Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
I never liked the Guardian much but ...
Please write to the Guardian to tell them what you think of this tasteless attempt to turn a very serious issue into a comedy sketch.
It's not funny to mock people on lower salaries, struggling to find a home.
To make it worse, the participants are actors.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2016/mar/14/exploitation-exp...
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Philip on
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Don't see anything to be offended by here. Yes they are trying to be 'humourous' about a serious subject, but they are really pointing out how ludicrous the housing market has become. These are not people on lower salaries.....they are people who don't have parents putting up a deposit.
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Permalink Reply by Liz on
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I'm inclined to agree with Philip. The dream that is sold by the property shows on TV such as Location, Location, Location on which this is based (fronted by the daughter of a baron) doesn't match up to the reality that young people are facing. Maybe you didn't find it funny or it didn't work as satire, but I don't think it was offensive.
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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Well, I think they could have said " You watch Location Location Location ? Forget it. Real life's not like that."
Sniggering at their predicament is offensive.
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I think they probably assumed, rightly or wrongly, that people would recognise the format and the way that the presenters both behave on screen.
I don't think they were sniggering at the predicament of young people because time and again they repeated the facts about how much rent now takes of an income and how people who don't have the bank of Mum and Dad to fall back on struggle to pay for anything more spacious than a room (perhaps in Paul Simon's charming new development on Willoughby Road).
Meanwhile families continue to occupy the one and two bedroom flats that people like the young couple would once aspire to. The natural progression of the past from bedsit, to flat to house is blocked because of under supply and high demand. Which, of course, is what happens when shelter becomes a commodity to be exploited rather than a right and all housing is privatised under Right to Buy, "development" and the forced selling off of council housing.
Meanwhile the likes of Location, Location, Location continue to feed an impossible dream. Property is a national obsession in this country, probably for a good reason as it becomes harder and harder to own, especially in the South East, but still it has come to define who we are. I once complained to a Spanish teacher with whom I was studying that Spanish TV was rubbish as there was nothing but football on it. He snapped back, ' What about you English with your endless programmes about decorating, gardening and buying houses?' Truly we are what we watch on TV.
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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And it's been pointed out to me that there are two sides to this. It was an anomaly that between 1988 and 1998 young couples could buy flats in London. Mostly people have had to save until well into their 30s or get an inheritance/parental support. I also hate that when they're looking for places to live they have such high aspirations. I cannot afford to live in Notting Hill so I have very little sympathy for young people complaining that they cannot afford to buy there. Come to Tottenham where the flats are cheap, the schools improving and the transport links excellent.
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The film was about renting not buying. Renting anywhere, including Tottenham, is an endless parade of people trying to take large wads of cash of you for very little in return.
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It's all relative isn't it Philip? I mean it's not cheap compared to many places in the world but it's certainly cheap compared to the rest of London.
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Permalink Reply by Abi on
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Been to South London recently, or anywhere outside zone 3? Definitely less expensive, but to describe anywhere in London as 'cheap' is problematic.
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'Supported by The Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust', whose aim is to 'fund political campaigns in the UK to promote democratic reform, civil liberties and social justice.' It worked for me.
PS John M, in the late '70s councils had money enough to give grants (not loans) to upgrade a house or flat one was buying - I know, we got one, and we're still here.
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