tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post7966424596352578550..comments2024-03-05T10:52:24.691+00:00Comments on Mark Wadsworth: Rainfall causes droughts - shockMark Wadsworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07733511175178098449noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-65036856752024069282013-06-26T18:24:16.274+01:002013-06-26T18:24:16.274+01:00BE; "Private landlords do not "unethical...BE; <i>"Private landlords do not "unethically demand" location rents, people are willing to pay location rents, funnily enough."</i><br /><br />That's like saying <i>"Kidnappers do not "unethically demand" ransom money, people are willing to pay it to get their loved ones back, funnily enough"</i><br /><br /><i>"You seem to love council housing to the exclusion of all else."</i><br /><br />Good grief no! Vastly better would be full on LVT (and near-market rents in social housing) coupled with a Citizen's Income/personal allowance and low or no taxes on earnings etc.<br /><br />Council Housing is just a sticking plaster, albeit a very good one, with or without LVT.<br /><br />LF, I refer you to my comment above.Mark Wadsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07733511175178098449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-37746569127868144472013-06-26T17:32:39.466+01:002013-06-26T17:32:39.466+01:00"You seem to love council housing to the excl..."You seem to love council housing to the exclusion of all else, when the required solution is more housing overall"<br />Very true. Although better redistribution of housing is also good.<br />I used to know a pro single mum who lived in zone 3 London, madness when she could waste our money anywhere in the UK!L fairfaxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12274756119129254373noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-56183418268207960212013-06-26T17:13:22.035+01:002013-06-26T17:13:22.035+01:00Private landlords do not "unethically demand&...Private landlords do not "unethically demand" location rents, people are willing to pay location rents, funnily enough. And this is shown by how many council tenants sub-let their rather nice locations.<br /><br />You seem to love council housing to the exclusion of all else, when the required solution is more housing overall. And I think most people would strongly suspect that the private rented sector is far more flexible and efficient at balancing supply and demand than local authorities are. <br /><br />My solution would be to increase "social housing", the private rented sector and the owner-occupier sector and the amount of total housing simultaneously by the taxpayer building high quality housing in large quantities and then selling some of it off and handing some of it to housing associations. You'd plan to build enough of it over time to shoot buy-to-letters' fox - no money on the table for them. <br /><br />BEOld BEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06974090439936326476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-29581190474813987522013-06-26T14:57:40.579+01:002013-06-26T14:57:40.579+01:00LF: "Shouldn't assets earn the maximum am...LF: <i>"Shouldn't assets earn the maximum amount possible?"</i><br /><br />I'm a land value taxer, so my view is the government's ONLY source of revenue should be land rents - but before we start whining about social tenants not paying for location rent, how's about asking owner-occupiers to stump up, that's a far bigger pool of rent to collect/tax.<br /><br />Parking charges again is a different topic and has got to do with optimising use of scarce spaces and hence increasing overall footfall in shops.<br /><br />Most parking fines are a bloody outrage of course.Mark Wadsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07733511175178098449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-68664993703648382672013-06-26T14:54:56.617+01:002013-06-26T14:54:56.617+01:00LF, of course I've dealt with councils, they a...LF, of course I've dealt with councils, they aren't always the quickest off the mark, but so what? <br /><br />As to your leasehold thing, that is a whole 'nother topic. I was talking about just renting a council house. <br /><br />Simple fact is, you can now be on the waiting list for years, but that is not really down to the council (in the good old days, the waiting list was a few months or something).<br /><br />The government does not necessarily do everything really slowly, passports and driving licences seems to work OK, doesn't it?Mark Wadsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07733511175178098449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-34687194639045971312013-06-26T14:54:38.121+01:002013-06-26T14:54:38.121+01:00"As long the rents actually received more tha..."As long the rents actually received more than cover the running costs (which they very much do, even if you knock off the large number of tenants living for free), how is this a bad deal for anybody?"<br />Shouldn't assets earn the maximum amount possible? <br />Certainly councils take that view when it comes to parking charges so why not houses?<br />L fairfaxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12274756119129254373noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-4574522242807442082013-06-26T14:50:53.311+01:002013-06-26T14:50:53.311+01:00"4. So if we built enough* council housing, t..."4. So if we built enough* council housing, the waiting list would be days or weeks rather than years. The sector would be "larger and more fluid" "<br />Have you ever dealt with a council?<br />I have when selling a leasehold flat and I find it hard to believe the waiting list would ever be days after that experience.L fairfaxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12274756119129254373noreply@blogger.com