The Housing Future
the housing future
We are seeing an increase in cattle and poultry feed as there’s a shortage of home grown corn, while councils still grant planning permission on greenfield land. The enclosed design would address a large part of this problem.
An MP at the Conservative Conference said it would be good to see empty shelves at the super markets. Many said that was out of order, but I believe he is right, grow local, enlarge the village shops so we don’t have to travel to towns so often. Many village shops are not large enough to cater for the local need.
We could build some affordable homes in villages, add, say, £15,000 to each one. That capital could be used to create community shops and drop- in centres for the residents. The design on page 3 could be built on a steel frame with bolt-on timbers, (grow more trees to provide the timber). Use sheep fleece for insolation, solar panels on the long roof, and underground water tanks to take the water runoff to store the water for watering the crops in the dry times. One could use earth pumps on large developments to have heating from the earth.
Where planning permission has been granted, but not been started, we should build some upmarket homes as on the enclosed paper, to pay for the land that has been purchased, then the rest, possibly 80% would become affordable, with the enclosed design, incorporating self-sufficient garden and exercise areas, and work from home or having a hub for employment of the development.
- Create natural habitats & self-sufficient gardens on new developments.
- Stop renting or marketing new houses by creating a Community Land Trust.
- Developers to build what is needed, not what they can sell on the market.
We are all slaves to the system! We were never taught to be creative to make a change. Our entire lives are conditioned, to listen, obey and hold a 9-5 job. We have a system that was designed not to work for the common person. Freedom is an illusion unless you break out of the system to obtain true freedom and independence.
We seem to be controlled by a few, with large amounts of capital or a state control system that fails. There is a need for enterprise, without paying vast sums in rents or property values.
Build A Cooperative For New Enterprisers
We have seen in the past, when the company is making good profit, unions push for pay rises and sometimes strike. That puts up running costs, resulting in the company making less and the business suffering.
I would say shareholders and employees are equally important.
As a co-operative, we would look for a 5% dividend to each share, and pay £8.50/hr for labour costs. At the end of the financial year, any surplus would be divided between the shareholders and workers. But one would hope there would be enough to have a reserve account for future requirements. That would stop the union power, and be fair to the shareholders and the workforce. Management would not be awarding themselves massive bonuses as everyone would be able to vote on it.
New Work Units
We should build industrial units for people to have affordable places to produce their goods. To give an example: an investor bought a site 20 years ago for £100,000. There were three units. Each tenant has paid £100,000 in rent over the 20 years. Now the owner wants to close it down to get brownfield site development.
My vision would be that the building site would become a Trust. Each unit would have been sold for £33,333 each (one third each). This development would not be for renting or selling on the market.
We should not be relying on imports from China, but make things at home, thus creating better air quality for the environment. We can produce cheaper goods if we don’t go for a high wage economy (some of us will remember earning £10 a week, not £10 an hour). We need to create a system where one can live on the minimum wage, then offer bonuses from the profits of the company.
Agriculture is another industry that is not often considered. But we need to grow more of our food at home. On new developments include self-sufficient gardens to supply healthy food for the residents.
The cost of rents & mortgages can cause health issues.
In 1900 the average person paid 10% of their income on rent, today it’s up to 60%, hence the health issues.
We need a new housing policy.
Rent never ends...
if you can’t afford to buy a home, and you can’t afford to save whilst paying rent.
When retirement age comes the government will be paying billions of pounds in housing benefit.
Planning Ahead: Finance, Housing & Retirement
As an example:
Having paid off the mortgage, including interest at say, £600/month (starting at age 25), if one was to then go on saving at £300/month for a further 20 years, one would have saved £72,000.
At retirement, if one wanted to take up the Supported Housing Scheme, one could cash in the CLT home for say £140,000 (original price + increased building costs). The Supported Housing Scheme would take, say, 50%, one could still have £70,000 to add to the savings in hand, making £142,000 in hand, for future years.
Any unused capital can be transferred to other family members care plan.
Laurence Keeley
lvkeeley45@gmail.com
The Planet and People Coalition
Registered Company Number 11199364.
Registered Office: Cortlandt, George Street, Hailsham, East Sussex BN27 1AE
Visit: www.landandleisurecoop.co.uk
