Pretty depressing reading.
Unsurprising that it all shot out of control after 2010, and just more evidence that we need to build more.
Why Britain is the world’s worst on homelessness
Submitted 4 months ago by frazorth@feddit.uk to unitedkingdom@feddit.uk
https://www.ft.com/content/24117a03-37c2-424a-97ed-6a5292f9e92e
Comments
frazorth@feddit.uk 4 months ago
mannycalavera@feddit.uk 4 months ago
This is something I’d wish the next government would do. Seriously how hard is it to build? Bust through the bullshit planning restrictions and build houses that people want to live in.
Espiritdescali@futurology.today 4 months ago
The house building companies already have vast amounts of land they own with planning permission in place. They restrict the amount of housing they build to artificially keep the prices high, if they build too many, the prices they could sell their houses for would drop, reducing profit. These are private companies and the government has little control over them. This is why every government for the last few generations has promised more houses and delivered nothing.
Wanderer@lemm.ee 4 months ago
It’s by design.
The rich want low housing and high population because it makes their assets go up. Traditionally like silent generation, greatest generation and before affordable homes for the working class and the following generations was seen as an ideal that people were willing to die for. This ideal was largely realised with the boomers.
But the boomers then decided it is better if they have houses and no one else does because their wealth can go up and they can then make money like the land owners than their grandparents were kept in poverty by. Now they can do it to their children!
I honestly don’t think it will be solved until the boomers die. Even then I wouldn’t count on it. Too much effort to keep population increasing no matter the cost.
If I was PM I would get voted out by doing something drastic like trying to put through a land value tax and building a new city 1mill+ city maybe between Hull and Leeds. Put a big fucking 200mph train line between Liverpool and hull. Tell everyone to get fucked.
sgtlion@hexbear.net 4 months ago
They simply don’t want to. Construction company owners are some of the richest and ones who do the most lobbying to MPs.
LainTrain@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 months ago
Why would they? They’re all landlords lol. More supply means dropping property values.
frazorth@feddit.uk 4 months ago
Paywall bypass link here:
Zip2@feddit.uk 4 months ago
I live in the 272nd most deprived area (out of 317).
New 4 bedrooms houses on horrible estates cost £850,000 because Londoners have moved here and commute from the nearest station.
Build the houses, make them actually affordable and only sell them to people who live or work in the local area.
mpk@awful.systems 4 months ago
(without reading article) The answer presumably boils down to “the Tories”.
frazorth@feddit.uk 4 months ago
Unfortunately the solutions are opposed by both sides, mostly because lefties are arguing points about house building not reducing costs which doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.
If we build a million McMansions, they won’t sell for £500k+ due to oversupply.
“Affordable housing” is just basically building more at this point, the reason you can sell ex-council houses for over £300k is because, as the article you didn’t read says, 1 in 200 are homeless due to insufficient housing.
bigboopballs@hexbear.net 4 months ago
surprised Canada isn’t ranked worse
atro_city@fedia.io 4 months ago
Worse than San Fransisco? No way.
PonyOfWar@pawb.social 4 months ago
Comparing a city to a country doesn’t really work.
atro_city@fedia.io 4 months ago
Why not. Walk around San Fransisco. There are multiple streets alternating from full of homeless people to upscale housing and hotels. Never seen that in the UK.
DeathsEmbrace@lemmy.ml 2 months ago
One of the few countries still practicing and worshipping monarchies has a poor people problem?
Silinde@lemmy.world 4 months ago
Until we:
The problem is, everyone in power is a landlord or otherwise benefits from the current system, so nothing changes and we continue circling the drain as a society.
frazorth@feddit.uk 4 months ago
We need to build more because this is about a Shelter piece on people having to live as families in a single hotel room rotating locations.
We aren’t even at the point of private landlords being the problem and preventing people from buying, as there simply aren’t enough houses for people
LainTrain@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 months ago
It’s both
kux@lemm.ee 4 months ago
agree with this and would add that the privatisation of social housing needs to be reversed by abolishing the right to buy before real investment into it can be started
FourPacketsOfPeanuts@lemmy.world 4 months ago
An above average number of MPs are landlords but they’re still a minority in the commons