Gordon Brown’s announcement that he will not hold a general election this autumn has been met with surprise amongst some pundits. They point to the slowing down of economic growth, rising interest rates, and the “credit crunch” as indicators that tough times are ahead, and according to their predictions Gordon is not going to be as popular as he is right now for a while. The “feelgood factor” is, they say, deserting Britain.
That elusive “feelgood factor” has been linked to a variety of issues in the past, from high street spending to England’s performance in whatever World Cup was being played. Now, however, there is little doubt as to what determines that factor at the moment: it's housing prices.
It’s difficult to exaggerate how far property has worked its way into our day-to-day culture. The vast success of websites like Our Property and UpMyStreet, which provide information on house prices in a specific area, suggest that they’re more than just a commercial tool, they’re feeding on the national obsession with how much houses cost. And more to the point, how much prices have risen.
House prices provide an easy source of jokes for comedians, the basis for enormous supplements to the broadsheet newspapers, and even a subject for moral discussion. A recent edition of the BBC’s Moral Maze programme dealt with the morality of inheritance tax, which is only an issue for such a large number of people now because of the surges in property values. On that basis, the Tories’ recent pledge to raise the inheritance tax threshold to a million pounds is politics driven by house prices.
TV shows about houses have developed from the cheap and cheerful days of Changing Rooms, full of how to redecorate rooms with paint and MDF, to Location, Location, Location and Property Ladder. Where once the viewers wanted to brighten up the front room, now they apparently want to take up property development. And as has been shown by a series of stock market crashes, when the market becomes a leisure activity for the public, things have already gone too far. The buy-to-let sector has increased hugely, on the back of rising prices and low interest rates. It’s not even clear yet what precise effect the collapse in the American sub-prime mortgage market will have, but it certainly won’t be to improve the position of the buy-to-let contingent.
Somehow Britain has got itself into a position where rising house prices feel like a birthright. When that changes, it won’t just be noticed by those who study the market, and can explain the intricacies of mortgage lending. A raft of TV programmes, magazine articles and other media have helped relay property issues into general conversation. That’s why the “feelgood factor” could disappear so quickly.
