory factors to the growing crisis. The "right to buy" ...
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/sep/28/labour-biggest-public-housebuilding-drive-since-1970s Labour considers biggest social house building drive since 70s Why hasn't this happened for 35 years? Successive governments over those years, (and even before then), have had an interest in maintaining a "housing shortage". A shortage in the homes for purchase sector, stimulates demand and thereby increases the price level. Government duplicity in promoting schemes and incentives like right to buy, first time buyer grants,buy to rent,"affordable houses" and the rest are nothing more than a gesture for public consumption and do nothing to address the real problem. In the rented sector, the situation is even more chronic. Local councils have by government directive and some by their own volition, abandoned their historic function of providing rented accommodation within their areas. Many council houses have been s...
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/homelessness-soars-40-under-tories-6506576 Homelessness soars 40% under the Tories - and charities blame welfare cuts Criminal outrage. This country desperately requires the construction of 700,000 new homes of which 80% must be social housing. In the 21st Century it is indefensible that people are living in overcrowded conditions, are unable to find accommodation either for rent or purchase, or are homeless on the streets of our town and cities. Crisis: UK faces the biggest housing shortage since WWI It is a moral and social outrage and successive governments should be ashamed of their failures to address this affront civilised society.
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/apr/14/tory-election-manifesto-right-to-buy-housing-association-properties#comment-50412507 David Cameron: "The dream of the property owning democracy is alive, and that the Conservatives “are the party of working people, offering you security at every stage of your life”. The "right to buy" policies of Thatcher some 30 years ago is one of the root causes of the present housing crisis in this country. The fundemental problem of the present crisis is not a matter of being able to buy, but more importantly it is a matter of having sufficient homes for purchase or rent available in the "market". However, zero hour contracts and an overall decline in wages and salaries ability to purchase is a major factor. The sooner that political parties of all persuasions are prepared to ditch their hypocritical cynicism and tackle the problem rather than seek to gain electoral advantage with vague promises and soundbi...
http://news.sky.com/story/1458906/tories-pledge-1980s-style-housing-revolution Conservatives promise to get half a million first-time buyers onto the property ladder every year. Another political party, today it is the Conservatives turn, promising to get 500,000 "First time buyers" onto the housing ladder every year. Again the emphasis of out of touch politicians in centered on the "First time buyer" in the hope of attracting votes in exchange for vague promises. No mention is made of those who for what ever reason are unable to even contemplate buying their own home or those who for whatever reason may choose not to buy, but to rent. George Osborne "hard at work" The political bankruptcy of the politicians who pay lip service to the provision of housing while cynically seeking to attract votes is staggering. As I said yesterday when commenting on Miliband's latest offering, "nowhere near enough" an...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/generalelection/labour-unveils-5bn-plan-to-build-150000-new-homes-funded-by-help-to-buy-isa-scheme-10155240.html Labour plan to build 150,000 new homes. plan to build 150,000 homes by 2020 150,000. No where near enough. The shortage of housing in this country has been an outrage for decades. Families and young people, face the prospect of years living in overcrowded or inadequate conditions as builders and speculators grow rich on providing a few homes at inflated prices while receiving government (tax payers) cash incentives, for building a small number of "low cost" housing. In the rented sector, social housing is practically non existent and in the private market, rental prices are on an ever increasing spiral. In conditions where people have no alternatives for a home, they have no option but to pay the inflated price. Political parties have made capital from this situation ove...
http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/11739329.Honesty_not_the_best_policy_as_Cornwall_Council_refuses_to_house_ex_soldier_and_family/?ref=mr Cornwall Council refuses to house ex-soldier and family Jamie and Charmaine Streets and their four children, Suvannah, Briea, Leo, and Tyler Since the mid 1980's Councils across England have been using the "intentionally homeless" reasoning to abdicate any responsibility for providing housing to families or even individuals, no matter what the circumstances of any particular case may be. Council housing officials often will say privately to councillors (I know because it has been said to me) that there is a chronic shortage of available housing due to government restrictions on building social housing. This is, and has been for the past 30 years, an outrageous and unacceptable situation where ordinary and usually deserving families, are penalised for the failure of successive government policies in respect o...
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jun/09/tories-risk-new-financial-crisis-housing-nick-clegg Lib Dem leader calls for Tories to put aside ideological objections and use 'muscle of the state' to build 300,000 homes a year The cynical Nick Clegg Many people, predominately from outside of the "main" political parties in Westminster, have been agitating for an increase in house building, mainly for the social housing sector for years. It hasbeen a taboo subject for Labour, Conservative and LibDem, with their obsession with the "foot on the housing ladder ", "affordable housing", "help to buy" and countless other schemes for the benifit of the few, at the expense of those people in society who, for one reason or another, will never be able to buy their own home. Schemes designed and implimented not because they were right, but because cynical and inept politicians perceived...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/housing-double-whammy-a-whole-generation-wont-be-able-to-buy-or-rent-a-home-8994229.html A whole generation ‘won’t be able to buy or rent a home’ a growing number of people cannot afford to buy or rent This crisis was predicted as long ago as the late 1970's. Successive governments have done nothing since then and they will do nothing now. Until such times as the people of this country realise how they are being duped with such meaningless phrases as "right to buy", "affordable housing", "help to purchase" and all the other rhetoric pouring out of governments and successive housing ministers, nothing will happen to redress the problem. Today, houses and flats stand empty and boarded in the expectation that that the owners (in many cases local authorities) may profit from the sale of the land at some indeterminate time in the future.. Large amounts of land owned by local authorities...
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/10/25/immigrants-not-causing-housing-crisis_n_4161952.html?1382695221&utm_hp_ref=uk Elderly More To Blame For Housing Crisis Than Immigrants Planning Minister Nick Boles Nick Boles, Conservative MP, Planning minister and complete arsehole, claims that the elderly are responsible for the housing crisis. The "crisis" which many commentators and contributors to the comments sections of the Mail, the Telegraph and yes even the Huffington Post, argue does not exist and is in fact no more than a sinister left wing plot created to destabilise the government and create alarm amongst the people. Clearly, Boles is out of step with that analysis. We should perhaps take some comfort in the knowledge that the housing crisis has nothing to do with years of neglect by successive governments and their collective failure to address the problem of affordable housing. Moreover, since Thatcher decreed that building of ...
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...