Radio 4 news magazine Broadcasting House on the housing crisis for the lower paid |
At Chigwell in Essex, close to the site of the new Whipps Cross Hospital and the housing estate planned to cover most of its former footprint, the BBC's Anita Anand spoke to Tom Fyans, the Campaign Director at Essex CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England), and also to Lester Schiffman, a long-time estate agent in the area, who together gave her a very candid and forthright account of what has been happening in the housing world. They explained that this is a housing crisis only for the low paid; for the well-heeled it's an investment opportunity. Further shocking evidence that most of Britain's population is effectively held to ransom by the owners and controllers of the housing industry, and the real policy of all in that sector, including the Labour-controlled councils, is to clear the poor out of the cities and grow richer themselves on the opportunities their position provides for financial speculation.
|