Is it time for a post-settlement society?<\/p>\n
Are home ownership, long-term council house tenancies and commitment to a community doomed to become little more than quaint memories of how society used to work? \u00a0Do they restrict the mobility of skills, knowhow and muscle power that a modern economy demands?<\/p>\n
There are many that argue this case. \u00a0Richard Florida suggests in his book The Great Reset<\/a> that the creative classes should no longer tie themselves down geographically by\u00a0committing\u00a0to mortgages and buying properties. \u00a0Grant Shapps, Housing Minister wants social housing\u00a0tenants\u00a0to have Housing Freedom Pass<\/a> and a National Home Swap Scheme<\/a> to allow tenants to move in pursuit of work, or for ‘any other reason’.<\/p>\n The message seems to be ‘don’t commit yourself to a community – be prepared to follow the money – the future is nomadic’.<\/p>\n Can you imagine a society divided into the rooted and the rootless? \u00a0Those who can afford to commit to a community for the long term and those who can’t?<\/p>\n It used to be that we wanted people to come to our communities and stay in\u00a0them. \u00a0To shape a society and an economy that would serve the community. \u00a0To care about community. \u00a0Now the big idea seems to be shaping community to serve the economy.<\/p>\n\n