A hypothetical idea-sorry if it is a bit simplistic...

Currently the rate of interest for the government to borrow on a 15 year loan is 2.43%. Therefore, it would cost the government £24.3 million a year in repayments if it borrowed £1bn.

In the north west, new homes for social housing cost about £120,000 to build. With £1bn you could build 8,330 houses.

If the rent for each house was set at about £5,500 a year (affordable) then the total income would be £45.8m per year, a surplus of £21.5m on the repayments. Over 15 years, this would amount to a surplus of around £322m.

Of course you have to take inflation into account, say 2% a year - the £1bn would devalue by 2% a year meaning after 15 years the original loan of £1bn would actually be worth about 30% less than it is today. So we would repay the equivalent of about £666m.

Of course people are needed to build the houses, this will take people off of benefits, If the average amount of benefits is £100 a week (jsa and housing benefit) it amounts to £5200 a year. If the same person were to earn an average wage of £22k a year building the houses, then they would pay around £3500 Tax and NI a year. So the public purse will make a gain of about £8700 a year from that person who is not receiving benefit and paying taxes.

Multiply this by the number of people taken off benefits to build the houses (say 500 for arguments sake) and you now have £4.35m a year into the public purse. Of course with more money, these people will buy more goods and services which means more tax paid.

Additionally, you would have companies supplying the goods and contracts to build the houses, their profits would increase with additional corporation tax to pay.

So not only do we get people off of benefits and into work, we save on benefits and generate more tax but we also go some way to solving the housing crisis, especially if this model is repeated around the country.

Sorry, who's living in those houses?

France went socialist and taxed the rich etc, and are now enjoying the third dip of their triple-dip recession.

My point being just because an approach works (or fails) elsewhere doesn't mean the same would happen here

Can you give me an example where austerity has worked?

Greece, Spain and Portugal don't look too healthy do they?
In the UK, borrowing is going up, not down. People have committed suicide because they are at the end of their tether. The genuine needy are being penalised. Child poverty is rising. The IMF say austerity is the wrong route.

And it's paid for by money the government give them?

Net result we're up a bit of tax minus that not declared or legally avoided by sub-contractors minus pay to housing assocition directors as neither the goverment nor council can actually administer these schemes directly.

Erm, inflation would rise ramatically, to the extent that you would need a wheelbarrow of cash to buy a loaf of bread.

Which lefty website did you get your 'idea' in the above post from?

"That was fun and to round off the day, I am off to steal a charity collection box and then desecrate a place of worship.” - Smokey, The Selhurst Arms, 26/02/02