We have a lot of high profile talk at the moment about the #housingcrisis and a lot of amazing people trying to solve the issue of high private rents – encouraging the building of more affordable homes to enable people to work, and enjoy a decent standard of living, without being cripled by rising living costs and stagnant archaic wages.

And so I ask – why are we not making it possible for everybody to enjoy home ownership?  It shoud be based on affordability – or rather what it being paid out in rent, rather than measured by deposit and credit score.  When you have had a difficult financial past the sentence on your credit file is greater than committing a serious crime against another person.

When one suffers adverse credit is it assumed that they do not manage their money well or they are workshy, when that is not the case – the issue is the cost of living v income – I ask any politician or top 10% earner to live on an income on minimum or living wage and pay private rents and be penalised for having to pay everything else monthly too (higher car insurance, higher utilities etc), and to have to pay water rates instead of water usage because they cannot have a meter because they are tenants.  I was paying £80 a month instead of £18 a month (on-line calculated usage) – so the Water Company boss enjoyed a 21million bonus whilst I had to eat bread.

But this is about mortgages – yes there is always a risk but when a mortage company has so much to gain they should be more liable with the risk for the gain – and why is this so important?

I wrote to the Gov about it (as you do) and asked the question – and they responded that it ‘wasn’t in their interest’ to push mortgage companies to offer mortgages without despoit or good credit score – of course it isn’t.  If you build housing you have a guaranteed income for generation after generation of people who are locked out of homebuying.

When you are a tenant you are unable to enjoy a private life, i.e. pets, landscaping, decorating, even hanging pictures on the wall, and more importantly you will pay rent to the day you die.  You will be worried about that months rent as you draw your last breath.  With home ownership you pay for 25/30 years and than you have your own estate, for your children to enjoy, so that they too are not trapped in private rental, social rental or any other rental that pays to the private estate of another or the estate of the Crown.  Granted your estate goes back to the Crown too if you don’t get your will sorted properly but at least home ownership gives you freedom to a private life and light at the end of the tunnel, so that even if you buy when you’re 40 you have the chance of relaxing a little at 65.  Those in rental will not relax at 65, nor 75, nor 85, nor 95.  So of course it’s not in the inerest of the government to make mortages available to all, they want the income for generation after generation.

The simple matter of a deposit, and credit score locks people out of a decent life, for generations.  These people pay somewhere between £600 and £1200 on private rent every month, just because that person could buy a buy to let.   It is not about being workshy, these are hardworking people who could be paying LESS on a mortage, and have light at the end of the tunnel, and, enjoy a private life and give stability to their children.  Who without stability may need to turn to HB.

I’m so ashamed sometimes of how this country works, or doesn’t work, for those less priviledged with security.

I am not anti affordable housing – I am very pro affordable housing – people need to be able to afford to live and if wages aren’t going to double overnight then housing is crucial, but also mortages would go a long way to solving this crisis and moving half of society out of private rented accomodation which absolutely capitalises at the expense of those less fortunate.  Let’s get both sorted please.

Update October 2019 – I have recently learned of a £25K Grant available to landlord to help them bring empty properties up to standard to rent out.  Surely that grant could go to people desperate to get on the housing ladder rather than those set to profit at the expense of those in adversity…