• General
  • Starmer (UK is Jaded thread)

Who is the Minister for Bants? Would @Smallman1 take the gig if offered it, in a Labour government?

gcw They’ve also promised to speed up the pace of house building, which if they do will have big social impact. However I feel they would need to be in power for 10-15 years in a row for that to actually come to fruition, and they won’t get that long IMO.

They need to go after the housing industry full stop. Non of them are interested in building social / affordable housing, and they all own huge landbanks that they do fuck all with.

    Amps
    I was listening to a housing phone in a few months back. I guy phoned up who worked for a council housing department. He said one problems is that when they sell off a house to a tennant who’s been there for a while the discount they give means they don’t get enough money back to replace it to build a new house.

    • Amps replied to this.

      Why not just have a Government funded housing building operation. Stop outsourcing the work to building firms / contractors.

      Maybe buy up a big building firm as it goes bust and then the Government takes over ownership and builds the houses.

      Not fucking rocket science is it?

      • Amps replied to this.

        When did we stop building counsel estates in this country. I was bought up on one and it was excellent. Sure it had it’s faults but there was no trouble. And everyone just got along with each other. I went back to my old estate a few years ago and had a walk around. Got quite emotional as it bought back loads of happy memories from my childhood.Most of it is all private housing now. And it just seemed to have lost its community spirit.

          Did you keep a kestrel as well dubs?

            Old-Dutch That would be socialism. And we can’t have that. Schemes like what you have just described wouldn’t enrich the middle classes in any way shape or form. We can’t allow that kind of thinking.

            Dubman Yes. We called him bazza

            Does he know Dazza? Any holidays abroad?

            Dubman I can believe that. The right to buy was a fuckin short sighted Tory policy.

              Amps
              If only they’d replaced them one for one when it first started when land building them was much cheaper.

              The government, via the DLUHC, give millions in grant funding to housing associations each year. It’s not enough, and it’s way lower than it used to be, but it is something.

              Houses are being built. My place is just about to sign off on a deal for a 200 house estate in Bucks, of which 25% will be social housing aka the old style council housing of yesteryear. They will be amazing properties as well. The best energy efficiency, lovely area, all for around £150 a week- which HB will pay for if you aren’t in work

                gcw They will be amazing properties as well. The best energy efficiency, lovely area, all for around £150 a week- which HB will pay for if you aren’t in work

                I’m massively all in for affordable housing, but not massively keen on the bolded.

                Hopefully a move in the right direction to get people on the ladder

                I read recently that Blackstone own over 200k apartments in Berlin and are one of the culprits in a technical game of property investment that is driving up rental prices globally. Anything that dents that direction is a good thing.

                Old-Dutch Blackstone Inc was who I read about, Dutchy. They’re some kind of private equity fund who are hoovering up real estate all over the world. Blackrock are another crowd who are at it. It seems to be a fail safe way to invest your billions.

                Ah apologies - hadn’t heard of Blackstone.

                Probably the same outfit.

                Yep

                BlackRock and The Blackstone Group are often confused as they share similar names and origins. Founded in 1985, both companies fell under an umbrella company called Blackstone Financial Management, a mergers and acquisitions company. In 1988, BlackRock separated from the parent company and focused on risk management.

                • LT42 replied to this.