70m by 2027 but do we have the houses?

Well, according to the BBC, the UK's population will hit 70m by 2027, which is a hell of a lot of people for such a tiny island.  There's not enough room for us all at the moment let alone in 15+ years!  Not only that, but as we have noticed over the past number of years, the amount of houses being built has decreased a lot - by 2027, are there going to be enough houses for us all?

The BBC wrote a magazine article to coincide with this news about some radical solutions that have been suggested to combat the housing issue - I'm not sure I agree with them but I can see the pros and cons:

1. Encourage the elderly out of big houses
   I understand that some elderly people live in big homes because they are keeping a hold to the past and also to allow their family to inherit the homes once they pass away but in all honesty, those big homes are unnecessary for them, especially if only 1-2 people live there.  However, it's not just the elderly so it shouldn't be targeted to just affect them - there are plenty of people living in big homes when it is not necessary but if they can afford it, how can you justify removing them to allow a bigger family to live there who may need benefits and loans to run the property instead?
   My thoughts - maybe, but it would need to target anyone in unnecessarily large homes and take into account of the earnings of those living there with their payment history for amenities within the property.
   
2. Less restrictive planning
   Around 13% of the UK is green belt, which stops property developers building homes in those areas.  The government has proposed to reform the planning laws surrounding green belts, which would allow property developers to build more freely.  I'm not sure about this idea - I see that allowing more houses to be built where there is a lot of land would help the housing issue, but I wouldn't like to see all green belts disappear because of this.
   My thoughts - I'm not sure with this one, it would have to be stringent which it might as well stay as it is
   
3. Contain the population growth
   How could you contain the population growth?  According to the Migration Watch, over 33% of houses over the next 25 years will be a result in immigration - basically immigrants are to blame... I'm not sure I agree with this - yes, immigrants do force the country to house more people and increase the population, but to blame them is not right.  Do we stop letting others live here?  Would that help the UK?
   My thoughts - don't blame immigration, however some measures may be taken as to the rules they have to follow (e.g. have to get a job within X amount of months and last in a job for over 12 months etc)
   
4. Let or sell empty properties
   Apparently there are over 300,000 homes in the UK that have been empty for over 6 months, all because it is cheaper to run an empty property than it is to renovate and populate.  One suggestion is to force landlords to either sell these properties after a certain period of time or offer a lower rent for those willing to take on renovating the property themselves.
   My thoughts - I'm not sure about the renting offer but I do agree that vacant lots should be sold to those who actually want it.
   
5. Ban second homes
   I can see the appeal of having a second home but if you are using the second home as a holiday home, you are obviously not occupying it for a long period of time (unless it's a caravan and you visit it each weekend!).  George Monbiot, a columnist for the Guardian, has suggested that the council tax for the second home should be increased to make it less appealing to have one.
   My thoughts - unless the second home is used for more than so many months in the year, I agree the council tax should be more.  However, banning them is extreme as they can obviously afford it.  Maybe in those months the second home is not occupied by the owner, it should be rented out to those who need it (or used as a holiday home?)
   
6. Guarantee mortgage payments
   There are a lot of people wishing to get on the property ladder who can't afford the high rates mortgage lenders are offering at the moment.  The Home Builders Foundation have suggested that mortgage lenders agree to lend on terms that those trying to buy a property can afford.  Obviously, we don't want a repeat of the fiasco that led us and many other countries into a recession, but if the "government, house builders and mortgage lenders club together to fund an insurance scheme that would underwrite mortgages where the lender defaults", more people would be able to afford to buy a property.
   My thoughts - as someone who would one day like to own their own home, I can see the benefit to this but I also see a tax being added somewhere down the line.
   
7. Live with family generations
   It has been suggested that families live together over more than just one generation (e.g. grandparents, children and grandchildren), allowing more homes to become available for other families.  A number of households already act like this, especially those who can't afford a place of their own.  However, living with family can cause unnecessary stress.
   My thoughts - I'm not sure I like this idea.  Although I love my family to bits, I don't think we could all live together (especially as my family is HUGE!).  What about my fella's family?  Do they live with us or do we all live with them?  I can't imagine this being a brilliant idea as we all prefer our own space.
   
8. Build more council homes
   Back when Margaret Thatcher was around, she introduced the right to buy your home, thus many bought their own council homes as soon as they could.  Nowadays, there are hardly any council homes to go around and the waiting list gets longer and longer each year.  However, the connotations of council homes in the UK allows bring up thoughts of gangs in high rise flats or run down areas.
   My thoughts - it is necessary to give affordable housing to those who need it, but I can't see the council doing this any time soon.  Maybe not the answer but I think we are on the right track with this suggestion.

So, after that, I have no idea what the best way is to deal with the housing issues and population growth, and I don't think the government does either.  I don't think this particular government will actually start a fix for this in the next few years.

Could it be a case of introducing laws about how many children families can have or forcing families to live in smaller houses and ridding the UK of green belts to allow the building of more houses?  Who knows...

Will free parking bring more people to Oldham?

