The British conservative government trumpets the importance of home ownership. It is so important that charitable housing associations are to be forced to
sell their properties at a discount to existing tenants. Well, let us reflect:
If property ownership merits such high
priority, why does the government not grant a “right to buy” against those who have “bought to let” a second property?
After all, thousands of people have bought second properties
purely as investments to secure rental income and capital growth. Private
tenants have little security of tenure, little control over rent increases and
have no share of the property value.
Therefore, if we must think in terms of property
ownership as being so important, then if anyone deserves the right to buy at a discount, it is those
tenants — or at the very least they deserve the right to a share in the
property’s increase in value.
What is, dare I say, sauce for the social tenant goose should
also be sauce for the private tenant gander.
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