Dismantling the Budget 6: Housing
by Part six of deconstructing the budget, looking at Alastair Darling’s plan for the British economy. In this section I will be looking at Housing.
• Scheme to guarantee mortgage backed securities to boost lending
• Stamp duty holiday for homes up to £175,000 to be extended to end of year
• Extra £80m for shared equity mortgage scheme.
I’ll be honest here, I’m not that up on mortgages. I live in rented property, and have no plans to move out any time soon. My current income just doesn’t allow it.
• £500m to kickstart stalled housing projects – including £100m for local authorities to build energy efficient homes
More of the green agenda here. This isn’t a bad idea, we are going to need more housing either way. Personally, I’m a proponent of the controversial idea of population control (not quite as extreme as China though), but even I can see that if we did pass laws to help keep numbers in check, we’re going to need housing. The important thing here is what kind of housing is built. Remember, companies want to make a profit, and expensive luxury housing makes more money than affordable homes. Unfortunately, ’’ts affordable homes that we need right now.
Extra funds for energy efficient homes is a welcome move though, but £100 million seems to be a little bit peanuts compared to other spending. Energy efficient homes will save the public money which could be spent in the retail market, pushing up the economy, as well as contributing to the green agenda.
• £50m to upgrade housing for the armed forces
Thank God. Some of our boys and girls in uniform are currently living in glorified shacks.
Part 1: Alcohol, Cigarettes and Fuel
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