Quote:
Originally Posted by heero_yuy
If enough people buy up then sink estates tend to get transformed into desirable places to live. 
I'm glad to see that they have pledged that the money raised would go into building more affordable housing. It could become a virtuous circle if correctly managed as well as requiring less input from the taxpayer. |
Yeah like Grant Shapps promised 1:1 replacement when they increased the discounts on RTB.
That went well - the replacement ratio dropped from 18:100 to 14:100.
It won't require less input from the taxpayer. As of 2 years ago in Wandsworth over 1/3rd of all properties sold under right to buy were being privately let. You end up with people buying up then 1/3rd being lived in by tenants who come and go, turning places with stable populations who may care about their properties into ones with transitive populations. For the sink estates it might improve it'll mess up other developments.
It will however do a great job of bribing a few and will get some social cleansing going. Forcing LAs to sell off properties in more expensive areas to fund this will do a great job of that.
Incidentally if you're a 'small c' conservative this is hideous as it's the government confiscating something they don't own - housing associations are charities - and forcing its privatisation.
If you're a large 'C' conservative it's short term idiocy as it will reduce the level of home ownership over the longer term, just as HTB has. Some people used to use social housing to save up for home ownership, now they have to have an amazing job, mortgage themselves to the hilt, rely on the bank/hotel of mum and dad, or use the taxpayer to guarantee them.