ttosca ….. you still don’t ‘get it’, socialists CANNOT have an informative debate on immigration WITHOUT putting housing (and jobs) in the equation – and it was Labour’s failure to do this in the 2000’s that gave so much oxygen to both Ukip and the BNP – and will continue to do so unless rectified.
You are correct that we have not built enough homes for decades, including the 1990’s when the west had a recession early on, and the UK homes market was in the doldrums (with big falls in ‘real’ price terms) and the government was looking to get the resulting annual budget deficit down.
But the 2000’s were different; a strong global economy, lower global inflation/interest rates and the deficit paid down by early 2000’s meant that the UK had a chance to rectify it as the Barker Review commissioned by Brown in 2003 pointed out for around £1.2 to £1.4 billion – yet Brown’s Labour chose to spend £170 billion on new Quango’s and allow 2.5 million new citizens in WITHOUT building any extra homes.
The (2004) Barker review: key points
www.theguardian.com/money/2004/mar/17/business.housing
"Kate Barker, a member of the monetary policy committee, was asked a year ago by Gordon Brown and the deputy prime minister John Prescott to carry out a review of the housing market in the UK."
"She was specifically required to look at what was behind the lack of supply of housing in the UK and the inability of the housing market to respond to this. Also within her remit was the role of the house-building industry, the level of competition within it, its capacity, technology and level of finance."
"The final review has now been published, just in time for Gordon Brown's budget."
The main findings
• In 2001, around 175,000 houses were built in the UK. This was the lowest number since the second world war. Over the past 10 years, the number of new houses built has fallen and is now 12.5% lower than in the previous decade.
• In the last 30 years, UK house prices have gone up at double the average rate of increase in the EU. In real terms, prices have increased by 2.4% a year in real terms - compared to the EU average of 1.1%.
• A weak supply in housing means a less stable economy. This has an impact on the flexibility of the labour market, which in turn puts a strain on economic growth.
• Low availability of properties pushes prices up, making housing increasingly unaffordable. In 2002 only 37% of new households in England could afford to buy a house, compared with 46% in the late 1980s.
• These pressures mean a greater divide between "haves and have-nots", driving a gulf between people who can afford housing and those who cannot. According to the review, in 2003 there were 93,000 households in temporary accommodation compared to 46,000 in 1995.
The fact is, thanks to Labour, the indigenous UK multiethnic population has found that the ‘benefits’ of more multiculturalism Labour style - totally unplanned for with no regards to the infrastructure, jobs and social ramifications – have been more than outweighed by the ‘negatives’, no matter how much the lefties try to spin it differently.