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Would it be better for Britain for house prices to rise or to fall? It is a straightforward question but one to which politicians haven't got a straightforward answer.
You can see how the housing representatives from the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties reacted below.
In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content.
Although the question is difficult, it is one any government needs to resolve if it is going to have a coherent policy on what is one of the most critical issues facing modern Britain.
The country is in the midst of what is arguably the worst housing crisis since we picked through the rubble of what was left of our cities after World War II. Millions are on waiting lists for social housing. Millions more are trapped in the private rented sector desperate to get a toe on the property ladder.
Housing may not be a major issue in the national election campaign, but it is a huge one on the doorstep. I was reading a piece in London's Evening Standard newspaper on what the candidates in the East End constituency of Poplar and Limehouse think voters care about most. The number one issue was housing.
A recent poll suggested that almost one in five voters think that housing is an issue senior politicians should be discussing more. That concern is driven by the fact that, for a great many, houses in Britain are much too expensive.
But for millions more who are lucky enough to own their own home, a property is often both a nest and a nest-egg. It offers financial security but, if things were to go the "wrong" way, their potential financial ruin.
Rapidly rising house prices in the past 15 years, driven by cheap and easy lending, has trapped us all; half the country is desperate for house prices to become more affordable, the other half is desperate that they increase in value.
It is a generational divide: the average age of a first-time buyer is now 37, which means that those younger or older than that will generally have a different answer to the question at the top of this post.
In response, the politicians stress the need for "stability" and "an end to the boom and bust" of the housing sector. Fair enough, but what general direction should the market take? No answer.
All talk of the need for more affordable homes, but none is candid enough to admit that that is another way of saying house prices generally are too high.
The relationship between average house prices and average incomes has changed radically since the mid-1990s. Then the relationship was about 2:1. Now it is more than 4:1 and in parts of the country double that.
Increasing supply of cheaper properties, introducing measures to help first-time buyers, expanding the social housing sector - these ideas would, to a greater or lesser extent, reduce demand and bring average prices down closer to incomes. But the politicians won't put it like that because, as one of them put it to me, "that would be political suicide".
If asked, voters often say they just want politicians to be honest and straight with them. When it comes to housing, politicians think it better to dodge the question and keep their heads down.
This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
You can see how the housing representatives from the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties reacted below.
In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content.
Although the question is difficult, it is one any government needs to resolve if it is going to have a coherent policy on what is one of the most critical issues facing modern Britain.
The country is in the midst of what is arguably the worst housing crisis since we picked through the rubble of what was left of our cities after World War II. Millions are on waiting lists for social housing. Millions more are trapped in the private rented sector desperate to get a toe on the property ladder.
Housing may not be a major issue in the national election campaign, but it is a huge one on the doorstep. I was reading a piece in London's Evening Standard newspaper on what the candidates in the East End constituency of Poplar and Limehouse think voters care about most. The number one issue was housing.
A recent poll suggested that almost one in five voters think that housing is an issue senior politicians should be discussing more. That concern is driven by the fact that, for a great many, houses in Britain are much too expensive.
But for millions more who are lucky enough to own their own home, a property is often both a nest and a nest-egg. It offers financial security but, if things were to go the "wrong" way, their potential financial ruin.
Rapidly rising house prices in the past 15 years, driven by cheap and easy lending, has trapped us all; half the country is desperate for house prices to become more affordable, the other half is desperate that they increase in value.
It is a generational divide: the average age of a first-time buyer is now 37, which means that those younger or older than that will generally have a different answer to the question at the top of this post.
In response, the politicians stress the need for "stability" and "an end to the boom and bust" of the housing sector. Fair enough, but what general direction should the market take? No answer.
All talk of the need for more affordable homes, but none is candid enough to admit that that is another way of saying house prices generally are too high.
The relationship between average house prices and average incomes has changed radically since the mid-1990s. Then the relationship was about 2:1. Now it is more than 4:1 and in parts of the country double that.
Increasing supply of cheaper properties, introducing measures to help first-time buyers, expanding the social housing sector - these ideas would, to a greater or lesser extent, reduce demand and bring average prices down closer to incomes. But the politicians won't put it like that because, as one of them put it to me, "that would be political suicide".
If asked, voters often say they just want politicians to be honest and straight with them. When it comes to housing, politicians think it better to dodge the question and keep their heads down.
This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.