Topic: | Re:Re:Re:We no longer have a 'Home' Housing Market | |
Posted by: | Guy Lambert | |
Date/Time: | 05/01/15 16:51:00 |
Good point, Andrew. I'd only say that for many years there has been a sense that 'investment' in housing is a no-brainer - I remember someone telling me I was 'under-mortgaged' - and policies since the eighties, where we essentially gave away publicly-owned housing without replacing it and abolished all rent controls have served to drive the housing market to pretty ludicrous levels, benefitting the few at the expense of the majority as so much policy in this country does. In some other countries, renting where you live makes much more sense because a) there's much more publicly owned housing and no stigma attached and b) private rents and other terms are still controlled. People can then rationally choose to invest their funds in things other than housing such as business or stocks and shares. It's noticeable that the UK level of investment in productive industry remains miserable compared with most other countries. This link from a recent Grauniad article is interesting re overseas investors http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/dec/26/londoners-miss-out-as-foreign-investors-buy-up-home-sites |