為什麼房價這麼貴的一個原因：英語精讀講義

In the UK and many other countries,

在英國和許多其他國家，

houses are expensive,

房子很貴，

very expensive.

非常貴。

Prices have been rising consistently for many decades. 文法

價格在過去幾十年裡一直在持續上漲。

In England, prices rose by 4,255% 片語搭配

在英格蘭，房價上漲了4255%

between 1971 and 2011.

在1971年到2011年間。

If the price of a supermarket chicken had inflated by the same rate, 文法

如果超市裡雞肉的價格也以同樣的速度通膨，

it would cost £51.18 by now.

現在就要賣51.18英鎊。

Around 1950,

在1950年左右，

you could get a three-bedroom house

你可以買到一套三房的房子

in Northwest London on the Northern Line

位於倫敦西北部的北線上

between West Finchley and Woodside Park

介於West Finchley和Woodside Park之間

for just £1,050.

只要1050英鎊。

This was 2 and 1/2 times the average wage

這是平均工資的2.5倍

of £400 a year.

當時平均年薪為400英鎊。

The head teacher of the local school

當地學校的校長

could very comfortably have bought this kind of house 文法

可以非常輕鬆地買下這種房子

with a total mortgage somewhere around twice their annual salary.

總房貸大約是他們年薪的兩倍。

Today,

如今，

a similar house in the same area

同一地區類似的房子

would cost close to £1 million,

售價將近100萬英鎊，

40 times the average income.

是平均收入的40倍。

It's nearly 10 times the salary

這差不多是薪水的10倍

of the local head teacher.

當地校長的。

House prices in the UK

英國的房價

haven't just increased, 文法

不僅僅是上漲了，

they have skyrocketed. 用詞

而是暴漲了。

But why is housing so expensive? 表達脈絡

但是為什麼住房這麼貴呢？

The cost of houses has very little to do 片語搭配

房子的成本幾乎與

with the building materials.

建築材料無關。

The value is almost all in the land

價值幾乎全在於

on which the house sits. 文法

房子所在的土地上。

So why does land cost so much?

那麼為什麼土地這麼貴呢？

Well, one reason is that demand for housing keeps growing. 文法

嗯，一個原因是住房需求不斷增長。

The UK population increases

英國人口增加

by between 300,000 and 400,000 people a year.

每年在30萬到40萬人之間。

And also, the number of people

而且，人數

in each household is getting smaller. 用詞

每個家庭的正在減少。

More people live alone or just as couples

越來越多人獨居或僅僅作為伴侶同住

without children,

沒有孩子，

so the demand for accommodation is growing all the time.

所以對住房的需求一直在增長。

In order to keep up with the demand, 片語動詞

為了跟上需求，

the UK would need about 240,000

英國大約需要24萬套

new flats and houses a year.

每年新建的公寓和住宅。

It's building less than half of this.

而實際建造的數量還不到一半。

That's not just a UK problem.

這不僅僅是英國的問題。

France is building only 330,000

法國只建造了33萬套

of the 500,000 new homes needed per annum. 用詞

在每年需要的50萬套新房中。

Major cities fare worse. 用詞

大城市的情況更糟。

London will face a shortfall of over 700,000 homes by 2031. 片語搭配

倫敦到2031年將面臨超過70萬套住房的短缺。

In response to the cost of housing crisis,

為了應對住房成本危機，

governments have tried to intervene to help people

各國政府曾試圖干預以幫助人們

to buy their own home.

購買他們自己的房子。

In the US, there are schemes like the Federal Home Loan Banks 文化背景

在美國，有聯邦住房貸款銀行等計畫

and the Community Reinvestment Act.

以及《社區再投資法》。

In the UK, there's Help to Buy,

在英國，有「購房援助(Help to Buy)」計畫，

and there are interest-free loans in France.

在法國則有無息貸款。

The underlying idea is that people would buy houses 表達脈絡

根本的想法是，人們會去買房，

if only they had the money. 文法

只要他們有錢。

But really,

但實際上，

most governments are just crying crocodile tears about high property prices. 慣用語

大多數政府對高房價只是在貓哭老鼠。

They know that the bulk of their voters 片語搭配

他們知道大多數的選民

actually like expensive houses a lot.

