Saturday, Jan 17, 2009
Housing minister has her 'green shoots' moment
Sunday Times: Beckett tells first-time buyers: don’t delay
THE housing minister, Margaret Beckett, claims there are signs of an “upturn” in the property market despite official figures showing prices plummeting at an unprecedented rate.
She disclosed the government was already worrying about the next housing boom, and was intervening to ensure any recovery in prices does not squeeze people out of the market.
She warns would-be first-time buyers not to delay in the hope of further price falls, because “when the upturn comes, there will probably be a mad rush”.
She said the government is determined to ensure as many people as possible can buy their own homes. Beckett cannot see the British perception of renting as “second best” changing. “People do feel that if you are just paying rent for years, it’s money down the drain."
22 Comments
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1. japanese uncle said...
Be careful Lesser Maggie, comments like this could trigger thousands of future actions for financial compensations brought against you.
2. S2r2005 said...
this public information announcement was brought to in association with Foxtons, for all your housing needs.
3. stillthinking said...
Buy them with what? The whole point is that the banks are all busted.
4. icarus said...
Pass me the copies of Kafka and Orwell and the puke bucket.
5. voiceofreason said...
1.5% IRs are forcing all those with cash to invest in assets to get a return.
This is what low IRs cause. They cause INFLATION.
They do not help with affordability for those without cash, e,g, FTBers.
Only lower prices can help with that.
This govt needs toi put IRs up again, and stop trying to prolong the asset price bubble.
There are many other perniicious effects of low IRs. Reduced bank margins, also they actually increase the cost to the banks of getting money because all the savers are pulling their cash out of potentially economically productive accounts into assets than cannot be lent to others in need of the cash.
So if all the savers pull out their cash and buy property, land, gold then there will be no cash to lend to FTBers.
6. Dbc Reed said...
Is this some kind of spoof?
7. voiceofreason said...
The more I think about it, the more I think we need to pop this asset price bubble to get things moving again.
8. fjcruiser said...
it is called the green shoot theory of NU labour.
9. Phil said...
This is pure evil - if she really believes what she is saying why doesn't she take on a mortgage at 5x joint income - just like John Gummer fed his children beef.
10. magnifico said...
Noticed how no timescale is mentioned, but the article tries to induce a fear of "missing the boat again" into the few sensible people who find themselves debt-free.
We didn't fall for it in the days when all of the media were shouting in unison that "prices can only go up" and personally I won't be temped by the opinion of a finished politician.
Can she resign when at the end of the year prices would have dropped by another 20%?
11. hpwatcher said...
Another rubbish announcement from the ship of fools.
12. quiet guy said...
“If demand starts to turn up before supply turns up, you’re immediately back in inflationary pressures”
Whoa Margaret! You're 'Off Message'. Deflation is the big threat that the incumbents have been warning of isn't it?
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article5470100.ece
This government is bricking it. If they are saying things like this now, imagine what we will be hearing about housing during the next election campaign?
13. titaniccaptain said...
The horse has spoken.............you can lead her to water but you cant make her think
14. paul said...
The horse has spoken.............you can lead her to water but you cant make her think
That's harsh.
Or is it?
15. titaniccaptain said...
“If demand starts to turn up before supply turns up, you’re immediately back in inflationary pressures, and it’s just not economically healthy."............Demand and supply mean nothing without the credit to buy the item (The House) which is in demand. The price needs to fit in with AVAILABLE CREDIT to make the whole demand and supply principle work. Back to the riding school and ten laps around the padock.
16. titaniccaptain said...
@paul
Thats not a horse thats a hyena on Steroids
17. enuii said...
OMG; somebody call a vet out quick.
18. Rimmer said...
Voiceofreason
Quote "1.5% IRs are forcing all those with cash to invest in assets to get a return"
And who says what an assett is ?
Are houses currently an assett?
Be serious the returns on property over the next 10 years will be far lower than the stock market and who really wants to tread there at the moment?
19. inflation is eating my savings said...
Do more people suffer by being tempted into a falling market than suffer because of a long term falling market?
Any utilitarians out there?
20. confused76 said...
she is barking mad
"It might seem an impossible task, but Beckett believes another property boom may not be very far off - and warns there is no time to waste.
“If demand starts to turn up before supply turns up, you’re immediately back in inflationary pressures, and it’s just not economically healthy. If you haven’t got the construction training programmes, or the skills, or the people coming through, all you’ll get is an inflationary bottleneck when the upturn comes, and that’s the last thing we need.”
21. a saver said...
Criminally irresponsible. And she doen't seem to realise that she's implicitly admitting that the government were wrong not to intervene when the house price bubble was inflating at a dangerous rate.
22. Albimac said...
It really does highlight how much these politicians care for the people of this country. No shame what so ever.