Housing in Wolverhampton

Last week I met with Grant Shapps – shadow Minister for housing to discuss issues around Wolverhampton’s local needs. We’ve just had a weekend of  Margaret Beckett talking about  a bit of a pick-up in the sector despite the fact that Ernst & Young have warned that house prices could fall a further 16 per cent this year, following a similar decline in 2008.

Grant responded by saying : “The Government has lost all touch with reality. Experts say 75,000 families may be evicted from their homes this year, yet the housing minister actually seems to believe that life is getting better.”

Right move, the property website, reported that 43,416 properties come on to the market this month, less than half of the number in January last year. It blamed falling house prices, which it said were deterring homeowners from selling their properties. It also found that so-called forced sellers, who need to sell their home, have had to lower their asking prices dramatically to achieve a sale.

The evidence of any recovery would appear to be patchy at best, while the rest of  us carry on living in the real world with the consequences of a big painful correction, despite the fact that we were told that this housing boom was different ! 

Paul.