Not sure if Karl Marx got that quite right. Ownership doesn’t have to entail exploitation, but home ownership does seem to be a bit of a con.
I have two nephews living in Auckland paying about 500 NZ dollars a week rent. To get a foot on the property ladder they would have to spend 2,000 NZ dollars a week in mortgage payments.
My daughter owns a half share in a 3 bedroom house near Hove in England. My ex-wife and I bought that house in 1979 for £19,500. It is now valued at about £350,000 to 400,000. In other words I couldn’t afford to buy it based on my final salary before I retired.
This extortion in terms of property prices makes huge profits for Estate agents and finance companies and takes properties off the rental market.
Social housing is shrinking in the UK. Councils can make more money in the short term selling off their public housing. But what about those on low incomes? They either face long commutes or have to put up with poor living conditions in shoddy private rental accommodation.
odespinner 