Something that has been bugging me for sometime is hearing about all these wonderful new housing developments that are springing up everywhere, yet only a certain percentage of them are specified as being ‘affordable’.
A few days ago, West Midlands Mayor Andy Street was feverishly wanking himself off on Twitter/X after giving more taxpayers money away to help poor property developers deliver more new homes in Coventry.
🚨MORE £££ FOR COVENTRY 🚨
— Andy Street (@andy4wm) January 23, 2024
We’re upping our investment in City Centre South to £113MILLION 📈
This scheme is game-changing for Cov, so we’ve put more cash in to get work underway THIS YEAR 🏗️
And thanks to our negotiations AT LEAST 20% of the 1,500+ homes will be affordable 🤝🏻 pic.twitter.com/oqACg8DO6w
Yes, the ‘exciting news’ was that thanks to the WMCA (West Midlands Combined Authority), “at least 20%” of these homes will be ‘affordable’.
Well, that certainly deserves a Monty Python round of applause!
The phrase “affordable housing” gets bandied and dangled around a lot in an effort to somehow ‘sound great’ and please people, yet when challenged, no-one can seem to actually define what ‘affordable’ really means.
The WMCA is handing over £113m of YOUR money to ensure that 20% of the homes being built will be ‘affordable’. So, what that actually means, if you invert things around like these people like to do, is that 80% of these properties being built will be ‘unaffordable’ for the many people that need them.
So the big question to be asked is, who are these properties being built for?
This country has a dire shortage of housing, fuelled somewhat by rampant runaway immigration, which means that demand for housing far outstrips the actual supply.
What the country needs is cheap affordable housing. And lots of it*.
Yet all we ever hear about are loads of new developments springing up everywhere, of which only a very small proportion is ever classed as ‘affordable’.
But nobody will ever offer any definition of what ‘affordable’ actually means?
Is it really something to ‘cheer’ about or celebrate, that so few ‘new homes’ being built are actually ‘affordable’ for the many people that would like to buy and own their own home?
I find it quite embarrassing to be honest.
* Yes, I know, we wouldn’t be in this situation if governments had actually got a grip on immigration levels years ago like they said they would.
But I still think we are going about things the wrong way, and not building what is actually needed.
There are far too many ‘luxury apartments’ being built, and not enough ‘affordable’ homes.
Of course, the term ‘luxury apartment’ is also meaningless marketing blurb, and in most cases should be replaced with ‘cosy & compact’, because these just end up being little flats.
Expensive, tiny, soulless flats, with no outdoor space. Cramming as many ‘residents’ into as small a space as is legally allowed. Interesting also how often these such developments come with little to no parking provision.
Well, it doesn’t matter, because apparently everything you need will be within a 15 minute walk or bike ride away.
