Thursday, Aug 28, 2008
Boo hoo hoo, we borrowed more than we could afford and now we can't repay it, please bail us out, waah
Independent: The real victims of the housing market crisis need all the help they can get
Taylor Wimpey's chief executive hit the nail on the head yesterday in admitting there is little the Government can do to fix the housing market. Instead, the Government's priority should be to protect the real victims of the economic slowdown – those who face the prospect of losing their homes because they can't keep up with mortgage repayments. In the current housing market climate, these borrowers don't have the option of selling up before the bailiffs arrive and they need all the help they can get. The CML expects repossessions to rise significantly in the coming months and to reach about 45,000 this year. -- IT'S NOT EXACTLY A HUGE NUMBER! How many tenants are evicted or move out of their homes each year when they can't pay the rent? There are 4,000,000 people on council waiting lists!
8 Comments
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1. wiltshire said...
The REAL victims??? Well as far as I'm concerned it's not those who took out massive mortgages that they can no longer afford. You don't even need to be a homeowner to know the mantra "Your home may be at risk if you do not keep up repayments on a mortgage or other loan secured on it."
Personally I feel more sorry for the people who've been sensible and avoided joining the stampede to buy silly money houses, FTB's who haven't bought and are renting or still at home with their parents, those who have decided not to try and climb the ladder even though they may need a bigger house, those who've STR'd and now await the inevitable meltdown. I consider them all to be victims too - well, apart from those who fall into those categories but are quite happy to do so. Them I'm pleased for.
2. drewster said...
I'm liking the early comments:
"I believe that all consumers who have recently purchased a motor vehicle on credit should also get some form of Government aid. Likewise all credit card debtors."
"Those who over-extended themselves should face the consequences and learn for the future. I looked at six times salary loans and BTL and thought - mug's game. So I've been renting and saving instead. Why should my taxes pay for the feckless few who didn't budget properly, who naively belived the property porn pushers, and bought at the top of the market at silly prices?"
Now if only we could get the same message through to the Daily Express....
3. str 2007 said...
Very true Wiltshire
I'm too soft. Yes I am a victim of this but saw it coming and now rent.
I always consider the families with one house a victim, but it could be argued they have been too greedy if they end up loosing it.
I'm looking forward to a bunch of BTLers getting wiped out.
There was one on telly last night bleating about how he couldn't afford the repayments on his Spanish apartment because he couldn't rent it out and the Estate Agent said they rent well. It didn't seem to have crossed his mind that he was surrounded by about another 2000 apartments and that they may have a similar business plan.
4. Prof said...
I didn`t buy into the "bricks and mortar pension plan".
IF the property market had not hit the rocks, and I ended up "missing out", as the VI`s predicted that I would ("if you don`t get into property now, you`ll miss the boat), would I be regarded as a victim ? I doubt it. Those that got "rich" from property would have regarded me as a loser. Now, I regard many of those who fell for the hype surrounding the property boom as losers, and LOSE they should, not be helped.
5. matt_the_hat said...
one thing I didn't quite understand in all this is that wealth is a zero sum game (I thought), so how can so many people make money on houses. We can't all get richer, I thought richness is a relative concept. Never understood the goverment mindset for allowing house prices to get out of control.
6. plato said...
5. matt_the_hat said...
"I thought richness is a relative concept."
It is. There is only so much money. There is only so much of anything (Universal Law). We have created more money out of nothing - it has no standard. It will return to nothing. This is the problem.
7. shipbuilder said...
If you think wealth=money, then it is a zero sum game, and one which you will never win.
Luckily neither richness nor wealth are anything to do with money.
8. landofconfusion said...
There is a saying: "Wealth is what you have when you have no money."