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Totally. Osborne even said himself the economy needed to be rebalanced; remember his "march of the makers" quip. So why doesnt he do something about it? Instead he sets the UK on exactly the same journey which led to this economic carnage. Utter, utter, utter madness. Some might say Labour made...

This. And there is plenty of evidence from the last housing bubble to back this up.

I see what you're saying but I think there are more sensible approaches which do not involve this sudden surge of purchasing and consequent price rises. A simple way would be to limit the number of Help to Buy deals the government allow. Or control house price inflation via other means such as a...

You stated the only people who "hate" buy-2-lets are renters. I know people from all walks who have concerns about them. Therefore I think it's rubbish.

I could also argue for a wholesale curb/slowing down or levelling of increases which would not plunge people into -ve equity. Help 2 Buy has produced an unwelcome and unnatural spike in demand/prices. The nation really does not need another housing boom and if this means that, for a while, not...

Total rubbish.

Agree.

It created a lot of demand which was not previously there; pushing house prices up which had knock on effects for other people wanting to buy (as home owners not landlords) and also for people wanting to rent as if a property costs more then the landlord charges more. And a proportion of these...

Fair point to pick up on; I was writing in the context of the UK where home ownership is in the DNA. Here, renting is more popular as you correctly point out. My take on the reasons are that it is cheap, highly regulated with controls on rent increases, it is stable in the sense if you find a...

Agree. One thing that has depressed me is a conversation I had a few years ago with a couple of friends who both earn above average wages but did not have any hope in securing a mortgage without outside help. This to me is pretty shit. Surely you should be able to buy, at the very least, a small...

Quite. I really fail to see who buy-2-let benefits other than landlords. We need a tax on second homes.

Exactly. The housing market should be left alone to find its own level. As another poster said you're increasing demand whilst keeping supply static and so the cycle starts again, house prices soar, and when interest rates go up it comes crashing down again. I also think the buy-2-let market...

This. I find it incredible that given the mess the world got itself into over mortgages the UK is going down this path yet again. And whilst on the subject of stimulating the economy what happened with Osborne's "March of the makers"? Stimulate manufacturing not sodding housing. It's an utterly...

Oh, and buy-to-lets are increasing severely as well; how is this good for the nation?

Haven't we learn anything from the recession? Artificially stimulating house buying and the price rises which come with it is totally absurd. And basing a significant part of an economic recovery on it is even more ludicrous. Recipe for further disaster.