Borrow More To Boost Building, Says Sajid Javid

[mikey4444]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41714128

A Tory talking sense for once...very refreshing !

[mushroom25]

where are they going to put all these houses? if brexit ends up being a no-deal scenario, we're going to need all the food growing land that we can.

[ToraToraTora]

I believe our current interest payments on debt are more than the defence budget, so borrow more? the old socialist mantra eh? right oh!

[New Judge]

Yes just what the country needs - to borrow shedloads more money to build houses for rent at "affordable" prices (i.e. well below the market rate) with someone, somewhere - i.e. all taxpayers everywhere - bearing the loss.

There are not too few houses there are too many people. Instead of devising ways to fund cheap houses the country needs to devise ways to stabilise the population because an ever-increasing population simply cannot be sustained.

[Kathyan]

Well said NJ. I've been saying there are far too many people in this country for years.

[EDDIE51]

^ Talking sense, that was my first thought, but I think it is too sensible to be taken up .

[EDDIE51]

Mind you at the same time another Tory was saying that after Brexit farmers in the UK will grow more food to replace imports.
How exactly they will grow more food and at the same time build 100s of thousands of new houses? You can't use the same land to build houses and grow more food. Do these people ever actually communicate with each other before they open their mouths?
EBBOM should be their motto!
(Engage Brain Before Opening Mouth)

[ToraToraTora]

Have a day off eddie, there's plenty of land for both. Also due to EU silliness huge amounts of existing farm land are not used. Farmers get paid to not farm, so after brexit we ca start farming efficiently.

[ladybirder]

Noooo I don't want houses built all over our beautiful countryside.

[albaqwerty]

Hasn't the UK already got enough empty premises (old factories/shops etc) the could be converted into dwellings?

[ToraToraTora]

yes there are a lot of brown field sites that can be used.

[EDDIE51]

Old shops factories etc are not in areas designated for housing.
We are going to have to accept losing a lot of other facilities if we are to build more houses. 5 pubs in my small town have been converted to housing in the last 3 years alone. One now has 32 flats in what was the garden and car park.

[albaqwerty]

I can think of one factory estate in 'my area' where the empties could be knocked down, if not converted.
Good road links are already in situ.
Wouldn't take much to re-open the rail station.

[EDDIE51]

A major factor in the housing crisis is Margaret Thatcher changing the rule that every council house sold had to be replaced by building another council house of the same size. She let the council's use the money for anything they wanted. That led to all the best social housing being sold off and never replaced.

[New Judge]

“A major factor in the housing crisis is Margaret Thatcher changing the rule that every council house sold had to be replaced by building another council house of the same size. “

The idea of selling off council properties (at usually considerably below the market value) was to remove from the State the burden of having to provide subsidised housing. The cost to the Exchequer of running these properties is enormous. There is little sense in selling one at a discount only to pay considerably more to have an identical one built to replace it – especially when the replacement will cost just as much in subsidised rent and maintenance as the original did.

The State should not be in the business of building houses. In fact there is very little that the State can do that the private sector cannot do more efficiently. The difficulty arises when the State feels the need to support people who should be supporting themselves.

[Gromit]

// The difficulty arises when the State feels the need to support people who should be supporting themselves. //

Definitely an ABer totally not understanding the subject. At least Sajid Javid understands that there is a problem, even though his track record shows he is usually useless.

[Old_Geezer]

The State has to be in the business of owning residential property, as it has a duty to those who can not afford market level rents. Much better than giving benefits to pass to landlords with high rents.

[mikey4444]

NJ....so what you are really saying...let them eat cake ?

[Old_Geezer]

Meanwhile, yes, the real problem is too many people. This is supported by the fact that other resources are strained also. Difficulty is that tackling the real issue is long term, and authorities prefer to relieve the symptoms in the short term, by urban sprawl, and then ignore the rest assuming they've kicked the problem into the future when it'll be someone else's headache.

[scooping]

As someone who uses the trains a lot - Manchester to Euston or Plymouth to Paddington - I think it is really sad that in every five seconds of every journey I see buildings. This is not the case in France, Germany or Italy. We are a small, heavily populated group of islands. NO MORE IMMIGRANTS.

[mikey4444]

Scooping...has it occurred to you that the reason that you see buildings "every few seconds" from the train is because the railway is there in the first place ?

There is plenty of room in Britain to build more homes and your attempt to make this into an anti-immigrant thread is duly noted.