Housing fears

Published on 14/07/2012 00:00

WE NEED to be careful what we wish for regarding hopes for a “recovery” in the housing market (“Housing market won’t bounce back until 2024”, 12 July).

Whilst the PwC report identifies access to credit and buyer confidence as key requirements for an increase in house buying, it is the firm’s prediction that prices will increase as “supply shortages reassert themselves” that sends a shiver down the spine of those of us who see the human effect of the housing crash.

Recovery need not mean a return to above-inflation prices rises fuelled by demand for homes outstripping supply and out of the reach of most working people.

The housing market will only truly have recovered when there is a sufficient supply of homes to meet Scotland’s continued household expansion backed up by fair and stable access to credit.

Only when the average working family can afford to buy a secure family home and there is real choice and security in the rented sector can the housing market be described as healthy.

It seems that some people still have not learned the lesson of the biggest economic crisis of recent times. Namely that it was our historic failure to build enough homes that contributed to credit and land price bubbles that themselves fuelled the housing crash.

Gordon MacRae

Shelter Scotland

Edinburgh