tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post4827102519588387390..comments2024-03-05T10:52:24.691+00:00Comments on Mark Wadsworth: Is Home-Owner-Ism reaching the high tide mark?Mark Wadsworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07733511175178098449noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-34704736910608914472016-11-20T18:35:48.476+00:002016-11-20T18:35:48.476+00:00"It's about being able to stay as long as..."It's about being able to stay as long as you like and decorate how you like etc."<br /><br />All that is would be perfectly possible if you owned a house on the old system of "ground rent", where you owned the bricks and mortar, but rented the land. The problem is that this sort of tenure is no longer on offer, it's either freehold or a six-monthly tenancy, a tenancy which is quite clearly designed for temporary occupation. There's no demand for any other form of tenure because renting is seen as temporary, something you only do until you can buy somewhere and "get on the housing ladder".<br /><br />We shall just have to see how popular "getting on the housing ladder" remains once interest rates finally start to rise again and hence land prices start to fall.Bayardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15211150959757982948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-4922956517266888352016-11-20T09:21:20.193+00:002016-11-20T09:21:20.193+00:00B, I agree there is no physical housing shortage a...B, I agree there is no physical housing shortage and that it is not a "crisis", which would imply a short term state off affairs that suddenly happened due to events beyond our control. There is plenty of housing and the situation arises as a result of deliberate govt policy over the past few decades.<br /><br />Nonetheless, you are a tad hash on people who would rather own than rent. It's not just about the lovely windfall paper capital gains. It's about being able to stay as long as you like and decorate how you like etc.Mark Wadsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07733511175178098449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-51088975270560125852016-11-19T21:31:54.630+00:002016-11-19T21:31:54.630+00:00Yes, but it's not a "housing" crisis...Yes, but it's not a "housing" crisis, which implies that levels of homelessness are rising to unacceptable levels, but a "home ownership" crisis.<br /><br />Both you and I know that much of the demand for home-ownership is for the unearned capital gains to be had from being a landowner.<br /><br />As an aside, I was chatting to a friend just now, whose landlord is becoming horrified because he is discovering that being a landlord isn't just sitting there and having the rent money come rolling in, but that every so often he has to spend some of that money on his property, like shelling out a few grand for a new boiler when the old one dies.Bayardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15211150959757982948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-81116588118548882332016-11-19T21:24:36.577+00:002016-11-19T21:24:36.577+00:00B: "The so called "housing crisis" ...B: <i>"The so called "housing crisis" is nothing but a shortage of cheap houses in expensive places"</i><br /><br />Well no, it's not just London (which is an extreme case), owner-occupation rates are falling dramatically all over the UK, even where houses are apparently cheaper*, Ricardo's Law says they are equally unaffordable everywhere.<br /><br />It's Boomers f-ing over the next generation wherever you look, or Boomers being bribed into allowing the One Per Cent to f- over the next generation with lovely free money.<br /><br />* And also where they are extremely expensive compared to wages in particular the south west.Mark Wadsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07733511175178098449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-7053724304651593722016-11-19T17:54:49.487+00:002016-11-19T17:54:49.487+00:00Oh, and also this quote "The nation faces a h...Oh, and also this quote "The nation faces a housing crisis, at the heart of which is the falling rate of homeownership".<br /><br />The so called "housing crisis" is nothing but a shortage of cheap houses in expensive places and as such, is akin to the "motoring crisis" which is the shortage of affordable new Rolls-Royces, Lamborghinis and Ferraris. After, that, like Mark, I can't really be bothered to read it.Bayardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15211150959757982948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-42630842135736669662016-11-19T17:48:17.321+00:002016-11-19T17:48:17.321+00:00Derek, thanks for that. I am, of course, immediat...Derek, thanks for that. I am, of course, immediately struck by the fact that Pete Redfern is Chief Executive of Taylor Wimpey, so no bias there then. FFS, couldn't they find someone "neutral" to write the damn thing?Bayardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15211150959757982948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-75990227080625703532016-11-19T15:14:46.002+00:002016-11-19T15:14:46.002+00:00Here you go, Bayard.
