BoE slashes interest rates by 1.5%

[phykell]

Originally Posted by A Place of Light

The house price situation has far more to do with supply and demand economics than it has with the consumer/public.

The housing market is another example of a largely unregulated industry running amok. It's examples like the housing industry which have caused our economy to be little more than a house of cards these days. I remember, for example, when the price of a house bore at least *some* relation to its build cost.

It's odd that houses cost so much considering modern methods and materials but look around at some of the older houses. Back when methods and materials were supposedly "crude", they were able to include designs, materials and so on, that simply could not be considered affordable these days. Even in relatively modest old houses such as my own, the internal coving is all hand-moulded plaster and would be far too expensive in terms of labour, to try and replicate in a modern house. Everything's been shaved to the bone, modern roof construction for example, yet houses are poorer quality, don't last as long and cost significantly more.