This leaves the golden goose, that is, land, which is limited in supply (so free market supply and demand rules should not apply, but it has been decided politically via post-1970 deregulation that they do). Shelter is a basic need for survival and, therefore, ripe for rentier exploitation. (Churchill 1909)

Financialised debt with low risk to the banks who hold the asset, and, as stated above, all the various government incentives that have added further inflation to land means that the classic ratio of average full-time earnings x 3-4 over 25 years for an average house is now between x7-14 times and up to 40 years repayment.

Anything over x4 is considered unaffordable by a recent Bank of England report on housing; in the 1960s, with a 10% deposit, it was x3, over a max of 25 years, which is nearer to the goal for a decent amount of disposable income for a healthy working and middle class. (Hetherington Ryan-Collins, Shrubsole)

So why do people worry and chase ‘investments’?

Safety and fear, fear of no elderly care in later life, funds for children’s education, and house deposits. Coming from unearned asset inflation from their own house or further investments in the buy-to-let market. How can the Labour Party ( or any other government other than the traditional ‘party of the land owner’, i.e., the Tory Party) or government break this chain of land speculation dependency? (Hetherington, Shrubsole)