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  Ross is absolutely right in what he says.
  
  Jan - I too have a house of multiple occupation close to me and that too is a problem, populated as it is with the dregs placed there by social services some straight out of prison.
  
  These though are different to rented homes.
  
  Alex - I have not denied that houses are too expensive. Where you and I differ is in the scale of the problem. In January, on my return from a regular conference I attend, I did say that house prices were to resume a downward trend despite a temporary upward blip we had then. The point is that houses find their value in the market based on what people are prepared to pay and the availability of mortgages.
  
  House values boomed for one big reason, the availability of cheap easy cash, this created an appalling housing and debt bubble. I have said many times on here that one of the many big mistake Brown made was in his setting of the inflation brief to the Bank of England which ignored most housing costs. Interest rates were kept too low too long as a result feeding the craze. This problem was compounded because many amateur landlords tried to get in on the buy to let craze pushing up prices - many of these have lost out severely as a result. I spent some years warning clients and potential BTL buyers to avoid this.

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