When it comes to an Englishman’s home it seems there are certain things you can’t say. John Healey, housing minister, found this out to his cost yesterday when he explained that – for some people – repossession was not the worst option available to them.
Cue outrage in The Sun. And more outrage in The Express. Even the Mirror, which is rarely the first to attack the government, joined in with more than a hint of outrage.
This is what Healey said:
“For some people it can be the only, and it can in fact be the best, option for them to allow their home to be repossessed. Sometimes it is impossible for people to maintain the mortgage commitments they’ve got. It may be the best thing in those circumstances.”
Do the tabloid hacks really believe that it’s better to remain in negative equity, struggling under the burden of high repayments to a lender, than to bail out and rent somewhere instead (often a cheaper option)?
Healey wasn’t saying that he didn’t care if repossessions soared. Instead he was making a statement of the obvious. This was not a Lamont moment.
If you want to get angry about repossessions, blame the banks who lent mortgages at ridiculous multiples of salary or on the basis of “self-certified” salaries which may not have existed. Or blame the FSA for letting it happen.
UPDATE
Left Foot Forward is not happy with the Express coverage of the story.
Jim Pickard
Kiran Stacey