Friday 20 September 2013



HOUSING CRISIS IGNORED BY THE CONDEMS:

The government has a mandate to raise tax to deliver the best quality of life for the country’s inhabitants: There is no mandate to use the tax income to create wealth making opportunities for the few. One of the key priorities for most people is having somewhere to call home, to feel safe and secure there, even if it is not a palace. The current Condem government seems to see ‘homes’ as yet another opportunity for the wealthy to speculate while ignoring the needs of the voters who put their trust in them in 2010.

Housing supply:  A safe, secure, and affordable home is something all families deserve. For too many people in Britain today this is something that they either have to struggle for, or is not available to them at all. The construction of new homes is simply not keeping up with demand.  

The Condem Government has failed to deliver the homes that communities need. Their own figures state that 232,000 houses need to be built every year to meet demand; however in the 12 months to December 2012 only 98,280 homes were started.

There are currently enough sites with existing planning permission to build 400,000 new homes now. A responsible government would look at ways to develop these sites more quickly to benefit communities; eg look at the potential for shortening the planning permission window so that property speculators cannot create landbanks, thereby blocking home building.

The ‘need’ is for homes, not necessarily ‘houses to buy.’ They are not always the same thing. A good supply of affordable rental housing allows people to move home more easily, thereby cutting commuting time and improving career opportunities. If there were enough affordable homes for rent, the cost of buying homes would reduce too. 

The current Housing Bubble of the South East and the Condem Equity Loan Scheme: The ‘Fanny Mae’ and ‘Freddy Mac’ style support for home buyers that the current government has imposed on us, the tax payers, will be paid for disproportionately by those in work with the lowest salaries and pensioners; eg supermarket check out staff who can’t afford a mortgage, will pay for the foreclosures on the homes of those people who managed to get assistance from the scheme. The current housing bubble is real, it was created by the Condem government and is doing nothing to build sustainable housing opportunities for tax payers.

Bed room tax: The recent National Housing Federation study shows that 50% of people affected by the bedroom tax have been pushed into arrears within the first 3 months of the implementation; ie 330,000 people. This is a pointless and cruel tax which is clearly failing both the tax payer and many people with disabilities. The long term effect on individuals is likely to be severe financial worries for some of our most vulnerable neighbours and family members. 

Many billions of tax pounds are lost to the UK every year because this government has not closed the Corporation Tax avoidance loopholes used by so many multinationals. This is despite Mr Cameron telling other countries to 'wake up, smell the coffee' and close the loop holes. While people with disabilities are falling into debt due to the bedroom tax, the Condems are busy REDUCING Corporation Tax from 28% to 20%. This gives the corporations many billions more of our money! 

SHAME ON MR CAMERON AND CLEGG!