Wed 27 Feb 2019, 13:43 PM | Posted by editor
LETTER from Mark Langabeer, Newton Abbot CLP, personal capacity.
Whether the UK leaves or remains in the EU, the burning injustices will continue. It’s been reported that Persimmons, one of the large house builders has posted record profits. Pre-tax profits for 2018 grew by 13% to a whopping £1:1 billion.
This big increase is mainly due the government’s, ‘ help to buy scheme’ The company have sold 8,000 homes under the scheme in 2018 which resulted in further increases in house prices .It’s also boosted dividends paid to Persimmons shareholders.
Listening to the Jeremy Vine show on BBC radio 2, caller after caller complained that the new builds were of poor quality. An economist argued that the scheme should be scapped, as this would reduce prices. Another contributor argued that, scrapping the scheme would result in fewer builds.
Only a Labour Government, committed to a programme of building a million council homes over a 5 year plan can solve the housing crises. In order to make this plan a reality, the likes of Persimmons should be brought into public ownership so that house building is based on need, rather than private profit.
