Who remembers this BBC news article from 2011 and now that we have rolled into 2014 how many are still valid read the full article at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15400477 the eight solutions which the author is suggesting and our initial thoughts are –
1) Encourage the elderly out of big houses – if people have worked hard all their lives do they no longer have the right to live in the property of their choice if they can afford it?
2) Freestyle Planning – What do you want outside your front door is it not better to have some watch dog government body rather than none
3) Contain Population Growth – Many have tried many have failed – the previously held statistic of 2.4 children per family seem s now to be in decline with various estimates between 1.6 and 1.9 see BBC articles for2002 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1990679.stm and 2010 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11960183 if these are correct will there be a housing crisis in ten years time????
4) Force Landlords to sell or let empty properties – bright shiny and new or old and tired an possibly in dodgy areas – it’s a no brainer for most people
5) Ban Second homes – see answer 1 – if we follow this route entrepreneurs will become a dying breed
6) Guarantee Mortgage Payments – this will need some clever legislation if someone is guaranteeing mortgage payments will the temptation to be lax with payments be great for many.
7) Live with Extended families – presumably in the large homes we could also be throwing our parents out of ???
8) Build more Council Houses – is this not high on the pledge list of every political party prior to an election only to fail miserably once elected.
We find it somewhat strange with articles such as these that no one ever suggests renovation of the existing housing stock which we would of course as a supplier of composite doors – item 4 is about as close as this author gets. Since this article was written in 2011 we have more boarded up High Street Shops than before, more areas of properties that were perfectly serviceable houses standing empty because the tenants were moved on in preference for some wonderful new scheme which has never materialised for lack of finance.
Does this country really have a housing crisis or is it crass bad management of the stock available is anybody looking at the bigger picture of declining population; we do not know but would be interested in your opinion.