100% right. When prices were going through the roof and I was priced out of the market the Govt did nothing. Now that house prices are dropping (and may, one day, be within my reach) the Govt is falling over itself to help out people who made bad decisions. What's worse - my taxes are paying for it.

Will, London,

Well said Ross. It would be even better if we got rid of this concept of the 'property ladder' which is nothing but an incentive for people to carry on borrowing. It should be possible, when in one's mid-to-late 20s, to buy a *home* with the intention of staying there for most of one's life.

Paul, Coventry,

Brown has as much understanding of economics as the dim MPC. Ethically and pragmatically the market must find its own level, He and the MPC should be much more concerned about inflation, which is now over twice the target and effecting all salary earhers and pensioners much more than house prices.

R G James, Brasschaat, Belgium

Why the obsession with encouraging home ownership? Market fluctuations have an undue influence on the economy, whilst encouraging responsible landlords and tenants can foster just as much self reliance as spending half a lifetime in debt

Garryq, Sunderland, UK

Please, please let the house market find its own level. It has been absurdly overinflated in the last decade by hype and low interest rates and now a correction is essential. Forget builders, banks and estate agents, they have done far too well and must now adjust.

Colin, shrewsbury,

I don't think it accurate or fair to describe all recent homebuyers as greedy reckless fools as some are doing here, and deserving all they get. The vast majority are ordinary folk getting increasingly desperate as they see house prices disappearing out of reach. I feel desperately sorry for them.

paul, epping,

Quite right - why on earth should those who took out loans they couldn't afford be bailed out by taxpayers who diligently struggle to make their mortgage payments? The government is effectively punishing those who make their payments by forcing them to also pay for the ne'er-do-wells who don't.

johnny, london,

Well done RC! So much support from FTB and home owners alike.
Despite not owning a home, I feel it unfair to cast all home owners as greedy just because their house has inc. in value.
Pyramid schemes only benefit those at the top (ie the rich).
Surely now its obvious who Labour really represents.

JB, Seef, Bahrain

At last we are getting a article that is not following the Herd.
Brown is not in a position to tell us our it is,because he has been one of the biggest culprits in borrowing beyond the countries means. Those people who have not put at least 10% deposit down and bought:have in my eyes gambledand lost

A Walton, Leicester, e

thankyou thankyou thankyou.
the market is correcting itself.
the greedy people and people who lied on their loan application are suffering.This is called justice.
i am a ftb who is waiting(<£50k) and i don't want: stupid homeowner pack gimmicks,stampduty cuts,Brown wading in claiming hes a saviour.

john, manchester,

Thank you, thank you, thank you. It's refreshing to see a journalist who understands the shafting that young FTBs have received over the last few years, instead of the rest who all own multiple homes and bleat for cuts in interest rates...

Ben, London, UK

Houses historically used to be two to two and a half times earnings. I would love house prices to fall to what they were in 2000, when a terraced house was worth 50k. then I will finally be able to sell my previously overpriced flat (125k) for a semi.

Dave, Portsmouth, UK

the reason alot of this country and much of london is run down is because the government built public housing estates in these areas. the tenants rarely take care of them and they begin to look run down even a few years after they were built which then distresses the private housing close to it.

Alex , london, england

Will from Grimsby: your two posts are actually connected. It is exactly the inflation of the last 15 years which is causing the bust.
govt created cheap money = fundamentally poor investments made at the time = inevitable bankrupcies/liquidations when interest rates subsequently rise

Sam, London,

there is one thing and one thing alone to blame for the almost hyper inflation in the housing market over the past decade. buy to let mortgages. yes people have over extended themselves, but buy to let has made property speculation a legitimate business. i wonder who came up with that little gemGB?

will, grimsby, uk

what was browns mantra "no return to boom and bust" well according to his chancellor we are inline for the biggest bust since the war. and its all down to gordon brown. and yet he still lectures the tories on their ecconomic competance, when its him that squanderd the inheritance we got from torys.

will, grimsby, uk

Spot on - THe market needs to find its natural level rather than the inflated state it has been in since 1997.

Great article, fancy running for PM, you'd get all our votes!

