Demonstration at Property Investor Show

PricedOut.org.uk to Demonstrate at Property Investor Show

Priced Out - the campaign for affordable house prices - is organising a protest at The Property Investor Show, Saturday 22nd September 2007, 10:30am, to highlight the plight of the First Time Buyer in the current housing climate.

Investment in residential property is a significant contributor to house price inflation, which has rarely dipped below 10% per annum over the past 8 years. Increasingly, investors are pushing would-be owner-occupiers out of the market. Figure 1 shows Council of Mortgage Lenders' data, showing this effect clearly. Since Buy-To-Let (BTL) mortgages first started becoming popular, the number of First-Time-Buyer (FTB) mortgages has been directly affected, dropping markedly since 2002. The number of FTB mortgages was quickly overtaken by the unprecedented surge in property investment, dropping around 30% while BTL investment increased unabated.

Coupled with lack of supply of housing stock, this unchecked gold rush has caused run-away inflation in house prices - inflation that is still on average 10% across the UK, and around 15% in London. Priced Out calls on the government to rein in this inflation rate NOW:

Regulate property investment. Stamp out property speculation.
- The market is full of unprofessional, unscrupulous landlords, many simply after a temporary fix to losses in their pension fund
- Homes should be just that - a home - not a "property", to be bought and sold at a family's expense.
- There is a worrying trend for Buy-To-Leave, with homes left empty while investors cash in on inflationary gains
Build more homes
- Overhaul the planning laws to reduce the red tape surrounding building more homes
- Build the right type of homes, that can suit everybody's needs: families, singles, pensioners
- Make those homes available for owner-occupation - not just more stock for investors
Sensible loans
- Rein in irresponsible lending, pitting vulnerable first-time-buyers against investors with millions in equity
- Experience needs to be drawn from the recent collapse of the sub-prime mortgage market in the US; unchecked, irresponsible lending of this kind only makes vulnerable people's situation more precarious

Why are we protesting at the Property Investor Show?

We believe property investors are unaware of the misery they are causing to would-be first-time buyers. Many Buy-To-Let landlords believe they are "offering a service" to their tenants. They do not see that for every Buy-To-Let property there is a family priced out of owner occupation and the security that brings them and their families. Property investors seem to be unaware of the link between the recent level of investment activity and house price inflation. Often, investors are trying to fund their own children into owning a home themselves!

Despite Gordon Brown's stated intention to keep house prices under control, they trebled during his tenure as Chancellor. According to the Halifax, prices are now unaffordable for first time buyers in 75% of UK towns; the situation in the South-East is particularly bad. Rather than controlling house prices, the economic climate of low interest rates and low new building supply rates have favoured spiralling house price inflation.

We are asking the government to focus on policies that cool house price inflation: discourage house price speculation and reduce the inflationary pressures in the housing market. We want the government to make the provision of family-friendly and affordable accommodation the top priority, instead of the demands of property investors and NIMBY (not in my back yard) residents.

Protest details:

The date:   Saturday 22nd September 2007
The time:   10:30am
The place:   West Podium, West entrance, ExCeL Exhibition Centre, Canary Wharf, London, E16 1XL

Map

For press information, please contact: press@pricedout.org.uk

For travel details and arrangements on the day please visit the protest page.

Priced Out is a strictly not-for-profit campaign that is currently funded exclusively by its volunteers.