People should sell their homes for less than they are worth in order to help solve the housing crisis.
Similarly, landlords renting out a flat should charge less than the market price.
The calls come in a new blog on the Generation Rent website, where it is argued that individuals have a personal responsibility for the housing crisis.
The writer, Zeph Auerbach, says that home owners paying off a mortgage and likely to reap a huge profit from their investment are not being hurt in the same way as tenants paying “extortionate rents”.
He says: “Let’s put it plain: some of us are winners; some of us are losers.
“And if you are winning by selling or letting at a ludicrously high price, yes you are continuing to the dire situation for your friends and strangers alike.”
When it comes to housing, says the blog, most people act like “little caricature capitalists”.
The blog ends: “If you are profiting obscenely from the rising housing market, you are contributing to it.”
Comments (5)
Dear Mr Auerbach
When YOU have practiced what you preach in your “blog”, let us know and – who knows – some people might follow your lead.
ONLY THEN will, I suggest, some people take you and your idea with the tiniest pinch of salt.
UNTIL THEN – some people may take the opinion that you’ve made yourself look a complete and utter numpty.
Nuts with hazel nuts and peanuts.
Generation Rent, Shelter, Save Brixton and all the others, do they actually think they are making a difference coming up with these barmy ideas!?
We are all sympatehtic to individuals and families that cannot afford a home. and in a perfect world we would all have comfortable homes and security.
There really is only one way to sort out the housing issue ………… BUILD MORE HOMES! at the moment in this country we have too many people for the houses we have. If more houses were built demand would go down and prices would be more affordable for all.
I had to check the calendar as I thought this was an April 1st article when I saw the headline.
Perhaps generation rent should start their own rental/sales agency with this philosophy as their business model.
So how would selling at reduced prices solve the housing crisis? If you have 100 homes and 1,000 people needing homes selling them cheaper will not solve it. You either provide 1,000 homes or get 900 people to move elsewhere so supply equals demand.