

Where will we live? (UK) - jseliger
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n01/james-meek/where-will-we-live

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junto
Britain is in some ways 'cursed' with London. It's geographical location in
the far south east of the country, combined with its financial power and the
south east's proximity to Europe, means that the UK is skewed both financially
and as a direct result, a housing shortage.

There are 22,000 people waiting for council, housing in Tower Hamlets, a
poorer area of London with lots of social problems. People live in bedsits
that are technically illegal housing, because of poor or downright dangerous
facilities.

The current government believes that the free market will resolve these
problems. That jobs will pull people out of places like Tower Hamlets and to
'somewhere else'. Thatcher for all of her bad points did bring in the idea of
Enterprise Zones, where poor communities outside the south east hotspot would
have officing and factories built and then rented for free for several years.
The project was relatively successful in encouraging large companies to set up
European bases and factories in these areas.

This government doesn't appear to be doing anything like that, at least not on
the same scale. It was money well spent, even if some of the companies that
used the scheme, especially the multi-nationals, abused the system somewhat.t
still brought jobs to the Celtic fringes, and lowered the pressure on the
London pressure cooker.

Something like that scheme is needed on a permanent basis. Sure it costs
money, lots of it, but long term the entire UK will benefit.

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collyw
>The current government believes that the free market will resolve these
problems.

Except the housing market in the UK is anything but a free market. Help to
Buy, Tax breaks for Buy To Let, a bubble that should have collapsed back in
2007, but instead the government seems to be trying to do everything to keep
it inflated. The majority of home owners in the UK could not afford to buy
their home at current prices. Especially in the south east.

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jseliger
I find this interesting enough to submit but also find it curious that Meek
doesn't emphasize how hard it is for _anyone_ to build anything in Britain:
[http://www.buzzfeed.com/dlknowles/britains-dysfunctional-
pro...](http://www.buzzfeed.com/dlknowles/britains-dysfunctional-property-
market-in-gi-fm44) .

