A new Shelter/National Housing Federation report argues that investing around £12bn on building 90,000 #socialhousing units would see a positive return within 11 years.
Getting people into homes would reduce benefits costs, save the #NHS money & more likely see those in proper homes (back) in #work. It would also, of course, boost employment in construction & associated trades.
The paradox for UK #politics is while a long time horizon is acceptable for #nuclear#energy, for homes, not so much!
The First Home grant was what allowed my whānau to finally be able to afford a modest townhouse in South Akl.
We love our little home. 🏘️
It is infuriating that a similar opportunity won't be available anymore to people like us.
(And I get that it was an inefficient subsidy on demand, but in a market as cooked as NZ's it was a helpful tool. One that should not be removed until the supply variables in the equation are solved. And currently they are only getting worse, thanks CoC)
@pezmico Is the solution not to tax the absolute fuck out of speculative profits in #housing, and spend the proceeds on building a shit-ton of new #SocialHousing rented at such low rates that it forces rental prices down in the private rental sector?
Subsidies just drive the speculative bubble higher. What we need to do -- everywhere in the world -- is destroy it.
The #Tories have chosen to poor money into a failing #migration policy & funnel much of the money to #Rwanda to deport a small number of #refugees.... in an inhumane & callous set of policies.
There are at least two clear reasons why #Vienna is so often voted one of the most liveable cities in the world:
the defining logic of the city is: 'is this good for children' in stead of 'is this good for property developers'?
When awarding planning permission Vienna's planners requires 50% 'affordable housing' in all new urban developments, not the much lower ratios elsewhere.
After 15 #Housing Ministers since 2010, and the chaos of #Tory housing 'policy' is it any surprise that in a survey of 50 major housebuilding firms suggests around 70% now favour a Labour Govt. after the next election.
The Q.is whether this merely means that the private sector housing lobby think they have Labour stitched up... because if they do, its unlikely they'll be supporting a massive expansion of #socialhousing
Equally it may be atop that NIMBYs have less sway with #KeirStarmer...
With the recent conversations about the Royal Family (Britain unfortunately) I was, with a little time to kill having to work on a document this Saturday morning, pondering the term ‘Council Tenant’. It seems ridiculous to have had to add ‘that is perfectly ok’ to my comments.
But Thatcher and the Tories managed to make it necessary - just like using public transport, it has become in many minds something to be pitied.
How many homes does the UK need to build to address the #Housingcrisis?
To be clear, of course, that not all the crisis is just about supply... there are issues of #socialhousing provision & #inequality wrapped up in the crisis too, so more building has to be part of a bigger strategic response.
But, nonetheless looking at international comparisons of dwellings per capita will give us some indication.
And the shortfall looks to be growing against international (OECD country) norms!
We can agree that the #housingcrisis is being made worse by the lack of affordable & #socialhousing..... so the news that Housing Associations are planning to reduce their spend in 2024 rather than increasing construction is worrying;
in the decade to 2022, there was a net loss of 165,000 social homes; now is not the time to scaling back construction.
The HA's are reducing consgtruction in the face of #inflation, high #interestrates & required repairs.
Just a reminder. Scotland and Wales removed this STUPID policy years ago. An easy example of sanity being brought to bear with devolved assemblies. Roll on independence.
Short-term rentals and property speculation are driving rent increases in cities across the globe, but Vienna has found a different path. This city, renowned for its livability, offers tenants rents a fraction of those in Paris, London, or Dublin, thanks to a unique housing policy that prioritizes affordability.
With vague promises that “this will be better” than a previous temporary shelter at the site, council adopted new bylaws & amended the official #CommunityPlan for the #housing project at 225 Russell St.
📖 As a result of his doctoral research at the IHC, Diogo Duarte has published an article on #Anarchism, #PublicOrder and #SocialHousing in Portugal in the first half of the 20th century.
Aha, so the crisis in #socialhousing isn't about the number of homes, its about the 'rule-breakers' disrupting an otherwise working system..... welcome (back) to the world of #Tory policy where there are only two types of person the worthy & the unworthy.
Like 'benefits cheats' a small minority are going to be used as a weapon to continue to ensure provision is both limited & callous!
Decisions, decisions. ‘Scottish’ Labour have gone very quiet on their variable support/discouragement of trials of rent caps in several areas of Scotland. I wonder who will win, party donors or some desire to begin to alleviate the problems across the UK?
While housing is seen as an investment rather than a utility, we all suffer.
For the occupants, a rental home is a home.... for their landlord its an asset that they want to be able to maximise the rent on (by kicking out current tenants & upping the rent), or be able to sell quickly when they want to realise some capital.
The problem is that for the landlord this looks like good capital management, but for the (erstwhile) tenant it can often be the prelude to #homelessness.
With adequate supply of #socialhousing this would not be the problem it has become....
An entertaining and insightful history of social housing in the UK. Including how Thatcher's 'right to buy' empowered the same kind of predatory slumlords that social housing was intended to protect working people from, and resulted in people working hard to buy their flat, only to be evicted and given a pittance when the tower blocks their homes were part of were under-maintained and then condemned.
At least two short-term let operators charge nearly £150 per night on Airbnb for flats in the new-build Dargavel scheme, beside Bishopton, Renfrewshire – where plans for 93 new council houses were scrapped last year.
That some families in London have been in temporary accommodation for over a decade is a sad but clear indicator of the costs of a failure to (re)build the country's social housing... there is an appalling impact on children's development, but also a massive cost to Council budgets, money that would have been better spent on building homes.
Of course, the private providers of accommodation are laughing all the way the bank.