Sunday, Jul 08, 2007
Not even the Highland clearances had this efffect
Guardian: Holidaymakers oust the Arran islanders
...yet more heartache for the 'average' people of this God forbidden country. You may be happy in your expensive holiday home, but don't count on having any emergency cover in the future. This makes me sick.
Posted by deadman @ 08:33 AM (136 views) Add Comment
7 Comments
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1. paul said...
Yet again we have this misguided idea that somehow investors have to be accommodated for - the local community has to find a solution to keep investors happy and house local residents. It's completely arse-about-face! The local residents should come first and the investors second!!!
The reality though is probably that the town councillors themselves have investment properties and wouldn't want to jeopardize their nest-eggs.
THIS is why I support direct action such as torching of holiday homes - there is too much corruption up the decision chain to put the current crisis right.
2. enuii said...
Paul, the same phenomenon is at work in most towns in the UK especially England where lax councils & planning controls have resulted in vast swathes of flats being built that are actively sold as 'investments' rather than real homes were people with real needs can live. When over 50% of all new-builds are 'apartments' (sic) and the majority remains empty year after year once sold you know something is badly wrong about the whole ethos of home ownership and investment in this country.
The only ray of light is that there are only so many 'holiday/investment' properties that can be held before the market is saturated and the whole principle of property investment becomes uneconomic.
3. Stoatgobbler said...
Paul,
I think that good points are invariably ruined by advocating violence.
I suspect the answer to your issue will be provided in the fullness of time when people find that they have to sell their holiday properties in a fire sale (no pun intended), along with their main residences in Edinburgh etc. Then your Aran islander who kept his hard earned in his pocket will be able to buy a nice place on Aran and a holiday flat in Edinburgh.
4. rich said...
If these Arran islanders really wanted to keep the island to themselves all they have to do is not sell their houses to outsiders. It's a free market.
Enforced protectionism (via legal means or via Paul's) will just mean that anyone who wants to sell up and leave will be unable to because they don't have a hope of raising the money to buy a house on the mainland.
5. also sold to rent said...
I was just about to post what rich said. Don't blame the 'outsiders', blame the locals. They're the ones who are selling to the highest bidder. If the locals only sold to locals they'd have a closed market and they'd all have houses and all be happy and all be stuck in the dark ages.
6. talking rot said...
Who wants to live on Arran anyway? It is a hole - admittedly a very peaceful hole but what is there?
Let the Islanders sell. When the isle is occupied by second home owners and holiday lets, then there should be more need to maintain services and it will rot. The second home owners will find themselves owning a rotting house with limited access to services; their "investment" purchase will plummet in value and they will have difficulty in selling.
That is a true free market.
Likewise, it is good if key workers can not afford to live in an area. Without key workers, the area in question will degrade - schools will not be able to recruit unless teachers' salaries rise dramatically. Higher salaries means inflation which leads to higher interest rates which leads to a bust. Alternatively, don't pay teachers higher salaries (although I am personally strongly against this). When schools close because of lack of teachers, prices will plummet. Isn't this a free market? Of course not; this is why New Liebour brought in the "key workers' home purchase schemes!" A means to keep house prices artificially high!
7. rich said...
As for the evicted tenant the Guardian uses as a centrepiece for the article... my ancestors lived in London, and I don't get any protection from rent increases because I live in the same area. Why should she?