Housing

I believe in capitalism but a big problem is housing. Supply cannot keep up with demand and so the cost of housing continues to rise. Too much of our income is taken up with the cost of housing. Family life suffers because both parents have to work long hours. There seems to be no solution to this problem but an expansion of social housing will help.

There are two big problems with social housing. One is subletting. Another is the problem that some people who have council flats do not live in them, or live in them only occasionally. I know from my own block of flats that this happens. These problems can be solved.

There are other ways in which the free market system fails. For years I noticed a lovely big old house that had been left derelict. I even went into it once and had a look around. I find it fascinating to look in old uninhabited buildings. Someone had removed the windows and the window frames. I can only imagine that the owners had done this to discourage squatters. This sort of thing happens often. Now it has been made into flats and is inhabited.

I know a couple who sold about an acre of their land that had been their garden. Nothing was done with the land for years. Apparently it had been re-sold, probably more than once. Now it has houses on it, but few people seem to want to buy them. This is not a problem to the couple, who were not looking forward to lots of people living close to them, but it doesn't fill you with confidence about the free market's ability to provide the housing that people need.

If we are to build new blocks of flats we must have better sound insulation. I have lived in flats for years and it is a big problem. But it is easy to solve. There are many old houses with excellent sound insulation, and yet flats are built with so little that life becomes very stressful. When flats are built, it should be ensured that insulation is provided. There are 2 types of sound insulation, against airborne and impact sounds; and then of course there is thermal insulation too which saves money for the tenant and has ecological importance.

Then there is the problem of smells. People can often smell the cigarette smoke of their neighbours. If someone can smell someone in a neighbouring flat lighting up and can also hear them coughing, this is unacceptable and unnecessary. This really happens. And extractor fans are not the solution, as they merely suck in stale air from the flat above or below.