James, Leighton Buzzard,

I don't think the government should intervene to prop up the housing market: it won't work and there are better uses for money. But why call people who struggled to get on the ladder in the last three years feckless? Was it obvious there'd be a crash? Continually predicted, it didn't materialise.

Joseph Kimbel, London, England

Apparently there are whole housing estates lying empty that housebuilders cannot sell along with huge blocks of new build flats. If we want affordable homes for FTB, why doesnt the government compulsory purchase them at cost plus a small margin? Instead we reward financial irresponsibility.

Carol, Leicester, UK

Surely this "shared equity" plan fails under european law?

I'm a German company, and I buy distressed houses for rental.
Suddenly I find the price of houses driven up by UK government interfering in the market.

Alitalia and Olympic airways have got nothing on this!

Pedro, Stratford,

Quote "who really wants a return to the days of mass council-owned housing?"

Answer: lots of people do. Not everyone can, or wants to, "own" a property. This obsession with "owning" doesn't exist anywhere else in Europe and is dragging down the whole UK economy. Great article Ross- thanks !

Tom in London, London,

housing in this country is overpriced , builders prices are too high , building materials are far too expensive .
this is a bubble that must burst , people should buy a house to live in , not as an investment .
the whole economy is based on people borrowing money to buy things they dont need .

jonathan charles gale, lymington,

Brilliant accurate article. The question is why is this the minority view in the media? Is it because all the vested interest lobbying groups (Estate Agents, Housebuilders, RICS, Banks) constantly bombard with propaganda and there is no real investigative journalism?

Mark, Bristol,

Brown has destroyed and is further planning on destroying the financial stability of the UK. It is OK to be in debt and taking out more credit to buy property which is not worth the price. But the prudent and the savers are NOT WANTED and NOT REWARDED, but penalised by low interest and high taxes.

Bob Travels, Stevenage,

Our (taxpayers) money is going straight into the pockets of the greedy property developers. Look at their share price rises over the last few weeks of rumours about the goverment bale out - it suggests that they will pocket hundreds of millions of our money! And as others say, it will hurt FTBs!

jonathan, london,

We don't have enough social housing. We have mega builders with nothing to do. Isn't this an obvious area for government intervention?

Oliver, Cambridge,

FTBs don't be conned by Brown into going for the shared equity plan. The bureaucracy when it comes to selling is beyond belief. I have a friend in this scheme and she's locked in. Don't trust Brown. Be patient. Prices have another 15% to fall.

Peter, London,

Well, quite! What's the point of encouraging people to board the Titanic AFTER she's hit the iceberg?
Difficult not to feel sorry for the passengers though, however much better they should have known. Hindsight is a wonderful gift, mostly after the event. Perhaps we need a very big property rethink?

James, London,

Spot on in every respect. This is not aid for first time buyers, it is a bailout for those who already own property. First time buyers benefit every month from 2% price falls. They don't need taxpayer loans to help them get on the ladder, they just need prices to continue falling.

Paul, Dubai, UAE

Good article, property is the same as any other asset class, once it has gone above its firm foundation of value it is overpriced and thus will eventually succumb to the laws of financial gravity; what goes up must come down! The housing market much like the stock market is a correcting mechanism!

Stuart, London,

So they think that keeping prices falsely high will HELP FTBs? Let the prices drop! I have a house and I am saying this! How can couples who work for quite good salaries not be able to afford a decent 3 bed ? It is a norm most other countries. MPs are so inept I am surprised they get anything done!

Nicole, London,

Dead right. Now how do we get the BBC to give a balanced appraisal, raise these points, and not just lap up the government's rubbish propaganda?

Alfred T Mahan, New Forest,

Great article - thankyou. It's incredibly galling (having saved hard for a house deposit so that I could sensibly afford something) to hear that my money is going to be used to bail those who inflated house prices in the first place out. Let the market find its own level.

James, London,

the property market is not made up of greedy fools who gambled and lost. it is largely made up of people who need somewhere to live and would like to own their own home, even if it's a bit of a stretch. most people don't see property as an investment or, if they do, it is very long term.

jem, london, uk

I'm lucky - I own my house and have some savings (anyone looked at the difference between mortgage rates and savings interest recently? Banks!).

