karlosfandango

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Jonathan Portes: UK house prices a 'force of evil' The UK economy is firmly on the road to recovery according to findings by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR). The Confederation of British Industry also feel the economy is experiencing an upturn. Jonathan Portes, director at NIESR, told the Today programme: "We are now on track for a decent recovery." He said: "The housing market in the UK, and this is a long term problem, is undoubtedly a force of evil. House prices are too high in this country because we don't build enough houses." First broadcast on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Tuesday 5 November 2013. Worth a listen.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2473070/Young-single-priced-buying-home-country-Getting-property-ladder-distant-dream.html Single people are priced out of getting a first rung on the property ladder in almost all of the country, an alarming new study reveals. In 80 per cent of England fewer than one in 10 homes is within reach of people in their twenties trying to buy alone. Housing charity Shelter warned that the idea of owning a property ‘is quickly becoming a distant dream for the next generation’. A new analysis of the huge gap between average wages and soaring house prices reveals single people are the ‘most badly affected’, Shelter said. In more 82 per cent of council areas, fewer than one in ten available properties is classed as affordable, based on raising a 20 per cent deposit and borrowing 3.3 times average incomes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Well worth reading the article, despite it being the Daily Mail *spits on floor*.. Encouraging to see a cold dose of reality in a main stream newspaper article. The highest rated comments are very sensible.