Ben Wealthy

200,000, 250,000, 300,000? The conversation about housing policy is more auction that action plan. Politicians of all parties are coming, painstakingly slowly, to 'get' the pain our housing crisis is causing. They're pledging to build more - one of the main problems we face, although far from the only one. But understanding isn't the same as acting, and saying you'll do something doesn't explain how you'll make it happen. Within that space, between rhetoric and reality, sits a worrying credibility gap which we must work through. If we don't we'll end up in the same cul-de-sac five years hence asking why so few new homes are being built. Let's look at just a couple of examples to illustrate why the number of new builds is so low. The government has been quick to point the finger of blame at the planning system. We are repeatedly told it is the root cause of the failure to build more homes. Developers tend to agree - a cosy consensus. Who is g...

Happy World Book Day! Just. I could not let today end without churning out a few words about the joys of books. Although I am not a big supporter of these kind of days to be honest. They are a dreadful coming together of money people desperate for more money (they already have loads) and PR people trying to resuscitate a dying brand, product or celebrity. Without a doubt the worst pitch in the world invariably starts with "Thursday is World Muffin/Heron/Wood/No Trousers/Walk Upside Down/Call Your Boss a Dictator/Swim in a Puddle of Camomile Tea Day". Journalists, hang up. But books are different, the exception to the rule about how awful naming a day other than the name of that actual day is. Books are worthy of a day, every day. Books actually matter. A lot. Firstly, books are priceless. Their value is not always tangible or quantifiable. Their worth can be personal, sentimental, romantic. Their meaning grows as we read them in families, spill tea on them, leave them on a ...

Home ownership in Britain has long been synonymous with living the dream. Phrases like "an Englishman's home is his castle" capture a sentiment that freedom can be brought. Hard working families who save the pennies are rewarded with a slice of suburbia. This British Dream has sustained our social order for decades; there's usually been a majority fully signed up. The minority left have endured slums, then social housing, and now the private rented sector.  The relationship between housing and freedom is a defining one. Of course owning your own home is not the only route to housing freedom. But it is certainly the case that, particularly in the context of a deregulated private rented sector, buying a home buys you much more freedom than renting. Basic shelter isn't really a choice, or luxury, it is the foundation for living. If you don't have somewhere to lay your hat every other aspect of your life will be stifled and devalued.  Fashionable libertarians ...