Great! We need more social housing, just hope that we make sure that we follow through properly. In fact we need to build even more that Brown outlined. Brown said we will build 3m more houses by 2020, but several estimates say that by then the number of house holds will have increased by 3.5m! So we are just about breaking even, although that is the most extreme estimates.
We need to build lots of affordable housing, furthermore we cannot rely and expect the private sector to simply do it for us. We must Build some ourselves (i mean the state should build them). If houses are built by the state then the state has better control of housing stock, that way we can ensure that those who realy need houses get them. We can limit multiple property ownership and vastly decrease the number of empty houses. Many people simply don't use some houses, keeping them as an investment for the future as a means of generating more wealth, by most accounts clever but immoral.
If the state controls or at least has greater influence over the housing stock then we can control the stock of housing, ensuring that the poorest and 1st time buyers get a home. Additionally, we can then disuade people to live alone, we can encourage joint living, either by selling to coupples or those living together at a lower price or by saying that they have a lower rent payment.
Well, whatever we do, we need to build more houses, the absolute minimum amount bult must be Barkers 100,000 a year. I would rather have a housing surplus than what we have now, that would also mean that we wouldn't have an economy partly driven by house prices.
