We believe the 36, nearly 40, billion pound discount given for a right to buy houses took a million houses out of the public housing sector which is desperately needed for rent.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
So much value has been lost in the housing market that people are now buying. If there's any activity in the housing market, it's because values have plummeted to such depths that the 47% can now afford to live in a government-purchased house, or something like that.
There are tremendous barriers to building housing. If we could break them down, the need for rent controls would go away.
It's easy to underestimate the real cost of home ownership.
It's cheaper to buy a house and finance it than it is to rent in many markets.
The U.K. government sets a cap on how much can be spent on discretionary housing payments.
People should buy a house to live in, not as an investment. Property has become such a national obsession - it was the primary subject at dinner parties and how many television shows were dedicated to the market. It's not good for the economy.
There are certain people who seem doomed to buy certain houses. The house expects them. It waits for them.
The most critical factor subduing the demand for housing is that home ownership is no longer seen as the great, long-term buildup in equity value it once was.
Frankly, people buying a home to let should not be squeezing out families who can't afford a home to buy.
A housing renaissance has begun. This may be hard to believe after the dizzying, six-year-long crash in home sales, construction and house prices. But housing turned the corner last year, and it will take off in 2013.
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