A very quick introduction to some of the UK's housing dilemmas, illustrating why more owner-occupation may only make the situation worse. I've written a blog post on it here: http://livingwithrats.blogspot.com/2009/12/for-richer-for-poorer.html

1. Housing: the stupid economy?

2. Household projections (DCLG, Nov 2009) +4.1m 10.9m 6.8m One person households +6.3m 27.8m 21.5m Total no. of households Change 2031 2006

3. 1990s: the flight from the city ‘ Previously healthy communities near city centres experience increasing social polarisation, with those who cannot move living in a poor environment with high levels of crime. Some areas … potentially face abandonment.’ Urban White Paper, 2000

4. Unpopular housing,1999 • 377,000 local authority homes • 89,500 housing association homes

5. The vicious circle of tenure and conditions in poor neighbourhoods Source: Power and Mumford, 1999

6. Source: Urban White Paper, 2000

7. So is owner occupation working? Source: Nationwide, 2009

8. The social cost of boom and bust Source: NHPAU, 2009

9. … while recession hits the poorest areas harder Source: DCLG, 2009

10. 35% of homes fail decency standard (7.6m, of which 6.5m in private sector) 53,400 people accepted as homeless in 2008/09 64,000 in temporary accommodation in 2008/09 60% of social renters, 32% of owners, 26% private renters economically inactive DCLG, November 2009

11. Key workers can’t afford average house prices in 70 per cent of towns across Britain 99 per cent of locations are unaffordable to nurses 97 per cent to firefighters 77 per cent to teachers 72 per cent to police officers All figures rose steeply in the previous 5 years Source: HBOS survey, 2007

12. In 1984 the average first-time buyer’s mortgage was worth 1.99 times their income. In 2004 the multiple was 3.03 times income.

13. Annual need for social housing rose from 93,000 in 2002 to 155,000 by 2006. The number of new social lets in the same period fell significantly. Source: NHPAU, 2009

14. 40 per cent of those buying a property in 2004/05 spent 30 per cent or more of their income on housing-related costs. Source: Expenditure and Food Survey

15. The widening gap The value of the homes of the wealthiest 10 per cent of the UK population rose by 322 per cent between 1993 and 2003. For the poorest 10 per cent the rise was 102 per cent.

16. More and more properties are sitting empty Hansard, 15 October 2009

17. The aspiration ‘ Communities that will stand the test of time and in which people want to live’ John Prescott, 2004