Smell the Fear Posted May 14, 2006 Share Posted May 14, 2006 I am broadly in favour of a relaxation of planning laws, but there are issues which are never discussed on HPC in regard of planning. If new communities start to spring up, there are inevitable costs for local and national government, which can be very substantial. New roads, streetlights, new rubbish collection routes, healthcare provision, school building etc. Meanwhile, what tends to happen is that millions flee their lives in the cities to pastures new, resulting in hollowed out cities and the formation of slums. This has happened in London and other cities in the past, and those cities are only now recovering from the effects (as areas of originally wealthy occupants are regentrified after decades of slum status). I think there is an argument for avoiding this. On the whole, I think there is adequate housing already for the nation's needs. There are issues of efficiency (examples are retirees living in huge houses alone whilst families are crammed into 2 bed flats, and the voids created by the BTL boom). These inefficiencies should be discouraged by providing incentives for the efficient use of housing, in the same way that there are incentives to drive a more environmentally friendly car, or the same way that there are fines for dropping litter or fly tipping. Aside from these issues, the overriding problem has been the massive wall of cheap money flooding the country. That is the real source of the artificial shortage that has been created. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichM Posted May 14, 2006 Share Posted May 14, 2006 NuLabour/Grodon Brown do not want affordable housing in the short-to-medium term. It is just a smoke screen to talk about affordable housing schemes, greedy developers, problems with planning, etc., etc. This is about the only reference in print I have seen to your suggestion: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jh...5/11/dt1101.xml [second letter down] What a tragedy more people aren't so smart... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuyingBear Posted May 14, 2006 Share Posted May 14, 2006 What a tragedy more people aren't so smart... Yes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smell the Fear Posted May 14, 2006 Share Posted May 14, 2006 Yes It's all part of Dr M-S's masterplan to lure Bruno/Jonathan Trees to the Institute of Psychiatry where he will undergo Dr M-S's revolutionary umbrella therapy, designed to reduce the predeliction for rising property prices. If successful, the therapy will be rolled out to all NHS Trusts across the country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bingley Bloke Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 Is the 60K the construction cost or the construction cost + the land cost? Construction only. Land is extra. In other words, it isn't affordable housing at all really. A while ago I looked at building a basic but decent house. I worked out that I could erect the building for as little as £45K, using decent materials, not Prescott's bargain-basement rubbish, but the cheapest bit of land I could find was £85K. My entire budget was £85K max! Looking through my local paper on jobs day I see the wages being offered dictate that most would struggle to afford 60K, never mind £60K plus land costs! House prices aren't the problem, land prices are. Until the inflated perception of land values is subject to a significant correction living in a cardboard box will be unaffordable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 (edited) They're talking about these £60k homes on BBC1 Breakfast. It is a joke, as you could build a very nice terrace for £60k! Edited May 15, 2006 by Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon99 Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 (edited) They're talking about these £60k homes on BBC1 Breakfast. It is a joke, as you could build a very nice terrace for £60k! They are indeed a joke, but the BBC seems to think they're great, and you can buy one on shared ownership too. So you can now pay a fortune for a shared ownership glorified shed. I despair. Edited May 15, 2006 by simon99 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bingley Bloke Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 (edited) They are indeed a joke, but the BBC seems to think they're great, and you can buy one on shared ownership too. So you can now pay a fortune for a shared ownership glorified shed. I despair. Why don't they just build huge blocks of tiny flats for the peasants... you know, like they used to do. At least that would be honest. Hang on! Wait a minute!! They are doing!!! They're called 'luxury apartments' and cost three times what the useable space within them is really worth!!!! Edited May 15, 2006 by Bingley Bloke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimmmm Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 They have just showed the new place on the BBC news (when the BBC said that house prices were 7x annual salary). Actually, they look quite good. But as the builder representative explained, by the time you buy the land, you could purchase one of their 2 bedroom numbers in bricks and mortar. The latter are not so spacious though..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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