4 ms·

Meanwhile Sweden and Finland are investing in their public libraries and these actually look cook

pydry 2y ago
The UK government prefers to capitalize the money that could have been spent on public services into ever higher house prices.
- CuriouslyC 2y ago
  That's probably why they just had a landslide election to overturn the old order. Also, as an outsider, UK housing prices outside of London are actually quite affordable. With the current strength of the dollar a lot of very nice places in the UK are at price parity with Arkansas/Mississippi.
  - ben_w 2y ago
    If the Wikipedia lists are correct and up to date, Arkansas ($52,528) and Mississippi ($48,716) have significantly higher incomes than the UK ($40,800 PPP, but that's including London). I don't know what prices you see for houses in those states, but do also be aware that UK houses are generally on the small side. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_income https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disposable_household_and_per_capita_income https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disposable_household_and_per_c...
    - CuriouslyC 2y ago
      I've seen renovated 9 bed 5 bath country estates from the 18th/19th century on 20 acres for the same price as 10 year old 6 bed 4 bath McMansions on 2-3 acres.
      - ben_w 2y ago
        That sounds like 10-20 million in the UK; mostly listings stop at 5 bed. Nice if you can afford it, but most people can't.
        CuriouslyC 2y ago
        I've seen that stuff for <5 actually. Still outside affordability for most I understand, but not quite so stratospheric.
  - switch007 2y ago
    Labour were in power for an unrelenting increase in house prices from 1997 to 2007.
    - CuriouslyC 2y ago
      Nothing like putting the economy in the dumpster to lower housing prices
      - deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
      - switch007 2y ago
        I'm sure the scores of homeless and temporarily housed are filled with joy about a booming economy "I know you don't want to move from London to Hartlepool but take solace in the fact the economy is up half a percent"
  - Jochim 2y ago
    It wasn't really a landslide though. The winners only received ~1.5٪ more votes than their previous "disastrous" result. The gains were largely due to the incumbent Tory votes being split by Reform, an extremely anti-immigration populist party. > as an outsider, UK housing prices outside of London are actually quite affordable. Much like Arkansas/Mississipi, both opportunity and salary are much lower than high CoL areas like London/California. Both rent and house prices in the UK have far outstripped our comparable neighbours and are causing real issues for people. New build housing is energy efficient but of poor quality and extremely expensive, often furnished with unusably small rooms.
    - CuriouslyC 2y ago
      A lot of Americans are going to cheap parts of the south because of the flexibility of work, but with global warming I think the English countryside is going to be nicer, and the locals are more open and quant in my opinion than their Arkansas/Mississippi counterparts.

The UK government prefers to capitalize the money that could have been spent on public services into ever higher house prices.

CuriouslyC 2y ago
That's probably why they just had a landslide election to overturn the old order. Also, as an outsider, UK housing prices outside of London are actually quite affordable. With the current strength of the dollar a lot of very nice places in the UK are at price parity with Arkansas/Mississippi.
- ben_w 2y ago
  If the Wikipedia lists are correct and up to date, Arkansas ($52,528) and Mississippi ($48,716) have significantly higher incomes than the UK ($40,800 PPP, but that's including London). I don't know what prices you see for houses in those states, but do also be aware that UK houses are generally on the small side. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_income https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disposable_household_and_per_capita_income https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disposable_household_and_per_c...
  - CuriouslyC 2y ago
    I've seen renovated 9 bed 5 bath country estates from the 18th/19th century on 20 acres for the same price as 10 year old 6 bed 4 bath McMansions on 2-3 acres.
    - ben_w 2y ago
      That sounds like 10-20 million in the UK; mostly listings stop at 5 bed. Nice if you can afford it, but most people can't.
      - CuriouslyC 2y ago
        I've seen that stuff for <5 actually. Still outside affordability for most I understand, but not quite so stratospheric.
- switch007 2y ago
  Labour were in power for an unrelenting increase in house prices from 1997 to 2007.
  - CuriouslyC 2y ago
    Nothing like putting the economy in the dumpster to lower housing prices
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
    - switch007 2y ago
      I'm sure the scores of homeless and temporarily housed are filled with joy about a booming economy "I know you don't want to move from London to Hartlepool but take solace in the fact the economy is up half a percent"
- Jochim 2y ago
  It wasn't really a landslide though. The winners only received ~1.5٪ more votes than their previous "disastrous" result. The gains were largely due to the incumbent Tory votes being split by Reform, an extremely anti-immigration populist party. > as an outsider, UK housing prices outside of London are actually quite affordable. Much like Arkansas/Mississipi, both opportunity and salary are much lower than high CoL areas like London/California. Both rent and house prices in the UK have far outstripped our comparable neighbours and are causing real issues for people. New build housing is energy efficient but of poor quality and extremely expensive, often furnished with unusably small rooms.
  - CuriouslyC 2y ago
    A lot of Americans are going to cheap parts of the south because of the flexibility of work, but with global warming I think the English countryside is going to be nicer, and the locals are more open and quant in my opinion than their Arkansas/Mississippi counterparts.