David Cameron has offered £4.1 billion in tax cuts for pensioners and savers
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THE MAYOR's new London Housing strategy, published today, acknowledges that times have changed with "the turbulent, difficult and unpredictable market". Indeed, the drastic reduction in the price of housing and the problems many people have in getting a mortgage has meant that many of the old assumptions about housing have been undermined. The private construction sector is in freefall and house prices are falling steadily. Nevertheless, the emphasis of this three-year strategy, funded by £5 billion of central-government funds, is on home ownership in the private sector rather than rented housing.
It aims especially to help people on to the housing ladder through an expansion of shared-equity schemes and by raising the qualifying household income limit to £72,000. That means that households on the basic rate of tax will be eligible for help. Meanwhile, £60 million will be spent on buying unsold homes. This represents a shift towards investing directly in homes rather than subsidising them. Mr Johnson also says he will show rather greater flexibility than his predecessor in reaching the target of 50,000 affordable homes: there will be no set percentage of affordable homes within planned developments as Ken Livingstone had required, although it is not clear how the Mayor will persuade recalcitrant boroughs to improve their performance in this respect. In addition, of the 50,000 total, 30,000 are intended to be for social renting. More of these will in future be family homes, not just one- and two-bedroom flats.
But the strategy is not only focused on the provision of homes; the Mayor also wants to encourage more beautiful design as well as better environmental standards. He is right: high-density, affordable homes need not be ugly and cramped. His planned Housing Design Guide may help.
Much will depend on how the economy and housing market fares over the next three years. Provided the middle-income workers targeted by the scheme keep their jobs, and provided developers take on new projects, the measures to make home ownership easier and more accessible deserve to succeed. Housing, given the present crisis, is likely to be a bigger challenge for the Mayor than it looked like being back in the balmy May days following his election. But the Mayor's characteristically pragmatic and un-grandiose approach make this strategy hard to disagree with.
Less speed
SPEED kills. And in general, the more a motorist exceeds the speed limit in any area the more dangerous he is. The Government's new consultation paper on curbing dangerous driving would bring a measure of proportionality into the law. At present, most speeding offences attract a fixed penalty notice of a fine and three points; the new proposal is for anyone who greatly exceeds the limit - for instance, driving at 90mph where the limit is 70mph - to get six penalty points. Being caught twice would mean 12 penalty points - and disqualification from driving.
This is a sound approach, which would, almost certainly, save lives. Drivers are understandably annoyed when a very minor infraction of the speed limit results in a penalty; this move would punish dangerous drivers proportionately. The consultation also takes drug-driving seriously; about one in five people killed on the road have taken drugs. Zero tolerance of drugs and driving is probably the most practical approach to a real problem.
And celebrating ...
FABIO CAPELLO. With a squad that included only three of his first-choice players, last night's victory for England over Germany shows that the England team has a real future in its young players. This is the latest of a series of brilliant matches under Mr Capello's aegis. His strict, disciplinarian approach, on and off pitch, plainly works.
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