There has been an interesting new initiative from Mr Shapps and the Department for Communities and Local Government. They consider that the housing crisis might be eased if more of us lived on boats.
“Around 15,000 people live on our waterways and many more would like to do so. The Government’s commitment to Localism could be an opportunity for living on boats to be given a new lease of life. Where houseboats pay council tax, communities will be eligible for the New Homes Bonus, so the potential economic benefits are huge.
“Landlords, councils and communities all have a clear incentive to get more mooring sites in their areas and not become landlocked in their quest to meet local housing needs.”
Nearly Legal considers the idea beyond comment, but I suppose one ought to not dismiss it out of hand. However, if there are only 15,000 living afloat at the present, even if this number were to double, it would not solve the current crisis.
The Poverty Site for example tells us that there were 61,000 households (households mark you, not people) who were newly homeless in 2010.
I also doubt many will think houseboats suitable for families, particularly families with young children.
I am afraid Mr Shapps, the thing we need most is more houses being built, not more mooring places for houseboats. But I suppose allowing more people to live on boats won’t hurt. The government announcement does however have a touch of desperation about it.
If you are considering renting accommodation on a houseboat by the way, be aware though that you will not have a tenancy but a license, as it is not possible to have a tenancy of a boat. This was confirmed in a recent case reported here.
What do you think of Mr Shapps’ idea?
Personally I like the romance of the idea Tessa, always have but I know from boating holidays that the damp would play havoc with my asthma.
Touch of desperation is right though. Shapps keeps wittering (and twittering) on about spending £4.5 billion on new builds but where are they? He is loosening up planning laws there has been a 25% drop in approved planning applications. An increase in the amount of village greens being registered to block planning applications and just yesterday the CLG announced that bowling greens will now be able to register and block planning permission too.
I started work in housing in 1978 and apart from a 3 year gap in the 80s to become a musician I have been there ever since. People have always gone on about a housing crisis but I can honestly say I have never seen one like this, nor a government so lacking in ideas or action to resolve it. Even Thatcher, who for me is still the devil incarnate, actually did things. I might not have agreed with them but she had ideas.
Shapps is like the 3 vultures in Disney’s Jungle Book, sitting gormless on trees going “What are we gonna do now?…..I dunno, what do you want to do?”
WAKE UP MAN FOR GODS SAKE
Houseboats??
Where’s the imagination in that.
What about building huge underwater cities with omnibuses being towed about by teams of manatees. [It’s certainly time that someone put those ugly, useless critters to work.]
Or, failing that, what about building a huge system of subterranean caverns and tunnels where the poor can live like Morlocks – only emerging blinking into the light every so often when a bin needs emptying in Chelsea or the deviant needs of a visiting French banker require servicing.
Houseboats, bah humbug.