Uk politics March 2018

Shelterā€™s broad guide is that housing should not cost more than 35% of someoneā€™s take home pay after tax and benefits, so youā€™re not far off.

A nice little narrativeā€¦

Utter bullshit. Donā€™t read the replies.

I was all but certain that was going to happen, unfortunately. Youā€™d have to be incredibly tough to put up with the kind of abuse sheā€™s been getting day in and day out since the appointment, and it was always going to be a running battle with her social media record rather than getting anything done.

Yeah, they know sheā€™s got her head screwed on and can probably go up against most of them. They want to derail GRA reform. Thereā€™s obviously people she canā€™t reach but theyā€™re not the ones that matter she couldā€™ve changed hearts and minds of people just a bit unsure. So frustrating.

Looks like Henry Bolton made the logo himselfā€¦

I agree wholeheartedly, I donā€™t have stats to back this up but I imagine that social housing demand outstrips supply in most areas, quite drastically in some cases? Feels like there should be a priority on social housing at least as much as affordable housing. Full disclosure, I might be more than a bit bias as I am currently seeking social housing and it is a demoralising process.

massively, 2m people on the social housing waiting list if my memory is right?

I guess now the housing situation is starting to bite what would be the next generation of Tory voters as they see their kids being completely unable to buy, they actually have to look to do something?

I think almost all Tories genuinely believe in this but I donā€™t think anyone of them know how to do it because itā€™s just a sort joke, isnā€™t it? it just looked like it worked in a few situations where the economy changed and boomed but it was only ever a section of society experiencing that mobility/opportunity. It probably looked fine when you were at the top looking down.

Fundamentally I donā€™t think most Tories are actively evil but it comes to the same thing in the end really.

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ā€œOne Nationā€? Really?

Remembering the good old days of watching The Sweeny when Britain was ā€˜rightā€™.
image

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Frustratingly I canā€™t find the figures, but I would add that however high the waiting lists are it is also worth considering that eligibility to be on a waiting list can be pretty strict so there will be people who will want/need social housing who are shut out from it altogether because of that.

Why is yhe focus so much on house buying in housing policy? Surely something like improving social housing supply could underpin improving access to home ownership by providing more people with stable, affordable living situations to get them on their feet to begin with?

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True. This is why I generally donā€™t get involved in politics discussion, I forget that it is mostly about getting into and staying in power rather than actually helping people most of the time.

Surely the focus is on house-buying in Conservative policy? Itā€™s a pretty core belief for them, and one weā€™d be unwise to think theyā€™ll ever change. Iā€™m sure Mayā€™s idea of an ideal solution to the housing crisis would look a lot like potential young tory voters all installed in their own starter homes, just like in the good old days under Maggie. If they can suck in some voters by throwing a load of cash at overcoming the deposit hurdle (help to buy and all that crap) then theyā€™ll go for it with gusto.

The next generation of tories (and they exist, Iā€™m sorry) are aspiring homeowners.

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Dah, dah, dah, dah, dah-da-da-daaaaah

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Oh god now Iā€™m going to have the Rainbow theme tune going round my head all day.

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A couple of things.

  • Thereā€™s still a strong belief within the Tory party that social housing ā€œbreedsā€ (their word, not mine) Labour voters - policy under Cameron/Osborne was driven by that core belief.
  • While thereā€™s something of a recognition that renting is often awful on the Tory side of politics (recent speeches have talked about things like insecurity of tenancy etc), because they tend towards the side of capital over consumer they find it difficult to intervene and therefore itā€™s easier for them to try and ā€œsolveā€ the problem by getting more people out of rentals and into ownership; i.e. not solving the problems with rental, but just getting as many people as they can out. This has the added benefit that those who benefit from those policies will likely be grateful to the Tories and end up more amenable to voting for them in the future.
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Itā€™s always worth bearing in mind with this, as with all areas of domestic governance, that Tories never aim to solve a problem. They aim to offer an escape route to it for some, dividing those afflicted between deserving and not-deserving.

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