I also have children. Of course the market should rectify this bubble of recklessness and let first-time buyers in, even if it costs me money.

monica, guildford,

The Stupidity of this is just shocking.

Why should we hard working responsible taxpayers fund rescue the housing market ?!! Let it drop by another 20-30%
this is what the country needs. Any people who have over stretched themselves only have themselves to blame.

Manjit Singh, Biggleswade, Beds

good write up

srinivasan solaraj, london,

Has there yet been a survey on just how stupid Gordon Brown is.?He got Britain into this mess and now seems determined to keep it there.

B.Calvert, London,

I completely agree with the author of this article. Other journalists need to stop trying to perpetuate the myth that (would-be) first time buyers are unhappy with the current price slides - we are not; rather we finally feel vindicated for not being dragged into the whole sorry mess.

Alex, London,

Where is the problem with the housing market? An essential commodity is falling in price. Surely that is a good thing?

Vaughan Clarke, Northampton,

A good article. You state the obvious without much spin. Why should our taxes go to subsidise mortgages ? Why should the housing market be rigged with our tax money ? There is a perfectly decent non-market system for housing for those who need it as a safety net - it is called council housing.

Roderick Random, LONDON, UK

Thank goodness - some honest realism on the subject. Such a change to see someone actually challenging the fundamental premise behind the government's attempts to "help" first time buyers and homeowners - ie prop prices up at unsustainable levels to save their political bacon. Good on you sir.

PJ, London,

All true, except that I don't recall ever feeling a "warm glow" about the fact I could have sold my tiny Victorian cottage for as much as £280K. I only remember my bitterness that I would have had to spend £400K to buy a very slightly larger house.

Bess, Cambridge,

Gordon Brown wants to help first time buyers straight into negative equity. That doesn't sound very prudent to me.

Ian, London, UK

Thank goodness someone on the Times has the sense to see, the housing market has to correct itself and soon. What the government are proposing is contradictory anyway. How can they say on the one hand that they want to help first time buyers, but on the other ,try to prop up prices.Great article!

Patricia, Chester, UK

Wow! You have read my mind! I am livid about these proposed measures. I am a potential FTB on a combined income with my spouse of well over £60k. I would say I represent this supposedly "desperate" segment of society. I'm not buying. They're running out of smoke and mirrors.

Jamie Davis, Bristol, England

Oh please! Taxes will be raised to fund the initiative. How about letting prices fall to where they should be - around 3-5 times a household yearly income rather than 6-7?
The irony is that I will now be forced to use the scheme to afford a house at all! More paperwork to deal with. UGH.

david slatter, Cambridge,

The very worst thing that the government can do is try to slow the inevitable and needed fall in house prices. They should be allowed to fall quickly and then stabilise. Sure there will be losers, to some extent I am one. But for the next generation the correction is vital.

dave, liverpool,

It is not government's responsibility to bail out anyone and everyone who cannot mangage their finances, including banks - People just need to live within their means - The get rich quick scheme of home ownership is over - Spend my tax wisely not foolishly - Please put an end to this madness!!

WTaylor, London, UK

The mess this country's in was started by Blairism, but now Brown is getting all the blame. This latest farce is yet another example of how all Labour governments always feel the need to interfere. House prices are still too high, so please leave the housing market alone!

Claire, Edinburgh,

I am a first time buyer and none of the schemes that Mr Brown is offering today would help me get on to the housing ladder. Frankly a stamp duty freeze on houses up to £170,000 is an insult as is a shared ownership scheme. How out of touch can this man get?!

Becky, Surrey,

SAY NO TO ANY TAXPAYER-FUNDED HOUSING BAILOUT!!!
(=moral hazard/can't afford anyway)
BUT the government should change the English legal system to make it final once an offer has been accepted (as in Scotland) to free up chains and prevent gazundering/gazumping etc. (=fair; cheap&constructive)!

