Malcolm Shykles: Partial occupancy households should be targeted before building 'affordable housing'

Malcolm Shykles, a private landlord and retired analytical and research chemist, looks at some of the problems with high mortgage rates and plans to build more 'affordable housing'.

I do not see the morality of offering selected people starter homes as this gives them an unfair advantage over their equals. During the 60’s it was necessary to rent accommodation whilst saving for the necessary 10% deposit in order to buy property. Why should we now be financing what seems to be a worthwhile cause but is possibly another source of house price inflation? This often high-density, low-quality, housing seems to be favoured by Labour and LibDem administrations.

House purchase is considered to be a high risk investment by the Financial Services Authority. The number of young couples who have had their fingers burnt is illustrative of this. We cannot be sure that house values will always increase and it is always wise to have a variety of assets. If the worse scenario of bird flu had materialised house values could have fallen to rock bottom. House purchase inhibits mobility which is a major cause of excessive commuter traffic.

Affordable housing seems to be very little different from council housing. These housing estates (in general perhaps) stick out as being built by local district councils. Compared to the family homes of yesteryear they are more like people sized rabbit hutches with very mundane architecture. It is for a mix of the neediest in society, such as families desperate to get out of difficult estates and of those seeking to join the property ladder (better called a property snake at this time). The selection of tenants must be very arbitrary and then there are many who deliberately put themselves into positions to get to the top of the housing ladder. Like tenants of council houses there may be those among them who are actually landlords of housing which they privately let.