Weymouth has two well-known problems – a massive wealth gap between the haves and have nots and also huge house prices relative to the earnings.
The average house price is 13 times the average income – the average income earner would take 13 years to pay the mortgage on an average home if they starved, used no energy, wore the same clothes every day and somehow managed to get a 0% APR mortgage.
A brief lesson on economics
One of the reasons that house prices are so high is that those wealthy enough often have two or more houses in the area.
Basic economics is down to supply and demand – the fewer people who want a new property the lower the price tag. This is one of the reasons you can get a bigger place on a busy road in a dodgy area than you might on a quiet lane in a well-heeled part of town. You can get a tiny cottage in Sutton Poyntz for a lot more money than a four bedroomed pile in on a busy road in Westham.
Multiple home owners add to the competition – with the cash jangling in their pockets they add to the competition for houses on sale because demand is increased. Many do this for extra income – you can pay your mortgage for the year on a holiday cottage by renting it to holidaymakers through the busy two month high season. Those after long term rents? They can take 150% or more of their mortgage repayments every month by renting their property out to local residents. Pay their mortgage at high speed and after 10 years or fewer and that becomes a nice little income.
Glass houses and stones
Many councillors in Weymouth are multiple home owners who force up the house prices by buying multiple homes. This is why I find it rather amusing that Cllr Gill Taylor has started a campaign to help reduce house prices in Weymouth and Portland.
You can see her smiling awkwardly at the Echo photographer in the article here.
Like many of her councillor colleagues she is a multiple house owner. Yes, someone complaining at the cost of housing while playing a part in the house price problem. She isn’t exactly a housing magnate like many of her fellow councillors (a couple or a few homes unlike others who own 10 or more) but according to the basic rule of economics, still as much a part of the problem of inflated demand as a councillor who may have threatened his tenants should they put an opposition party poster in their front window and thereby helped his own votes on a nearby island…
There are places where a little multiple home / house price inflation helps. Spain? Greece? Certainly not in one of the poorest towns in the UK. Please, don’t inflate house prices by hoarding houses and then complain about the housing problem – you just look stupid….
Anon
