Perhaps we could just half the value of all houses tomorow. That would mean that no-one would be affected in their main residence. And then all taxes based on property prices would come down. Job's a good-un.

Buster, Birmingham,

The government seems ever more desperate to put off the inevitable hangover from our incredible debt binge.

Rob, London,

A housing price crash is just what is needed to make houses affordable to people other than City Bankers (spellings may vary).

nigel foster, Ryde, uk

Hi,

The chancellor says that there is strong demand so houses will rise in price forever. Nulabour create new demand by pumping the economy with printing press money (money supply has been massively rising for the past ten years) and then opens the immigration doors to massively swell the population. As long as we can repeat this for every decade, as long as subprime and Northen Rock does not limit uncontrolled self-certified lending, we will indeed have a 'one-way-bet' housing market, according to Mr Darling. Housing is no longer a 'market' then, more a perpetual motion machine. Why don't we just all stop working and Buy-to-Let houses to eachother? Why has this never been thought before? Why has no other government (apart from the US recently and Japan a decade ago) chosen this as a sensible economy policy?

Cheers!

frank, london, uk

This is unreal, what is the benefit to the average Jo of having outrageously high house prices. The only people who benefit are investors or those who sell up. Every other normal person have to get massive mortgages to be able to buy a box.

The only reason why the govenment like high house prices is because people feel richer, so spend more. The country is up to its eyeballs in debt and it needs reining in, unfortunatly HP rises will go flat or into decline. Does it really matter that much if the decrease by 10% this year, normal people won't be effected, they'll still be paying the same mortgage for the same house!

Greg, London,

Now, we all know that Mr Darling must be a little worried about the value of the London flat that he rents-out (see register of member's interests). But, really, talking up the housing market is a bit cheeky.

Pehaps the Chancellor should read-up on history a little, since economics are clearly not his strong point.

There was low unemployment in 1989 at the beginning of the last crash, unemployment came later - in the recession of the early 1990s that followed the excesses of the 1980s(geddit?).

If 'demand outstrips supply' then why have rents risen far more slowly than house prices? Why are there many hundreds of thousands of empty houses? Also, my immediate family (people on normal incomes) totals 6 adults and 4 children. We own 17 bedrooms, between us, when we need 7 (fewer if the children shared).

Where are the people sleeping in tents in Hyde Park? Could it be that the 'demand' was even a teensy-weensy bit for speculative investment?

T Sparks, Limerick,