I read with interest your article “Fixing our broken housing market” – to suggest that an ageing population could help solve the housing crisis is ridiculous.
Let us look at basics. First of all Britain is a small island, in fact, you could put Britain into Alaska seven times. Secondly, you have green belt land, which you cannot build on. Also, you have immigration, not only from Europe, but places like the Indian sub continent, which has been taking place since 1947.
In central London you have overseas property investors buying up property and not living in it, bought purely for investment. The Conservative government has an ‘own your own home’ policy.
Ask any young couple saving for a deposit for a home when they will achieve this they’ll
answer ‘years’.
There are hardly, if ever, any council houses being built where people on low incomes can be housed. We need rent control because the people who are getting rich are the landlords. If people cannot afford to buy, renting is the only option for them so rents are sky-high because of supply and demand. Some of the problems which Housing Minister Gavin Barwell could think about and not putting it down solely to an ageing population.
F. Freeman, Watford
