As a a landlord (having become one due to relentless systematic encouragement of), what pride is there to live in a country so economically divided?

Repeat after me. Houses are for people to live in, they are not instruments of financial speculation and governments have to be extremely careful about encouraging people into this type of investment activity more than we already have.

The fact that we’ve commoditised housing to the level we have does not come without social and economic consequences.

The problem that this has presented…

• Broken social contract with our productive working citizens who become despondent with the situation and leave.
• Is that it ties up capital that could otherwise be used for more productive purposes and has a real tendency to cause an economic “lock up”. Instead of spending money through out the wider community, they are instead using that money to pay some off shore bank hefty interest payments or if they’re renting, paying the landlord’s mortgage.

The last election was depressing. Few politicians even really cared about the matter.