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This is what happens in democracies. The local councils and city governments open their doors and drool over anyone willing to buy property. Property price rise

by joonix 14y ago

This is what happens in democracies. The local councils and city governments open their doors and drool over anyone willing to buy property. Property price rises and thus increases the revenues they can bring in any play with. There is almost no incentive for a government to keep housing affordable. Then we end up with disenfranchisement on the scale of London's: Londoners and actual British citizens and residents are told kindly to screw off while the billionaires build their playground and stash away their dirty money. You see this in Vancouver, Sydney, Hong Kong, New York; the list goes on.

walshemj 14y ago
Well Tory boroughs sold off a lot of the social housing stock and in at least one case where caught trying to use it to gerrymander - there are senior torys hiding out in countries with now extradition to the UK to this day. Ironically one of the recipients of this council housing sell off in Westminster I worked with was a very left wing lesbian - She had great fun at election times with the Tory election canvassers.
- gadders 14y ago
  They sold the housing stock off to the people that were actually renting the council houses, increasing home ownership and enriching a generation of working class people.
  - walshemj 14y ago
    who then sold them to private landlords or their wealthy children who inherited their council house did so - One of my sisters friends is one of the few who did the right thing actually gave up her right to buy her deceased mums council flat (at a 30% discount)
  - SEMW 14y ago
    Which is all well and good if the council replenishes their stock of council housing. I.e. if they use the sale money to buy or build more, so having it be a permanent mechanism to help people lift themselves out of poverty. But they didn't. What they did instead was sell them off without getting any more, and used the money to cut taxes. Which is fine for the generation who benefited from that round, but means the safety net is no longer there for future generations.
    - gadders 14y ago
      Well, steps are being taken to free up council houeses now - EG fixed duration tenancies (rather than council houses for life), kicking out union Fat Cats like Bob Crow [1] and other people that could afford to live in private accommodation. [1] http://metro.co.uk/2011/04/03/bob-crow-gets-taxpayers-help-with-rent-despite-earning-145k-a-year-648306/ http://metro.co.uk/2011/04/03/bob-crow-gets-taxpayers-help-w...
  - milfot 14y ago
    They sold them off partly because they had been poorly built and maintained. They were essentially outsourcing the maintenance costs to the residents and making them pay for the privelege. The units are mostly valued well below the surrounding stock, so unless they pay exhorbitant rents or move to the country they were no better off. And for every person who made a bit of money from it, there was another who ended up having to sell back to the council for a reduced amount when they started knocking these things down in the 2000's.

by joonix 14y ago

walshemj 14y ago

Well Tory boroughs sold off a lot of the social housing stock and in at least one case where caught trying to use it to gerrymander - there are senior torys hiding out in countries with now extradition to the UK to this day. Ironically one of the recipients of this council housing sell off in Westminster I worked with was a very left wing lesbian - She had great fun at election times with the Tory election canvassers.

gadders 14y ago
They sold the housing stock off to the people that were actually renting the council houses, increasing home ownership and enriching a generation of working class people.
- walshemj 14y ago
  who then sold them to private landlords or their wealthy children who inherited their council house did so - One of my sisters friends is one of the few who did the right thing actually gave up her right to buy her deceased mums council flat (at a 30% discount)
- SEMW 14y ago
  Which is all well and good if the council replenishes their stock of council housing. I.e. if they use the sale money to buy or build more, so having it be a permanent mechanism to help people lift themselves out of poverty. But they didn't. What they did instead was sell them off without getting any more, and used the money to cut taxes. Which is fine for the generation who benefited from that round, but means the safety net is no longer there for future generations.
  - gadders 14y ago
    Well, steps are being taken to free up council houeses now - EG fixed duration tenancies (rather than council houses for life), kicking out union Fat Cats like Bob Crow [1] and other people that could afford to live in private accommodation. [1] http://metro.co.uk/2011/04/03/bob-crow-gets-taxpayers-help-with-rent-despite-earning-145k-a-year-648306/ http://metro.co.uk/2011/04/03/bob-crow-gets-taxpayers-help-w...
- milfot 14y ago
  They sold them off partly because they had been poorly built and maintained. They were essentially outsourcing the maintenance costs to the residents and making them pay for the privelege. The units are mostly valued well below the surrounding stock, so unless they pay exhorbitant rents or move to the country they were no better off. And for every person who made a bit of money from it, there was another who ended up having to sell back to the council for a reduced amount when they started knocking these things down in the 2000's.