Do you feel the economy is improving or not?

[Danishfurniturelover]

I am with the lefties on this, I think house prices have gone mad and it is a shame when people have to leave their area and family and support network, I do not think that leads to a cohesive country. I consider myself center possibly others would say to the right, but being a fan of capitalism does not mean you have to completely ignore social issues.

For my mind sometimes I think sometimes things have gone to far and when locals are priced out of an area it is very sad, I am open to criticism here as I have a flat and a house I rent out on top of the home I live in. Now the way to change it would be through legislation so that people could only own one property and perhaps another for an off spring to move into in the future(part of the reason I got second properties was for my son).

Of course another part of the reason so many got into buy to let was because of what that major arsehole Brown did to the pensions, so the government would need to secure pension saving schemes(would not matter if Labour ever got back in they would screw us again)

I do feel for people who are priced out of an area even if people like me might be part of the cause. If the government decided to change it, I would just think oh well and move onto the next thing to invest in. Probably property in Germany near a university.

 

[scaramanga]

I am with the lefties on this, I think house prices have gone mad and it is a shame when people have to leave their area and family and support network, I do not think that leads to a cohesive country. I consider myself center possibly others would say to the right, but being a fan of capitalism does not mean you have to completely ignore social issues.

For my mind sometimes I think sometimes things have gone to far and when locals are priced out of an area it is very sad, I am open to criticism here as I have a flat and a house I rent out on top of the home I live in. Now the way to change it would be through legislation so that people could only own one property and perhaps another for an off spring to move into in the future(part of the reason I got second properties was for my son).

Of course another part of the reason so many got into buy to let was because of what that major ******** Brown did to the pensions, so the government would need to secure pension saving schemes(would not matter if Labour ever got back in they would screw us again)

I do feel for people who are priced out of an area even if people like me might be part of the cause. If the government decided to change it, I would just think oh well and move onto the next thing to invest in. Probably property in Germany near a university.

Someone will always be priced out of some areas. Where do you stop on making sure people can live where they want? I want to live in Mayfair - should someone have to forcibly sell me their £8M flat for £750K? What if, like me, they've worked really fudging hard to pay for their property? What if I've just got out of prison for repeated violent offences and am on benefits - should the government force them to give their flat away to me because I have nothing to spend but I want to live in Mayfair?

People need to remove the emotional attachment from houses and many of the problems will go away. I don't buy that a house is unique because everyone needs one - everyone needs a pair of shoes but it would be ridiculous to suggest that Moreschi should sell their wares at Clarks prices.

 

[monkeybarry]

Someone will always be priced out of some areas. Where do you stop on making sure people can live where they want? I want to live in Mayfair - should someone have to forcibly sell me their £8M flat for £750K? What if, like me, they've worked really fudgeing hard to pay for their property? What if I've just got out of prison for repeated violent offences and am on benefits - should the government force them to give their flat away to me because I have nothing to spend but I want to live in Mayfair?

People need to remove the emotional attachment from houses and many of the problems will go away. I don't buy that a house is unique because everyone needs one - everyone needs a pair of shoes but it would be ridiculous to suggest that Moreschi should sell their wares at Clarks prices.

You have to look at the economic needs of the area and impact of elitism ( he says, living in St Albans ;-) ) on the surrounding areas.
And this has been my point all along re; the middle classes - you need to ensure they can reproduce and have attainable aspirations in their middle class, middle of the road (usually boring as f) jobs. You can't create an "equal" financial and economic environment (that's communism), but you need a decent amount of achievable aspiration and comfort to keep people doing what they do. Make the 3 hour daily commute and desk job worth it.

 

[monkeybarry]

Er, I now appear to be Tim Sherwood.....

 

[Danishfurniturelover]

Someone will always be priced out of some areas. Where do you stop on making sure people can live where they want? I want to live in Mayfair - should someone have to forcibly sell me their £8M flat for £750K? What if, like me, they've worked really fudgeing hard to pay for their property? What if I've just got out of prison for repeated violent offences and am on benefits - should the government force them to give their flat away to me because I have nothing to spend but I want to live in Mayfair?

People need to remove the emotional attachment from houses and many of the problems will go away. I don't buy that a house is unique because everyone needs one - everyone needs a pair of shoes but it would be ridiculous to suggest that Moreschi should sell their wares at Clarks prices.

Well unless you and your family were brought up in Mayfair you have completely missed the point.

In Jersey they have a locals market and an outsiders market and I quite like the idea of that so that towns, particularly those in the south east people and families extended families can stay closer together.

 

[scaramanga]

Well unless you and your family were brought up in Mayfair you have completely missed the point.

In Jersey they have a locals market and an outsiders market and I quite like the idea of that so that towns, particularly those in the south east people and families extended families can stay closer together.

So what if someone's brought up in Mayfair, blow the family money on scratchcards and Tennent's Super, etc? Should we be housing them in an £8m flat just because it's where they grew up?

 

[thfcsteff]

Scara...there will, in any group, always be a few stragglers. Numpties. tossers. Worthless cretins. Take a football match. How many times have we stood or sat in a section where 'there is one of them' ranting and hollering like a wino on meths? You cannot judge everyone for the actions of a few. The point about housing comes down to a quality of life for not just a person but the persons of a town/city/borough. Many people right now are working bloody hard to earn a quarter of what others are earning. As appears to be the way with our current society, those people tend to be in areas of public service. Teachers. Nurses. Those sort of people. If they cannot afford to remain in communities where they work their tails off, then those communities lose their services. You could then argue that in their place come a swathe of 'wealthier' people, who bring with them a wave of private-funded services within the same field (private schools, private hospitals). And then we see a split in communities, whereby those who are left, those who work hard but due to (say) not being in the tech/financial services industries do not make the same income, are left with severely depleted public services. Poorer education for their kids. Poorer health care. They aren't 'bad' people and they didn't blow their wads on Tennent's Super or lottery tickets. They are normal people trying to make their way in an increasingly lop-sided society. But they are being forced out by an over-paid, and over-PAYING, class, whose aim (it appears) is to create exclusive enclaves where before there were none. Now, I would argue that the places for such 'enclaves' would be in (say) the west country (BTW if you ever wish to stay somewhere spectacular, try Babington House in Somerset) and that cities should be both cosmopolitan and mixed. Am I saying that dossiers and bums should be in 8m Mayfair flats? No. I am saying that the market rate for properties has been artificially jacked-up by a small band of people looking to create 'enclaves' and 'neighborhoods' where they don't have to deal with the 'former locals' (San Francisco is a prime example of this).

I agree that no-one should 'force' a certain percentage of lower-income earners to be housed in an areas, but those people should equally not be forced out by the relentless greed and extremity of the housing market around them. When new development is built in the place of, say, old council housing, then instead of rehousing (say) 2 out of every 10 people, there should be suitable re-housing for all! That housing should not be turned over to the private market IMO. If it continues to happen, everyone will suffer, even those who can afford private security measures! Here's a piece which covers it all pretty well.

Choice is fantastic. We all agree with choice. I have no problem with free-market, never have, never will. Where my rubber hits the road is when such concepts become voracious and socially irresponsible, to the point that they effectively vanquish any empathy for those who are not of the same exact mind (or economic means).

http://www.theguardian.com/politics...o-right-to-buy-housing-association-properties