Tory wants state help for greedy people

Posted this in response to Iain Dale's plea for big government to protect middle-class investments So Your House is About to go Over the Cliff

I'm sorry Iain but that sob story just doesn't cut it with me.

Di has been unlucky in that she's the one in possession of that property when it disappeared but she cannot be considered blameless.

Di probably got the property for cheaper than the going rate. In the article there are the examples of the Isle of Wight properties going for £65k when similar properties not threatened by erosion are worth 5 times that price. She was told at the time that it was safe for 100 years, but you can't predict the weather for 100 years. All it was and all it should have been treated as was an estimate.

If it had been really 100 years and in the 26 years since only a quarter of the garden had gone, then Di would have been happy. But she took a gamble against the weather and now the weather's won, she wants the state - me and you to pay out as if she'd won. As she herself says "Even then we thought someone would stop it before it got to us... I thought I'd be able to sell up and enjoy a nice retirement." Well, she can have a nice retirement, she can have a little council flat and a state pension like millions of other people have no choice but to do.

Also I have difficulty believing Di's account - David Will says that he's been concerned about Happisburgh since the 70s - that is during the time when Di lived in Happisburgh but before she bought the doomed houses. Note two houses - I would have more sympathy if it was just a home, but it was an investment.

And despite his concern David Will's still selling bungalows near the cliffedge. They are safe for 25 years he says, but as we both know, a bad storm this winter could cut that time in half. Will you be campaigning for state money for those new buyers too ten years down the road?

This is sadly typical of you, Iain. Antipathy against poor people but if middle class property owners might lose a bit of money then you want the state to step in. What about all the people who will never be able to buy property - near a cliff edge or not?