Nothing to see here. Just Labour threatening to compulsorily purchase private

[Ash]

I would suggest the suggestion isn't as daft as you make out.... the housing shortage can certainly be largely blamed on the right to buy scheme which was the biggest, most obvious bribe I can remember

The housing shortage is definitely a problem. It has undoubtedly made some people rich, while making it very hard for others to afford anywhere, let alone a family home within practical travelling distance of their work. Wages have flatlined for a decade while housing costs continue to spiral upwards.

But hey! The market fixes every problem every time apparently. Even when it doesn't.

[Burney]

I would suggest the suggestion isn't as daft as you make out.... the housing shortage can certainly be largely blamed on the right to buy scheme which was the biggest, most obvious bribe I can remember

A 'bribe' that lifted millions out of state dependency, allowed them to be the first in their families ever to own property and by extension capital. Plus, of course, relieving the taxpayer of a huge financial burden in the process.

Yes, how despicable.

Oh, and I don't suppose you think that the mass immigration of 3.6 million people (and that's just the legal ones) between 1997 and 2010 - vast numbers of whom of course had to be housed by the state - may have had a negative impact on the availability of housing stock at all? No? Course not.

[Pokster]

A 'bribe' that lifted millions out of state dependency, allowed them to be the first in their families ever to own property and by extension capital. Plus, of course, relieving the taxpayer of a huge financial burden in the process.

Yes, how despicable.

Oh, and I don't suppose you think that the mass immigration of 3.6 million people (and that's just the legal ones) between 1997 and 2010 - vast numbers of whom of course had to be housed by the state - may have had a negative impact on the availability of housing stock at all? No? Course not.

Did I say it didn't? No...but hey, if it make you happy to think I did/do carry on with your stupid comments.

RTB enabled people to buy (and still does) at rock bottom prices.. and that money partly goes to central Govt. So it was a bribe that enabled lots of council tennats to make a nice tidy sum but then left councils short of housing and the cash to build mor ehouses

[redgunamo]

The housing shortage is definitely a problem. It has undoubtedly made some people rich, while making it very hard for others to afford anywhere, let alone a family home within practical travelling distance of their work. Wages have flatlined for a decade while housing costs continue to spiral upwards.

But hey! The market fixes every problem every time apparently. Even when it doesn't.

Nobody has family anymore, A, and those that do mostly wish they didn't while those that don't are thanking their lucky stars

[Burney]

Did I say it didn't? No...but hey, if it make you happy to think I did/do carry on with your stupid comments.

RTB enabled people to buy (and still does) at rock bottom prices.. and that money partly goes to central Govt. So it was a bribe that enabled lots of council tennats to make a nice tidy sum but then left councils short of housing and the cash to build mor ehouses

I'm not making stupid comments, I'm pointing out that Right to buy is being scapegoated because no-one wants to talk about the devastating impact that uncontrolled immigration has had on the housing market. Much easier to demonise the white, working class baby boomers who fancied a step up.

[Burney]

The housing shortage is definitely a problem. It has undoubtedly made some people rich, while making it very hard for others to afford anywhere, let alone a family home within practical travelling distance of their work. Wages have flatlined for a decade while housing costs continue to spiral upwards.

But hey! The market fixes every problem every time apparently. Even when it doesn't.

The market was skewed in no small part by an artificial spike in demand caused by flooding it with millions of additional consumers who drove availability down and prices up in a country whose housing stocks had been adequate to accommodate the pre-1997 population.

I thank my lucky stars I bought my first house in 2000 before the worst effects of this were felt.

[Ash]

RTB enabled people to buy (and still does) at rock bottom prices.. and that money partly goes to central Govt. So it was a bribe that enabled lots of council tennats to make a nice tidy sum but then left councils short of housing and the cash to build mor ehouses

I know someone quite affluent who bought his dad's central London council flat for a song, and will rent it out at a handy profit for a decade or two until giving it to his child.

Nice work if you can get it.

[Burney]

Nobody has family anymore, A, and those that do mostly wish they didn't while those that don't are thanking their lucky stars

The state in this country has never done anything to help those who can afford children to have more - while of course doing loads to encourage those who can't afford them at all to have loads. It's totally fücked up.

[Sir C]

Did I say it didn't? No...but hey, if it make you happy to think I did/do carry on with your stupid comments.

RTB enabled people to buy (and still does) at rock bottom prices.. and that money partly goes to central Govt. So it was a bribe that enabled lots of council tennats to make a nice tidy sum but then left councils short of housing and the cash to build mor ehouses

I still don't understand how RTB had any impact on the housing shortage, unless you're tellingm me that people who bought their council houses then demolished them.

[Burney]

I know someone quite affluent who bought his dad's central London council flat for a song, and will rent it out at a handy profit for a decade or two until giving it to his child.

Nice work if you can get it.

Good luck to him. Once it ceases to belong to the state, what individuals do with their property is entirely up to them.