The Redfern Review
Haven...Here you go, Bayard.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.redfernreview.org/" rel="nofollow">The Redfern Review</a><br /><br />Haven't read it myself yet. One of the housing charities <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/nov/16/landmark-redfern-housing-report-has-downplayed-true-reasons-for-homes-crisis-says-shelter" rel="nofollow">doesn't think it goes far enough</a> but I see one of the mortgage lenders has already stuck the boot in, so it can't be all bad.<br /><br />Derekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06296053477905542366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-85295291678877269832016-11-17T14:22:05.850+00:002016-11-17T14:22:05.850+00:00"NB There is a Labour commissioned report on ..."NB There is a Labour commissioned report on housing by Redfern."<br /><br />In preparation or published? If the latter, is there a link?Bayardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15211150959757982948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-86510861994537891662016-11-17T11:09:56.422+00:002016-11-17T11:09:56.422+00:00@G I have been roughed up regularly on Tim W's...@G I have been roughed up regularly on Tim W's blog for pro-LVT arguments, strange because Tim W himself is a committed land taxer, probably as part of his debt to Adam Smith. He only occasionally comes out of his shell to utter standard Land Tax heresy which he does with unmatched eloquence:the right-wing third raters who make up his regulars apparently choose to ignore this as an acceptable eccentricity amidst all his Brexit fantasy and funny ideas about where new money comes from (gooseberry bushes). <br />BTW although an elaborate bit of syntax, the sentence of mine which you misquote above does by, its use of hyphens, indicate that it is Liam Halligan's blog that is more reliable at the moment: not the Sun FFS . (As well as his Despatches spectacular on the telly ,Halligan has carpet bombed the media with much the same story : Telegraph 7th Nov "Sayid Javid warns homebuilders" ;Spectator 5th Nov "Radical reform is only solution" + The Sun story 4th Nov which he quotes on his own blog. Not much else he can do, apart from make one of his appearances on Keiser , in which case he should be accompanied by Mark W as a minder and to widen out the debate.)<br />NB There is a Labour commissioned report on housing by Redfern. That seems to have escaped our attention too in all the beach frolics with Brexit. DBC Reedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17891849727783879145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-1122928762913306882016-11-17T08:06:47.394+00:002016-11-17T08:06:47.394+00:00G, it is a shame when people refuse to accept hard...G, it is a shame when people refuse to accept hard facts.<br /><br />The "economics" is easy, the land bankers want max profit for minimum effort, same as everybody else. They do this by establishing a cartel/local monopolies and restricting supply to maximise prices/minimise costs. Why would even the Homeys and Faux Libs find this hard to understand?Mark Wadsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07733511175178098449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-55665797146611316412016-11-16T18:50:22.872+00:002016-11-16T18:50:22.872+00:00There was a fierce debate on this subject on Tim W...There was a fierce debate on this subject on Tim W's blog a few months ago where I argued the very point being made by Javid, with the same statistics together with direct quotes from the annual reports of various house-building companies which stated clearly what their business plan was, and got ridiculed by various parties for flying in the face of some kind of "economics". I asked them to give another explanation for the suspiciously consistent numbers of new homes coming on the market every year and received even more abuse. I wonder whether Javid will get the same treatment.Graemehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11007306140530173428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-37820413186565245762016-11-16T18:26:17.304+00:002016-11-16T18:26:17.304+00:00M, correct. Council Tax is a feeble kind of LVT bu...M, correct. Council Tax is a feeble kind of LVT but the best we've got on residential land.Mark Wadsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07733511175178098449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-52823749201270421802016-11-16T14:58:46.737+00:002016-11-16T14:58:46.737+00:00M. I agree. It's bizarre.M. I agree. It's bizarre.Lolahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04586735342675041312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-884150694259933902016-11-16T14:03:47.318+00:002016-11-16T14:03:47.318+00:00It defies belief that council tax isn't payabl...It defies belief that council tax isn't payable until something is built and sold. Why should the police and fire department respond to calls, and should the roads and other infrastructure only be built the day after the sale?mombershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09650866436764567516noreply@blogger.com