How houses kill happiness: an example
The British public's obsession with owning houses can make for a life of utter misery, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
Someone called from Newsnight yesterday. They wanted to ask about housing. Does the obsession with owning houses in the UK damage lives? Does it mean we don't diversify our investments enough or save enough into our pensions? Does it hurt the economy by damaging labour mobility? Damage entrepreneurship by putting people off risk?
I think we all know the answers to these questions (yes, yes, yes, yes) but for those in any doubt here is an article from the Daily Mail about a woman who lives in a £1m house but finds herself also "on the breadline".
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