William Wragg moving in with his parents

[mikes]

Why is this of any interest to the Marple Forum?  Surely where William lives is his personal prerogative and has nothing to do with any of us.

[John Ellis]

I was told a while back (from someone who knew him well) that he had always lived with parents.

I seem to remember getting a canvas leaflet from him when he was standing for the council in Hazel Grove ward - before he was selected as Tory parliamentary candidate - which said that he was living in Torkington - if I remember rightly, in one of those newish flats at Torkington Manor on Torkington Road.

[Russ]

Personally I would have central government provide housing in London for out of town MPs (which then gets reallocated as and when the MPs change), to remove the option of them "playing the system" regarding second home allowances, capital gains, etc, etc.

I agree, too many of them are in it for the con' tricks they can pull. When the odd scapegoat amongst them gets caught they are simply asked to pay it back! They should be treated similar to their constituents & go to jail for defrauding the benefits system, that is what it amounts to.

[JMC]

I was told a while back (from someone who knew him well) that he had always lived with parents. Maybe just a rumour? In any case I wouldn't judge as many in their 20s are still living with parents these days.

 I agree that speaking out re house prices is good but it may come across as taking the mick when on a good wage such as an MP.

[corium]

I haven't read anywhere any comment as to where he would like to buy..but could have missed it. What I have read is that he's moving back so he can save up for a deposit and these days people need to have fairly sizeable ones & that if he paid out for rent he couldn't save. I don't suppose mortgage providers see an MPs salary as a certainty in many constituencies so I suspect he'll have to find a hefty % and even in Stockport that is a lot if you are also shelling out on rent.

So he's moved in with his parents...isn't this exactly what a lot of his constituents have to do to get on the property ladder? So why criticise when he is getting a feel for life in the 21st century as experienced by most of us

[marpleexile]

The criticism of him has nothing to do with where he lives its about his view of where he should be buying his home. If he chose to buy his home in Hazel Grove the area he says he cares about he could easily afford it and he could rent a small flat in London with no difficulty. It says something about his priority that he is immediately upon election looking to buy a home in London and not Stockport.

But none of us can be surprised.

To be fair, MPs spend the majority of their time in and around the House of Commons, which is located in London - therefore it's not unreasonable for them to have their primary residences in London.

Personally I would have central government provide housing in London for out of town MPs (which then gets reallocated as and when the MPs change), to remove the option of them "playing the system" regarding second home allowances, capital gains, etc, etc.

[wheels]

The criticism of him has nothing to do with where he lives its about his view of where he should be buying his home. If he chose to buy his home in Hazel Grove the area he says he cares about he could easily afford it and he could rent a small flat in London with no difficulty. It says something about his priority that he is immediately upon election looking to buy a home in London and not Stockport.

But none of us can be surprised.

[JohnBates]

apologies @Howard
agree with all you say there, my children are in the same position.

The Newspaper articles have mis reported what he actually said. (no surprise there I suppose).

[Howard]

@JohnBates I was just pointing it out, not criticising. Personally, I feel that anything can be done to make housing more affordable is good as far as I am concerned. I'm in the fortunate position of being able to afford somewhere to live. My children, currently going through university, will have little chance of buying their own house for many years after graduation.

If WW can use his personal circumstances to publicise the chronically poor state of our national housing stock, all power to him.

[Dave]

This has to be a good thing!  There can't be many Tory MPs who know from their own personal experience what a struggle it is for 'generation rent' to get started on the housing ladder.  Maybe he can use this experience to persuade the government to get more houses built and clamp down on the overseas 'buy to let' and 'buy to leave' speculators who are driving up prices, especially in the south east. 

[JohnBates]

You are a little late @Howard as are the newspapers. @William Wragg talked about this last week on Granada Debate, and moved back in some time before he was elected as MP. He accepts he is now well paid. However this is only since election. It would take more than a few months to raise a deposit even when well paid. He has also donated the increase in MP wage this year to charity.

[Howard]

It seems William Wragg has moved back in with his parents:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/12150280/Tory-MP-admits-he-has-moved-back-into-his-parents-home-to-save-up-for-a-deposit.html
and
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/conservative-mp-says-moves-home-with-his-parents-to-save-up-for-mortgage-despite-74000-salary-a6865551.html