VOTE Daniel Wimberley

Some policies for housing

I am not an expert on housing, but my ideal of respect for people and decent housing for all leads me to the following:

• to end the economically, socially and environmentally disastrous policy of increasing the population to “solve our problems”
• to put housing on the waterfront instead of thousands of square feet of new offices,
• put an end to the absurd situation that as soon as a plot of land is rezoned for housing the owner pockets a vast increase in value at the expense of the new homeowner (for a  sharp critique of this scandal see here)
• support for genuine participation of tenants in housing issues,
• rapid implementation of the tenants’ deposit protection scheme, why are we waiting?
• proper and respectful treatment of people, such as the residents of The Cedars, when their accommodation is being refurbished. Of course this means not running the island on “overfull” but with a little bit to spare.

• to look at capital gains tax, so that windfall profits going to home-owners for no effort of their own and due to gross mismangement of the economy, are recycled into the housing market. I am sure all fair-minded homeowners would agree that seeing the value of their house increasing 40% in 2 years makes them feel uneasy.