Mortgages And Funding

Ever wondered what happens when a housing ladder turns into a pyramid, a mortgage that outlives its owner, and funding applications start behaving like job adverts? Then this is the episode for you!

Welcome to The People’s Countryside Environmental Debate Podcast where you, the listener, send in questions for co-hosts Stuart ‘The Wildman’ Mabbutt and William Mankelow to conversate around.

In today’s episode we once again welcome back Alex Kauffmann to ‘The Listener’s chair. Alex has been in the ‘Listener’s Chair’ so often that it already feels like home for him.

The first listener question for today’s episode comes from Grace in Ipswich, England and is as follows: 

“We have pressures put upon us and by ourselves and others in the UK to get on the housing ladder. Is being on there really important, or is it more about people higher up the pyramid enslaving us to debt?”

From Grace’s question, Stuart highlights the difficulty of paying off mortgages, that it's hard to pay the mortgage off in your own lifetime with current wages. He stresses that housing should be about shelter, and questions whether progress on the housing ladder is real.

Alex shares his hope of becoming a homeowner, admits it’s harder than expected, and says he values a home that meets needs rather than something excessive.

William raises concerns about intergenerational mortgages, which Stuart brings as potentially being a thing in Japan. He goes on to distinguish between buying a house and climbing the housing ladder, and argues it’s not essential to be on the ladder.

The second listener question comes Lilly in Summertown, Oxford, England:

“Many say in the UK grant funders in the UK make it difficult for those seeking funding as they have different agendas and methodologies that applicants have to tap into. Yet if funders worked together, streamlined, it could iron out some of the duplication work. Funders could pool their efforts so people seeking funding have less hoops to jump through. I see to that funders want applicants to justify their impact, whereas refocusing on asking applicants what they need, to be even more impactful, could be more beneficial. Yet other people say applicants should just accept its hard work getting funding and funders are in actual fact already communicating to iron things out. Are we too willing to accept these days?”

From Lily’s question William notes the challenges of grant funding, describes the application process as a filter, and warns that securing funding is just the start of the hard work.

Stuart, who recalls meeting Lily, the person who has set this question, at a consultation, reflects on the importance of genuine impact assessments, and insists funding is only as hard as people make it.

Alex says collaboration between funders is possible, though he admits has little experience in this area, and encourages listeners to pursue their ideas without fear of failure.

What do you make of this discussion? Do you have a question that you'd like us to discuss? Let us know by sending an email to ⁠[e-mail]

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