British Politics Thread.

[Psychosplodge]

Unless the rest of us see a raise in the same sort of terms or greater than the minimum wage we're all going to be worse off when the prices go up with the minimum wage.

[Mr Mystery]

True that.

I'm also broadly pleased with tax breaks for buy-to-let being reduced for high earners. Might see the rental market stop being quite so insane.

[Psychosplodge]

It might stop the selfish *******s buying all the housing suitable for first time buyers you mean?

[Mr Mystery]

That's the ticket

Take away their tax breaks, and they might just not bother, because it costs them slightly more.

Then all we need is a sustained project of house building (and no developers, not your 'luxury' flats. Mainly because I'm not at all convinced making your interior, dividing walls out of rice paper actually constitutes any kind of luxury) and we might get the housing market back under control.

[Psychosplodge]

and there's nothing luxurious about a 40 square metre box.

[Kirsten]

interesting seeing the headlines today when went for lunch. right wing papers reporting lower taxes and higher minimum wage better for poorer families, left wing papers reporting benefits cuts and working class worse off.

[Psychosplodge]

Neither's probably 100% accurate, but of course they have their ideological point to push.

[Denzark]

That's the ticket

Take away their tax breaks, and they might just not bother, because it costs them slightly more.

Then all we need is a sustained project of house building (and no developers, not your 'luxury' flats. Mainly because I'm not at all convinced making your interior, dividing walls out of rice paper actually constitutes any kind of luxury) and we might get the housing market back under control.

Housing is such a difficult thing. I disagree wholly with the principle that an asset somebody owns, should suffer restrictions on how much they can sell or rent it for. This applies to houses. At the end of the day, a reasonable price is what someone will pay for something. We have similar arguments about 40K.

OK - the difference is that 40K is a luxury, true, but there are many parts of the world where bricks and mortar would be considered a luxury form of shelter from the environment.

Figures I can find (National House Building Council) show 138500 plots for building were registered for 2013-14. 172000 were built on average per year 2001-2006.

And net migration to the UK 13-14 was 243000.

Rather than legislate for telling people the prices they must sell/rent their property assets at - after all we wouldn't do that for any other asset - why not ease the market by having less people coming to the UK? then the house commodity is not so rare so prices should naturally fall.

[Mr Mystery]

Because it's those who already have money that are pricing everyone else out in a no-lose situation, as they just ramp up rents.

This is why I also support the new 'full priced' social housing thing. Got a council flat? Earn £30k outside Nodnol or £40k in Nodnol? Guess you're paying market value rent!

What's that! You can't afford it? Good. Do what everyone else has to do, and move somewhere more affordable. You're earning bloody good money, so stop schlepping around in housing intended for those less fortunate, particularly as the very same people who should be in your accommodation are currently in private rents, where the 'think of a number' monthly cost is met by the tax payer!

[Denzark]

true.