Julia, Leven, Scotland

Ross Clark there will be a PM's job going soon if you want it

Chris, Red Hill, UK

As we grow from adolescence to man/womanhood we move away from learning and aspire to be, respectable members of society.
The ingredients are: a wife/husband/partner, a career structure, a home and children. It is the drive to own a home that is undermining so many of our efforts. Michael Oxon

Michael, Moulsford,

Nothing to add really.

Brilliant article, and great comments.

Let's get through the Brownie spin.

Better still - let's get rid of Brown forever!!

S Williams, London,

Of course no assistance should be given to the housing market more than any other. House prices still havent fallen that far and there needs to be a correction. The government needs to bring in necessary measures to ensure that the banks do not overlend again.

simon, Arezzo, Italy

at last a journist talking sense, my vote will go to the party that lets the housing market crash.... after every boom you need a bust it's simple economics.

mark, london,

great article! As a frustrated firt time buyer, I whole heartedly agree with this column. Why should we pay taxes for the mistakes of others when we ourselves cannot get onto the property market.

Helena, London,

The Goverment was blinded by the prospect of ever increasing propserity and property prices and did not learn the lessons of previous crashes. WHat was the BOE doing all this time should it not also have blwon the whistle on the banks and their practices?

simon, Arezzo, Italy

Agreed, very wise article. Those who bought at the top of the market will not suffer greatly, as long as they can continue to afford their mortgage payments, and don't need to move house for the moment. We should all welcome lower prices for the sake of the first time buyers and the wider economy.

Doug, Beijing, China

Whilst I agree with most of this article, I do feel -as a homeowner - that I am tired of being classed as greedy, feckless, a liar etc. etc. because I bought my home when house prices were more that they are today. Some will suffer because of this fall, I think it unfair to gloat, not all are greedy

Sam, Hampshire,

I agree that bailing out irresponsible borrowers and lenders encourages bad practise. My fear is that our cautious first time buyer, is putting his/her growing deposit in the care of one of those same institutions. Let the market collapse and banks will go with it? How many savers will also be hit?

jane, london , uk

Absolutely... As a first-time buyer who's been saving for years for a decent deposit and waiting until house prices stabilise, I whole-heartedly agree. This article truly reflects my frustration at the current governments vote-chasing tactics. Please let the market correct itself!

Marta, london,

At last, common sense from The Times! This is an excellent article which deserves a higher-profile link on the homepage. It's so rare that a Times property journalist includes any sort of thoughtful analysis - usually that's left to the commenters. The glowing comments on this article speak volumes.

Jim, Enfield,

The sheer unanimity of the comments in this section confims just how spot on Ross Clark's assessment is. Though market forces sometimes bear undesirable social consequences, in this instance a sharp market correction could save millions from decades of ruinous interest payments - butt out Gordon!!

Karl, Heswall, Wirral

But, you see, the value of MPs houses is falling - that's the problem here. The entire economy of the country will now be distorted, the market defied, the lunatic housing scramble restored, just so the MPs don't lose anything on their houses. If you think they give a toss about you, think again.

eric campbell, harrogate, uk

Grabbing free money by artificially pushing up the price of housing has obviously fallen flat on it's greedy face. Let the prices fall until that practice is no longer exploitable. Houses should be for living in not for speculating on. The old thieving ways and days are over as hard reality sets in.

Colin, Carmarthen, United Kingdom

Mr Clark has articulated my thoughts over the past few weeks perfectly.

Can someone explain to me why, of all the industry sectors that are going to be hammered in the coming economic bloodbath, it's the building trade that most needs taxpayers' assistance? This smacks of political expedience.

David Garfield, London, UK

I absolutely agree. House prices in this country are more than ridiculous. The market needs a serious correction without Govt. intervention. Help first time buyers by letting the market collapse. We don't want our taxes used to help greedy people that overstretched themselves thank you

JB, Bath, UK

Obviously there are some people in the goverment that have shares in estate agents.....how many I wonder - do they have to declare it as 'an interest' when discussing the matter in the house? They probably get their wife/mother/son/daughter to run that side of the business anyway!

Derek Clifton, Andover, Hampshire, England

Excellent article saying how it is. If they want to help first time buyers let the houses fall to a affordable price.

