We’re heading for a housing crash – and Boris Johnson just made it worse

After a crisis caused by trillions of dollars pumped into an unsustainable bubble, our government seem intent on giving it a few last puffs, writes Ben Chapman

Boris Johnson speaking at the Tory conference (Andrew Parsons / CCHQ via Parsons Media)

Few television programmes can be as depressingly upbeat as Homes under the Hammer. It's not the dated music, formulaic structure or the cheesy, lobotomised chirpiness of its presenters.

It's the fact that, every weekday morning, for 1,000 episodes now, it has nonchalantly exposed the glaring absurdity at the heart of UK economy, apparently without even realising.

I'm not suggesting that a daytime TV show is responsible for the housing crisis. But Homes under the Hammer did start in 2003, which, coincidentally, was roughly when the UK property market finally ceased contact with objective reality, consigning a generation to insecure renting.