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I recommend the article that made the rounds on HN a few weeks ago. It argued that housing as an investment and affordable housing are opposing goals. You can't
by inputcoffee 9y ago
I recommend the article that made the rounds on HN a few weeks ago. It argued that housing as an investment and affordable housing are opposing goals. You can't have both.
If London were to make housing affordable - a worthy goal - it would no longer be a good investment. The author seems to want both.
In other words, if you could afford the down payment, you wouldn't want to.
- djhworld 9y agoPeople in the UK are obsessed with housing and property, it's a national pastime. To be fair, the housing market has been propped up by successive UK governments for years, it's the only thing they have left and it's the only aspiration they try to goad the population into achieving.
- inputcoffee 9y agoIt's the same in NYC, San Fran, Seattle or any major city. There has been this secular global explosion in housing costs in large cities.
- logarthim 9y ago> obsessed with housing and property, it's a national pastime. Are you trying to say that the obsession with housing is some how trivial? I would have thought the lack of land and houses probably prop up the housing market more than the government..
- djhworld 9y agoNot trivial, I'd say it in the sense that's it's fundamentally ingrained into our culture. Additionally renters are almost treated like second class citizens, most rental contracts are short (12 months), real estate agent fees are exorbitant and clauses in rental contracts are designed specifically to protect and nurture the landlords investment, i.e. you cannot redecorate, put pictures up, own pets etc