Inside Housing report that the Halifax (HBOS) has had to provide shared ownership mortgages in order to get its £37 billion of taxpayer’s capital.Good, there is a role for a Command economy in a crisis! Perhaps one of the unintended positive consequences of this current crisis is that a flexible shared ownership model will overtake “outright sale” as the preferred housing tenure model for many?
Our Brit fetish for supposedly 100% home ownership is out of line with the rest of the real world. Many people in insecure employment or who are otherwise vulnerable were persuaded to "buy" (mortgage to the hilt) their homes. Many are now possibly going to be evicted and lose everything. Shared ownership is not perfect and should not replace an option of secure tenancies at a fair rent but it is a far more socially just and equitable than outright sale.
What we need to do as will is persuade the middle classes to take part and create real mixed and sustainable communities. That is the next big problem. Any ideas Howard?
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