It turns out Oldham Council is going to introduce free parking on Saturdays as it is apparently going "to give Oldham a quick competitive edge" on the run up to Christmas and such.  However, most of Oldhamers will agree that this is not the full reason as to why they have done this.  It has got to be because of the lack of shopping being done in Oldham.  

If you have been around Oldham lately, you will have noticed the number of vacant shop units in Spindles and Town Square, as well as the lack of good and varied market stalls inside and out of the market hall.  Does the council really think that free parking will bring the people back using Oldham as their main shopping town?  No point in giving free parking when there are hardly any shops for those people to go to!!!  

Instead of trying to increase footfall, why not lower the rent for shop units and market stalls, allowing companies to at least have a chance to get a unit or stall to sell from?  I don't know, but that makes more sense to me!

iPhone 4S is released - big woop...

I can't believe what I heard on the news today - people were actually queuing over night to get the latest iPhone from the Apple stores.  Sorry, but that is really really sad.  I do admit I have been to midnight launches before where I did have to queue for a bit but these people are just taking it a little too far!  There was no reason to queue up all night just to get the latest iPhone - it's bound to be the same as the iPhone 4 anyway, just with a better camera and voice recognition, which brings me neatly to my next point of the rant...

I can't believe Apple are taking the voice recognition software as an innovative step for phones - hello!!!  This software has been out for ages!  When I first got my G1 (over 3 years ago), I had voice recognition.  Did I use it though?  No, because I'm not that lazy and I can actually type things out.

I heard one part of the phone that uses the voice recognition software is the alarm.  Who is realistically going to use that feature?  I think it would be much quicker to actually open the alarm clock app and set it like all other phones do.  Typical scenario:

User: 'set alarm for 8am'
Phone: 'do not understand the request, please try again'
User: 'ok... set alarm for 0800 hours'
Phone: 'do not understand the request, please try again'

User: 'grrr, getting p**sed off now - SET THE GOD DAMN ALARM FOR 8 O'CLOCK!'

Phone: 'do not understand the request, please try again'

User: 'FFS!'

Yeah, that would be me, but I'm smart enough to not want to go to such lazy lengths just to set my alarm!

The best bit about the launch is that you have to pay to get the new phone, despite it probably being EXACTLY the same as the iPhone 4!  What's the point?  I don't understand the need to upgrade AND pay to practically get the same phone.  

I've heard a lot of people commenting that they want the new phone and all I can advise them is to save their money and not get tied into the whole 'Apple or nothing' world because the next thing they will want to do is change their PC to a Mac and buy songs from iTunes rather than getting it cheaper off Amazon (and DRM free, meaning you actually do own the MP3s!).  I'm sorry to say but that would be a very bad path to follow.  I'm not trying to offend any of my friends who are already at that point in their lives but I do feel sorry for them because they have no way out.  Maybe someone should set up some help groups to aid them out of the claws of the late Steve Jobs (RIP Steve) and back to reality...

aww, poor Blackberry users...

As you know, Blackberry users are having major problems with the messaging system in Europe, Middle East, Africa and probably more areas of the world by now.  Oh, you don't know?  Ah, I see, you have a phone that works, right!  Well that's probably a good thing or you would be stuck with nothing to do and no way of contacting anyone at all...

Oh my god, why is this a big deal?  Yeah, I see the issue on the company's side - loss of messaging services means less people using it and thus loss of money as well as many phone calls of complaints over the disruption but from a user perspective, they just need to chill!

"Argh, I can't text my mate and tell him to be outside my house at 6, what am I going to do???' - what did we do about 10 years ago?  It's called a house phone, or better still, a plan you make in advance?  Even nowadays there's LOADS of other ways to communicate - Facebook, Windows Live Messenger, emails, even your games console has the ability to send a message!

I'm wondering whether we are taking technology as being our ONLY way of 'getting on with life' - to be honest, without technology I wouldn't be able to write this blog, but on the other hand I have been so focused on getting the rant up and do other 21st century stuff at home, I have turned down the opportunity to go out and be with friends... OK, so the last bit is not quite true but I do know of some people who take computers and gaming and treat it as though they HAVE to use them, whether they need to or not, essentially running their lives via 0s and 1s (binary for anyone not geeky!).

I really don't think I could last without any personal technology in my life, despite this rant, but they don't rule my life - I can go days without going on the internet or spend a couple of hours (outside of sleeping) without the need to check my phone to see what email has been sent to me (no doubt some spam, annoying stupid spam!).

I think I've made my point:

• Blackberry users - there's more to life than wondering when your texts are going to be available.  Why not pick up the telephone or pop round to a mate's house instead?
• Technology freaks - it might be worth every once in a while to put the consoles down, switch the computer off, even put your phone on silent, and have a night out with real people who you can have a proper chat with in person

Just saying...

first post

I keep ranting about things I have read in the news or heard on the radio but I'm sure my fella and my mates are getting pretty sick of me saying this every day so instead I thought I would start this blog to put all I think into writing instead! I already have a lot to say about some articles I have read recently so will be busy over the next few days filling up my posts!