Grand Designs host Kevin McCloud has addressed the housing market and said that he sees "nothing good here" amid issuing some advice for those looking to buy.
The presenter, 64 - best known for fronting the Channel 4 show - has shared advice for those struggling with house prices in the UK. He's encouraged them to consider moving abroad, suggesting that relocating to Germany is an option.
He savaged "immoral" housing developers for making an average of almost £70,000 profit per house or flat. As reported by the Daily Star, Kevin said: "Somebody asked me this question the other day: 'What do you say to anybody who's buying a house in this difficult time for the first time?'
"I look at the UK market and I see nothing good here. I look at what's happening in Germany, Holland, Netherlands, Denmark, Scandinavia, I look at other, almost every other North European country and Canada - they've got really healthy markets, lots of diverse opportunities, lots of diverse offers and it isn't hugely expensive. So, yeah, my advice is move to Germany, maybe that's the way forward!"
He added that the average profit "big housing developers" make with each sale of a house or flat is now "about £68,000," which the outlet states is 10 times what it was in 2009. Kevin said: "They've shifted their focus from volume and meeting government targets to the profit they deliver to their shareholders. Persimmon, the year before last made £1.1 billion of profit for their shareholders, 25 per cent of their turnover. I've only got one word for it and I think it's immoral."
Kevin lashed out as the average house price in London is heading towards £1 million. Amid the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, the typical UK house price is said to have seen an increase from £260,420 in February to £261,14 in March.
He argued that the "stigma" associated with lifelong renting needs to be eradicated in the UK amid the high prices - a sentiment echoed across Europe. He questioned: "Why should renting be bad? Why are we obsessed with ownership? It's an idea that was promoted by Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s to win more conservative votes.
"It's got nothing to do with social status or standing or respect or integrity. And in other countries - France and Germany for example - renting is a norm. And for that matter, it used to be the same in the UK, you could rent a home in the 1950s and early 1960s and there was no stigma attached to it. It was simply an alternative to buying in a diverse market.
Kevin concluded by saying: "And what happened was that housing became weaponised by the government and we haven’t looked back since. And as a result, people look at housing simply as a means to make money."
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