OLD GEEZER 1: Never thought of buying a house?
OLD GEEZER 2: Nope… nor money-laundering.
Hardly the same.
Why do people launder money?
To hide where it originally came from.
Exactly…..who do you buy a house from?
The owner.
And who did they buy it from?
The previous owner.
Go back as far as possible…. who owned it?
No one…common land.
It was ‘claimed’….. probably by killing someone.
But it’s natural to want to live in a house!
No it’s not….for 95% of our existence we were hunter-gatherers, we’re hard-wired to be nomadic!
Too many of us to be nomadic these days…. not enough to hunt or gather.
So why do we need to ‘own’ a house. Look at Singapore….not perfect… but a good way of life. 80% of Singaporeans live in ‘social housing’.
Nobody wants to live in a council house here. Not many DUNROAMIN signs on council houses!
There is a sign….STIGMA. You know in some apartment blocks in Singapore there’s a detector in the lift and if you pee the door locks and the police arrive!
Still, there are not enough affordable places and homelessness is chronic!
So why are we pleased when the price of housing rises?
Not everyone.
Only those who own property. (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE)
You’re not wrong…. some people ‘buy to rent’.
Sick!
Still… people want to get on the ‘property ladder’.
Or they could get a life…. your deal!
Ian McEwan
