by #AdamPeggs in #Jacobin:

"If you look across Europe and much of the wider world, there is no correlation between high rates of homeownership and better social outcomes in housing. Many of the places with the best social outcomes in housing, like Vienna and the Netherlands, are characterized by lower rates of homeownership. With this in context, the UK’s obsession with homeownership as a necessity looks increasingly flawed. Instead of a mortgage guarantee, a better alternative might be a 'Council Housing Guarantee.' When landlords decide to up and sell, sitting tenants could request that the council purchase the property. A state financial institution, at the national level, could finance the transaction by drawing on the comparatively lower borrowing rates available to government."

https://jacobin.com/2023/07/uk-housing-crisis-labour-party-homeownership-policy-mortgage-public-housing

#homeownership #PublicHousing #housing #landlords #tenants #rent