FabSwingers.com forum: Building more homes

By *hirley OP Man
23 hours ago

London

I have long said this is a nonsense and will do nothing to help the masses buy or rent easier. "Building more" It only stands to help the richest in society and the stats I have prove this.

A breakdown of the population growth and house price growth in the UK from the late 1970s to the present:

UK Population Growth (Late 1970s to 2024

* Late 1970s Population: Around 56.2 million (according to ONS data).

* 2024 Population: Approximately 69.1 million

69.1 - 56.2 / 56.2 x 100

Rate of change = 22.95%

UK House Price Growth (Late 1970s to 2024)

* Late 1970s Average House Price: Around £10k in 1974, rising to approximately £20k by the end of the decade.

* 2024 Average House Price: £265k

So the average house price increased from £10k in 1974 to £265k in 2024

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-house-price-index-for-march-2025#:~:text=The%20UK%20HPI%20shows%20house,Scotland%2C%20Wales%20and%20Northern%20Ireland.&text=The%20March%20data%20shows:,UK%20valued%20at%20%C2%A3271%2C000

Rate change using figures from above website.

245000 - 20000 / 20000 x 100 = 1225%

This means that while the UK population has grown by approximately 23% since the late 1970s, average nominal house prices have increased by well over 1000% means the correlation between population growth and housing shortage is bolox.

Housing supply shortage is a lie. If you lived and worked in London like I do you would see it starring you in the face for yourself, but thats not necessary.

The main point is: Labour continues to lie, tories lied, lib dems lied and reform blaming migrants as their defacto😂 also lie.

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By *1shadesoffunMan
23 hours ago

nearby

The social housing waiting list is currently 1.1 million. ( vast majority of those waiting already housed)

Various estimates of long term empty homes ranging from 265,000 by the ons. Many of those in process of sale, probate etc

10,000 long term empty MOD homes costing the taxpayer £25m annually to maintain.

30% of all dwellings occupied by one person

653,025 dwellings classed as vacant on the Council Taxbase and a further 253,357 dwellings classed as second homes. (2021/22 figs) many of which will be holiday let’s

Official homeless figure 354,000 and 112,000 living in temporary accommodation

A muddy picture at best

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By *hirley OP Man
23 hours ago

London

"The social housing waiting list is currently 1.1 million. ( vast majority of those waiting already housed)

Various estimates of long term empty homes ranging from 265,000 by the ons. Many of those in process of sale, probate etc

10,000 long term empty MOD homes costing the taxpayer £25m annually to maintain.

30% of all dwellings occupied by one person

653,025 dwellings classed as vacant on the Council Taxbase and a further 253,357 dwellings classed as second homes. (2021/22 figs) many of which will be holiday let’s

Official homeless figure 354,000 and 112,000 living in temporary accommodation

A muddy picture at best

Muddy? Possibly...

But none of that tells me the population has anything to do with availability...

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By *hirley OP Man
22 hours ago

London

I'm going to add some nuance for balance and before neoliberalist apologisers attempt to use it.

Households had an average of 3 people in the 1970s, whereas 2010s dropped to about 2.4. So Households spread between slightly more percentage of people. But this doesn't stack up against the boom in prices vs the slight increase and people spreading themselves more thinly. The UK has more housing stock now than it did in the 70s so that waters it down more.

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By *1shadesoffunMan
22 hours ago

nearby

More than 1 in 5 homes (22%) currently listed for sale have been on the market for more than 6 months and remain unsold (Zoopla)

500,000 homes listed for sale since January.

For renters, rents have grown 21% over 3 years compared to 4% for house prices

Rental supply has increased, with 17% more homes available than a year ago, as homes take slightly longer to rent

It appears then that things have improved, rents are stabilising, more rented homes are available. And more homes on the market with interest rates slowly starting to fall.

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By *idnight RamblerMan
22 hours ago

Pershore

The loss of green land to new housing in my area is alarming. Yet city centres are wastelands of empty shops, offices and disused factories.

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By *1shadesoffunMan
22 hours ago

nearby

"I'm going to add some nuance for balance and before neoliberalist apologisers attempt to use it.

You are looking at this through the lens of home ownership. Home ownership is lower, it peaked at 71% in 2001, and is 63% in 2025. There are now three million more rented homes than in 2001.

Rents have increased a lot more than house prices in recent years.

Landlords have to pay a 5% stamp duty surcharge and capital gains tax allowances have been quartered. Private rental has been disincentivised for landlords.

For new social rented homes built, after right to buy and demolitions stock has reduced

With tax changes and loosening up mortgage criteria may lead to more distribution changes in tenure

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By *hirley OP Man
22 hours ago

London

"More than 1 in 5 homes (22%) currently listed for sale have been on the market for more than 6 months and remain unsold (Zoopla)

500,000 homes listed for sale since January.

For renters, rents have grown 21% over 3 years compared to 4% for house prices

Rental supply has increased, with 17% more homes available than a year ago, as homes take slightly longer to rent

It appears then that things have improved, rents are stabilising, more rented homes are available. And more homes on the market with interest rates slowly starting to fall. "

The example that springs to mind when you say that is kinda like using a bucket to bail out the titanic though?!?

If the cost of housing (let/mortgaged) is far more times than most people's income potential, how do they afford it?

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By *1shadesoffunMan
22 hours ago

nearby

"The loss of green land to new housing in my area is alarming. Yet city centres are wastelands of empty shops, offices and disused factories."

Todays guardian, new housing developments with no shops or public open space.

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By *1shadesoffunMan
22 hours ago

nearby

"More than 1 in 5 homes (22%) currently listed for sale have been on the market for more than 6 months and remain unsold (Zoopla)

500,000 homes listed for sale since January.

For renters, rents have grown 21% over 3 years compared to 4% for house prices

Rental supply has increased, with 17% more homes available than a year ago, as homes take slightly longer to rent

It appears then that things have improved, rents are stabilising, more rented homes are available. And more homes on the market with interest rates slowly starting to fall.

The example that springs to mind when you say that is kinda like using a bucket to bail out the titanic though?!?

If the cost of housing (let/mortgaged) is far more times than most people's income potential, how do they afford it?"

House prices to income

1980. 3 times

2000. 5.6 times

2025. 8 times

For renters, the percentage of income spent on rent, is higher than mortgage costs for owners.

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