ethelbags There seems to be a very narrowly drawn group of people who manage to meet with your approval. It appears not to include "lower class" types - gypsies, the long term unemployed, etc., to whom you have previously referred. Nor does it include the "smug and cosy in their own homes" "hypocritical" middle classes who question the widom of selling off social housing, the "snooty" volunteers in charity shops or the "little darlings" at university.
The fact is a lot of people - whatever "class" you perceive them to belong to - are experiencing difficulties. This is true of people who live in council, housing association or privately rented homes and especially of families who are stuck on a waiting list for years or who are living in "temporary" bed and breakfast accommodation.
As to owner occupiers, if you believe all private new builds are "quite luxurious" I think you are mistaken. Some years ago, a large estate of private flats was built quite near where I live. They offered a deal whereby people could move in for an upfront payment of around £1,000, with stamp duty and legal fees paid and kitchen appliances included, which appealed especially to lower earners who had not been able to save for a deposit. But these flats are not "luxurious" and they have a uniform and rather unattractive external appearance. Internally they are cramped, with a small open plan living room area/cum kitchen, and tiny bedrooms - and they were massively over-priced.
And your assertion that owner occupiers would object to living amongst council/housing association tenants is, I believe, untrue. I live in a terraced house in a pleasant but ordinary road and my previous next door neighbour of around 14 years was a council tenant. He bought his house at a substantial discount (it having been fully modernised a couple of years earlier by the council) and then, a few years after that, he sold it and purchased a flat further out of London. It was a fantastic deal for him and one which would naturally tempt a lot of people. It gave him the opportunity to purchase a flat outright before reaching retirement age and possibly left him with some surplus money. But his good fortune meant somebody else's misfortune - an even longer wait for suitable housing because one more decent, affordable home had been removed from the social housing stock.
As to Emily Thornberry, presumably there was a reason why the Housing Association was auctioning the property. Why should she be criticised for the decision of a housing association? There are people on Gransnet who are, or have been, landlords. Should they be villified? After all, private landlords have just filled the gap created by the reduction in social housing. It has proved to be very lucrative for some - especially those that charge sky high rents for sub-standard accommodation. I feel there should be fewer private landlords and more social housing, or that proper rent controls should be introduced. But, as it stands at the moment, landlords who provide decent, secure, properly maintained accommodation at a fair rent are needed in response to a dire housing situation that successive governments have allowed to develop.
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