David, Bristol,

Spot on Ross - this exposes the inept economic thinking of this socialist regime - but it will backfire, not least because anyone trying to sell a house for £180K or thereabouts will be spitting as potential buyers will now demand they cut the price to £175K to save them the £1750 of stamp duty.

Huw Sayer, London, England

Good article. Quite frankly, in his desperation to get elected Gordon Brown has lost the plot! Under-pinninning a dying housing market will hoist yet more sub-prime borrowers onto the ladder, whilst first time buyers who have saved a deposit but who do not want a new house (box) will suffer.......

sophie sutton, london, uk

Hurrah for the Times at last "telling it as it is".
Property prices should be allowed to fall to their "real" level when perhaps our son will at last be able to afford to buy a whole house. Let us hope that the policy makers read this article and the comments of all those who have replied so far.

Michael Collett, Ozillac, France

You speak for me. I am angry that my taxes should rescue greedy, feckless fools who gambled thoughtlessly and lost. Why should the property market be rescued anyway? Let the bubble burst, and let the irresponsible lenders go belly-up with it. Bah!

Robert Douglas, Princes Risborough, UK

Hurrah. A journalist with more than half a brain. First-time buyers need this kind of "help" in the same way that people needed "help" to buy into the stockmarket after its peak in 1929. Sorry, chaps, but FTBs are not going to help your money-for-nothing pyramid scheme continue. Forget it.

John Mack, Aberdeen, UK

Using tax payers money firstly to encourage first time buyers into a falling housing market and secondly assist local councils to purchase assets with declining values are the acts of a morally bankrupt government and yet further evidence, if any is needed, of Brown's fundamental dishonesty.

Clive, Hanoi, Vietnam

Finally, some sensible property commentary. Great article. The Feel Good Boom was just one group of people feeling good about spending another generations future earnings (those big mortgages). Brown's attempt to "help" FTBs by keeping this transfer going is sickening politics. Let them eat cake!

Bob Jones, London, Middx

If billions of tax payers money is wasted on reckless schemes, it'll be helping the EA's, RICS, bankers, solicitors and the gov't. It won't be helping the people who are trying to obtain a home.
It's pure arrogant greed from a gov't who doesn't care about the people.
This will lose Labour votes.

Np, England, UK (while we have food)

Ross Clark, have a pint on me, great and HONEST article and they are rare nowadays. It's about time as well because you only have to read the posts to know the majority of readers don't listen to the rubbish written by the likes of Mr David Smith. Well done, very well done.

Miller, Redhill, Surrey

I cannot believe I am reading this. At long last the worm is turning. What has seemed so obvious to the few is fast becoming mainstream news.
I have always known Britian was not a Milk and Honey land.
Who coined the old phrase Rip-Off Britian?
Indeed.

D Louis, Coventry, UK

best article on housing in the Times I've ever seen!

Jon, London, UK

Couldn't have put this better myself: when will Labour understand that they need to let the market correct from the crazy years of bubble prices? I have yet to hear one single citizen voice support for this housing rescue plan - only estate agents and lenders want this. Ordinary taxpayers say NO!

MB, Edinburgh ,

I agree. Let the first time buyers who saved money for a deposit and refused to lie about their incomes have a chance to buy a home.

Why should those people that overstretched themselves taking out 115 percent mortgages at 7 times their fantasy self certified mortgages be saved.

Dave Franks, Chonburi, Thailand

At last a sensible piece that cuts through all the propaganda and spin put out there by the government and housing industry.

I'm glad there are journalists out there still willing to tell the story as it really is. A shame there aren't more.

Phil, Welwyn, UK

Thank you for speaking my mind for me, and for millions like me.

dave hall, Stafford, UK

property is mostly purchased through debt - the so called 'effortless wealth creation' was merely wealth transfer from those buying houses to those who already owned them. That isn't wealth creation it's redistribution : housing creates little in terms of true wealth for the nation as a whole

j dickinson, middlesborough,

Hear Hear! Not often I agree with Times columnists on property market these days (such is the desperation shown by the many axe-grinding BTL landlords that clutter your pages) but this is the sanest thing I've read in a long while. The market must reassert itself. Intervention is simply futile.

Tom K, Cheddar, Somerset