It is very well for the Prime Minister Theresa May and the Mayor of London to say that they are dealing with the acute affordable housing shortage facing the country. For the previous 30 years the same thing has been happening, lots of promises to increase the housing stock, but unfortunately nothing happens. These are all empty promises made by the government but the situation remains at square-one as always.
According to The Guardian (Larry Elliott) “ One curious thing about Britain’s housing market is that it’s not really a market at all. Britain’s housing market is dysfunctional. The rate of home ownership is plummeting, and the average age at which people become owner-occupiers is rising. In London and other property hot spots, the rents are unaffordable for those working at the sharp end of the service sector. Homelessness is on the up. William Beveridge identified housing as a postwar challenge for Britain back in 1942 when he named squalor as one of the “giant evils” that barred the way to progress. Three quarters of a century later, the giant still is alive and well.”
People on the lowest incomes especially in London are really worst of, as they are unable to manage to keep up their mortgage payments, with the house prices rising and outpacing wage rises. They are facing a double whammy of short supply of housing and constant rise in house prices. The housing situation has become intolerable with the housing demand rising and failure of all parties concerned to supply adequate housing. Unless the pace of house building is stepped up very fast, this housing crisis will remain with us for a very long time.
It is high time for the government to wake up and tackle this problem head on, otherwise the bubble will burst, mortgage rates will increase, there will more homeless people on the streets, more food banks, frustration and hopelessness among a large section of the people.
Baldev Sharma
Rayners Lane, Harrow.
