PAM Thompson writes that if she could buy a home of her own, anyone can.
Well that may have been so 30 years ago, but it’s certainly not so in 2010.
First, the average starter home in Fenland is around �100,000. The typical income in Fenland is around �12,500 a year, if you’re lucky. So a two-earner couple would make �25,000 a year.
Second, even if you could get a mortgage at three-times joint income, banks and building societies would want a deposit of �25,000.
The solution, as all five candidates for the Labour leadership have indicated, is for local authorities to start building council houses again.
Such a policy has massive support amongst working class people. This includes those fortunate enough to have bought their own council house.
They want to see their children and grandchildren have a decent home, with security of tenure and affordable rents, in which to bring up their families.
According to the latest statistics there are more than 2,450 families and individuals on the housing waiting lists in Fenland.
The building of council houses in Fenland would put unemployed building workers back to work and create apprenticeships for young people leaving college.
In contrast to the utopian ideas of Mrs Thompson about ‘home ownership’, council houses are the solution to the housing crisis in Fenland.
JOHN SMITHEE
Kingsley Avenue
Wisbech
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