Housing crisis - where do we put everybody?

There seem to be property development and building in our town (SE). We are only 40 mins from London on the train so popular with commuters. We have been here for 18 months and in that time, within 2 mins walking distance of our house, we have 10 new flats all occupied now. They are squeezed into all sorts of corners!

Yes JessM, the migrant workers do mostly do landwork, and the farmers love them, because they`ll work for the very minimum wage.

Yes Phoenix there is no point in building endless homes where there are no jobs. Construction jobs come and go. They were building like that in Ireland before their huge bust.
number that must be frustrating - I assume there are agricultural jobs and that is why the immigrants come from Europe?
I live in MK. Outer edge of commutable to London. Loads of land allocated for building. There was a blip, briefly, but they are building away, almost as fast as ever. The economy is also fairly buoyant in Mk, e.g. huge new network rail HQ recently opened. Not too far from London to relocate staff I guess.

I can see from the different posts, depending where we all live in the country we have varying perspectives. I take the point that there are thankfully still parts of the country that are relatively empty, but if you live and work in London and the South East you need to live within a commutable distance. Numberplease I've heard that you have problems in Boston Lincs, similarly some residents in the West London area of Southall have started converting sheds and garages into homes, many of these are not safe places to live and apparently there are so many now that they are beginning to look like shanty towns, is this progress? I think not we seem to be turning the clock back to some Dickensian era when people had to live in unhealthy, insanitary and unsafe conditions, but no real solutions from the powers that be are forthcoming. The words ostrich and head burying come to mind.

Number I believe that is also that case in parts of London.

Where I live, Boston, Lincs, we have the largest number of migrant workers per capita in the whole of Britain. We`re only a fairly small town, and almost every house that comes up for sale, especially the terraced ones, are bought to let, many in our locality, and end up with about 12 to 14 people sharing a 3 bedroom house, usually utilising the downstairs rooms for sleeping. Local people hardly get a look in when it comes to rental property, because couples can`t afford to pay the sort of rent that`s shared between all these people.

We need more jobs in the North-east too. Many women up here worked in public services that were deliberately moved up here and which have been drastically reduced in the last few years by this government and they have suffered disproportionately.

My landlord is lovely and the house is actually cheaper than other houses in this area but the government have still said it's too expensive. I have to manage because there is no where else for me to move to.

In my area of North Devon I am actively objecting to a proposed new housing development. If I drive to my nearest town (small, has few if any of the high street retailers, mainly independent) there are numerous yellow and black signs indicating new housing estates.

We don't need more houses, we need more JOBS !

The caveat for building estates that have a certain number of "affordable" housing for local people is a complete joke around here!

It' only some parts of the island that are overcrowded and these are, of course, where property prices and rents are ridiculous. Where I live in the North-east there is a very robust rental market and rents reflect local wages. As a self-employed person I don't have a private pension and as banks are offering such paltry interest on savings, I invested my money in four rental properties. Two of them needed complete refurbishment, including new damp-proofing. Apart from the damp-proofing Mr absent and I did all the work with a bit of help from my brother-in-law. Consequently both of these houses were empty for quite a long time and I think it would have been unreasonable to fine me because they were standing empty. I have spent a lot of money "doing them up" to a high standard and it will take some years for me to recap the costs. Not everyone who buys to let is a grasping descendant of Rachman.

Logistically was it wise to allow so many people to arrive in such large numbers when we didn't have enough housing before? The sheer weight of the population in London and the South East makes us one of the most densely populated places to live in the world, we have unaffordable housing which makes it necessary for many of the workforce to live a considerable distance from the capital, and the commuting costs are considerable, I know someone who pays well over £4,000 per annum to commute into London. We are a relatively small island we have a finite amount of space to accommodate a burgeoning population and the one thing that strikes me is that none of the political parties seem to address this issue.

Not only is there a housing shortage but the government has decided that those on housing benefit have to live in the smallest houses possible. For example they will not pay the full amount on my house £425 because I have two bedrooms...they say I only need one and should be able to find one for £299. Believe me I've looked. Firstly there is a dire shortage of one bedroom properties and secondly none can be rented for that price.

I definitely agree with incentives for building on brownfield sites.

Speaking as someone who lives in a largish village, I get very irritated by NIMBYism. There is a plan to build a small new estate in our village, in the grounds of one of the large 'gentleman's' residences. There was uproar from the people opposite because they might be able to see scruffy sheds from their homes. These are the same people who lament the lack of shops in the centre of the village.

There should be strict rules about any new developments having corresponding facilities in place too eg school places, doctor's surgeries, plentiful parking.

Yes I think buy to rent properties particularly doesn't help, I think there should be more part rent, part buy schemes as well.

1 rent capping. This used to be the case
2 treble council tax at least on second homes
3 fine local authorities and housing associations who keep their tenanted housing stock empty for more than a minimum number of weeks
4 limit the number of 'buy to rent' properties any one person can own.
5 incentives for companies to build on brownfield sites
6 tax breaks for 'downsizers'