Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2017/12/20/a-million-households-by-2020.html
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I’m waiting for them to start treating people’s internal organs as assets.
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So many homeless. This is an outrage, especially during this festive season of the year. Are there no prisons? And what about the Union workhouses? Are they still in operation?
#torycompassion
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I don’t think they need to. The Care Home economy essentially commodifies the whole body. They’re typically run by private companies siphoning off taxpayer funding when the family itself can’t afford it. It’s pretty much people farming.
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Positively Dickensian. 
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Are the Brits tired of austerity measures yet or are they as stupid as Amerikans?
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Yes.
No.
So, modern compassion even less compassionate than Victorian Scrooge?
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Pretty tired of them but mostly voting Tory because Brexit! and/or Labour=communist numpties (blatant stereotyping of course).
Yes to both of them.
Seriously, if I had £0.01 every time I read someone complain about the lack of funding for the NHS, the housing crisis, people needing to use foodbanks to survive etc , then go on to say they are voting Tory/Ukip I would be rich enough to not need my disability benefits.
OK, I’m exaggerating a bit, but I would be able to get myself a cup of coffee every week just from Daily Fail comments.
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Homeless people don’t vote. Often, they can’t.
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Heart-breaking to hear, and it is something we are obviously struggling with here in the States, too. I have been heartened now and then by movements to build tiny houses for homeless people. I wouldn’t mind living in one myself, particularly if it were weatherized for cold environments.
One model in particular is the Binishell, an inflatable concrete dome that starts at $3,500 in cost. The website is somewhat humorous, particularly the cut-and-pasted people, but they have successfully been used as housing in real-world applications.
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Unfortunately, there are all kinds of zoning and code laws through which the man discriminates against those of us who just want to live in a shack in the woods.
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That is sadly true. My father was unable to build a post and beam house with straw bales as insulation because the insurance companies wouldn’t insure it - even though they have been proven to be 3x or more resistant to fires than conventional homes.
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The Earth’s population has gone up by 250% since I was born. Buildable land has not increased, Desirable cities remain so even if those on public assistance could afford much more if they went someplace cheaper.
Everything is going to get more crowded and more expensive or harder to obtain by and by.
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Well, the people treating it as an asset aren’t the one’s they’re putting in peril. That’s kind of the problem.
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0_o source on that? I have a hard time buying straw is less flammable than fiberglass.
Also, I was under the impression that in most markets, it isn’t that people can’t build affordable housing, but a combination of not letting people build up, and when they do build, they build for a market that will bring in more money. This of course varies by region.
We used to have affordable social housing until Maggie sold it in the 1980s. The population of the UK has gone up by 10,000,000 since then, nowhere near 250%.
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I believe the claim is that tightly packed straw bale walls are less flammable that 2x4 frames with loosely packed fiberglass in the cavity. The fiberglass itself doesn’t burn of course, but apparently it doesn’t slow the propogation of fire as well either. Straw bale walls are also way thicker than a normal wall, which probably helps – it just takes longer to burn through.
I haven’t really looked into it much, this is just what I have heard from advocates. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was true that a straw bale wall built a certain way is more fire resistant than a standard residential wall build to code. But without building codes describing what “properly constructed” means, it is going to be hard to get building permits. I am certain there are ways to build it that are wrong and are fire hazards. Another point that one site mentioned is that you need to be vigilant about cleaning up loose straw during construction as that is a serious fire hazard – another factor that would require established standards for permitting.
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Thatcher;s Government repealed the Fair Rent Act, claiming that “Rents will find their own level”.
As Freehold values are based on income from rents, Landlords increase rents to increase the value of their properties. This causes an increase in Council Tax, which tenants have to pay.
Good old Maggie! Did more damage to britain than Hitler ever dreamed of.
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(Note: this is from a USA perspective, but I imagine most of the issues are probably shared with the UK)
A lot of the “Build Tiny Hones for the homeless” attempts I have seen have failed horribly because they don’t get utilities for the tiny homes, and they don’t get a good place to put them.
You need to have a heat source. You need to have running water and sewage. You need to have a kitchen, and hopefully refrigeration. And you need to have an address so that you can get benefits to start clawing your way out. Otherwise, it’s just another box to sleep in.
The house itself is not the expensive part for most people. It’s the land underneath the house. And that is where much of the tiny house as a solution to homelessness fails, because they don’t give the homeless a place to be.
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