Tag Archives: UK housing shortage

How to make renting attractive in the UK

Central banks have been busy saving the West from its own excesses since the great financial crisis of 2007, but in the process, they have made housing unaffordable for young people, particularly in the UK.

House prices have surged in many UK cities, with record low interest rates and money printing making homes more affordable for “investors” and less so for those who actually need them as places to live in, as opposed to assets to speculate on.

Despite record low mortgages and various subsidies, homeownership is increasingly unaffordable for a rising number of people.

The consequence is deepening inequality, which makes the UK look more like a feudal, rather than modern, society.

One of the ways to tackle the so-called “housing crisis” would be to make renting an option perhaps as good, if not better, than buying a property.

Here are four ways in which the UK government could go about making renting a truly affordable option for young people in the UK – and a few of the reasons why it will never do it.

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Mortgage guarantee could sow the seeds of trouble

The UK government awarded hard-working medical staff a meagre 1% pay rise in the most recent budget, all the while splashing out on yet another indirect subsidy for house prices: the mortgage guarantee.

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Covid-19 should stop the government’s house price subsidy

Before the new coronavirus pandemic, one of the main ways in which the UK’s Conservative Party boosted consumer confidence was pushing house prices up with the aid of various taxpayer-funded schemes such as Help to Buy.

But as the damage done by Covid-19 to the economy heaps pressure on the public purse, should the taxpayer still generously fund schemes that mainly serve to boost house prices and the fortunes of a few big companies and their already well-off clients?

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The UK government must tackle housing, not Brexit in 2018

This year, the UK government must come up with solutions to the main crises that eat away at some ordinary Britons’ well-being. One of these is the housing crisis, which continues unabated despite the billions of pounds thrown at the problem.

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Brexit vote dramatically lowers Britain’s attractiveness

I know I have said it before, but at the time it was just a hunch: the price to pay for an “un-cool Britannia” after Brexit will be steep. Evidence for this is beginning to show. A survey released recently shows how fast Britain is losing attractiveness in the eyes of the world.

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Brexit masks London’s status as safe haven for corrupt money

The Brexit vote must be manna from heaven for those seeking to hide their illicit gains in London. Busy with all their posturing and negotiations, politicians will have no time to curtail the criminals’ activities.

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Theresa May indicates she is unwilling to solve the housing crisis

Many people hope that the UK Prime Minister’s rhetoric calling for a fairer society means she will address what is by far the biggest inequality in today’s Britain: the housing crisis. But a recent speech, in which she outlined her plan for Brexit, seems to indicate that she is unwilling to really tackle the issue.

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In the UK, you can buy a property and still be a tenant

Perhaps in no other European country is the obsession with homeownership so entrenched as in Britain. The ambition to “get on the property ladder” underpins almost every young person’s dreams, pushing young people to make sacrifices to save for a deposit and then take on a big mortgage just to be able to say they own, rather than rent, their home.

But do they, in fact, own it? Increasingly, property ownership is becoming an illusion that makes people part with cash they can ill afford to spend.

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Something is really wrong with house prices in the UK

By Antonia Oprita

House prices in the UK are getting another boost from the government, just in time for the May 7 general election.

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UK housing market: here’s what could spoil the party

The UK housing market is one of the most fascinating in the world. With prices well above their 2007 peaks in London and the south-east of England, more and more people say it is a bubble waiting to burst. And yet, there seems to be no shortage of buyers.

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