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Wages have been stagnant for decades while the cost of living has increased... and now housing has become a privilege. Yes, there are "rich foreigners" and som
by heresie-dabord 5y ago
Wages have been stagnant for decades while the cost of living has increased... and now housing has become a privilege.
Yes, there are "rich foreigners" and some corporations are strategically acquiring the places and spaces where high rent can be extracted. But what has driven housing cost in the market of individual homes is simply that some citizens can afford to borrow at low rates, and other citizens are seizing the opportunity to realise gains that they could not attain through a lifetime of work, wage increases, and other investing.
It is grim to work for years and have nothing else to show for it.
Young families, workers, the elderly, and the poor will be unable to afford even tenancy in the big cities. (To turn dark for just a moment, we only really seem to have a plan for the elderly.) The future control of crucial urban voting-blocks in Western democracies will be in the hands of landlords.
- bushbaba 5y agoThe governments are to blame. If conventional mortgages were capped to 1 per person. And a minimum of 80% ltv was required. Then houses would be cheaper. Instead the government is letting people put low money down, low interest rates, and buy up many houses at once. That of course inflated housing costs.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- ericmay 5y agoI like this idea. I’d add in though you gotta do something about corporate ownership though.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- heresie-dabord 5y ago> The governments are to blame. Governments are reluctant to oppose profiteering. And with stagnant wages and rising COL, working people are being squeezed out of ownership. The British band XTC had a prescient song -- "Where did the ordinary people go?" They couldn't afford to live in their hometowns anymore!
- fennecfoxy 5y agoYup, things like buy 2 let should've been banned in London & areas around London a long time ago. Hell, ban b2l in all of the UK until everyone that wants their first home has one.