其實非常喜歡昂貴的房子。

The number of people who want new houses at any time

任何時候想要新房的人數

is very small, only 10% or so,

都非常少，只有10%左右，

in relation to the huge numbers who already have a home,

相對於已經擁有住房的龐大群體而言，

and therefore the property owning side of society

因此，社會中有房產的一方

has a vested interest in seeing the value of homes go up. 片語搭配

在看到房價上漲方面有著既得利益。

Creating easy credit doesn't actually make housing more affordable. 用詞

創造寬鬆信貸實際上並不能讓住房變得更買得起。

The real issue is one of supply. 表達脈絡

真正的問題是供應問題。

If you simply ease credit without increasing supply,

如果你只是放寬信貸而不增加供應，

you'll just stoke house inflation, 用詞

你只會推高房價通膨，

which is precisely what's happened.

這正是發生的事情。

It's the same with the big expansion of mortgage lending. 表達脈絡

房貸的大規模擴張也是一樣。

You may be able to borrow more,

你也許能借到更多的錢，

but so can other people. 文法

但別人也能。

You're all chasing the same limited number of homes, 慣用語

你們都在追逐同樣有限數量的房子，

so this just pushes prices up and up.

所以這只會把價格不斷推高。

So why is building houses so difficult?

那麼為什麼建房子這麼難呢？

Well, because there's enormous opposition to the building of new homes 片語搭配

嗯，因為對於新建房屋有巨大的反對聲音

and great restrictions on the use of land.

以及對土地使用的巨大限制。

There are lots of immediate answers to do with planning regulations and zoning,

許多直接的答案都與規劃法規和區域劃分有關，

but dig deeper, 表達脈絡

但深入探究，

and what we have really are society-wide fears of new housing

我們真正擁有的是整個社會對新住房的恐懼，

for one large reason above all others,

首要的一個重要原因是，

because almost all new housing developments are very, very ugly,

因為幾乎所有新建住宅區都非常、非常難看，

and no one in their right mind wants a new development anywhere near them. 慣用語

任何一個頭腦正常的人都不希望附近有什麼新開發項目。

Most of the large housing developments built in the Southeast of England in the last 25 years

過去25年裡建於英格蘭東南部的大多數大型住宅區

share one common, 表達脈絡

都有一個共同的、

generally undiscussed feature,

通常不被討論的特點，

they're very ugly.

它們非常難看。

Or to be more precise, 表達脈絡

或者更準確地說，

they're far uglier than the countryside that they've replaced. 文法

它們比它們所取代的鄉村要難看得多。

In the mid-18th century,

在18世紀中葉，

people looked on without dismay as the hills around the little town of Bath 片語動詞

人們毫不沮喪地看著巴斯小鎮周圍的群山

were given up to Queen's Square, 片語動詞

讓位於Queen's Square，

the Royal Crescent,

Royal Crescent，

and Somerset Place.

以及Somerset Place。

Likewise,

同樣，

a little further back,

再往前一點，

when the wetlands, scrubby reedbeds and sandy islands

當濕地、灌木叢生的蘆葦蕩和沙洲

at the mouth of the River Po

在波河河口

were sacrificed to urban expansion, 慣用語

為城市擴張而犧牲時，

few people were likely to have raised protests,

很少有人會提出抗議，

given what would come to replace them, 文法

考慮到將要取代它們的是，

the city of Venice.

威尼斯這座城市。

History shows us that people don't object to new housing per se. 用詞

歷史表明，人們本身並不反對新住房。

They object when the houses are less beautiful

他們反對的是，當這些房子不如

than the natural landscape they have devoured. 慣用語

它們所吞噬的自然景觀美麗時。

This starts to isolate the cause of expensive houses,

這開始找出高昂房價的原因，

as well as point the way to a solution to the issue. 慣用語

同時也為解決這一問題指明了方向。

It is literally ugliness 文法

毫不誇張地說，正是醜陋

that is largely to blame for the current social catastrophe of high house prices. 片語搭配

是當前高房價這一社會災難的主要罪魁禍首。

What seems like negative and entrenched NIMBYism 文化背景

那些看似消極且根深蒂固的鄰避主義(NIMBYism)，

is at heart an inarticulate disguised 慣用語

其核心是一種不善表達的、偽裝的，

but understandable plea for grace, 片語搭配

但可以理解的對優雅、

elegance, and a touch of grandeur in architecture.

精緻以及建築中一絲宏偉的懇求。

We love towns and cities

我們喜愛城鎮和城市

when they're attractive,

當它們具有吸引力時，

but we've no confidence we can make today

但我們沒有信心今天能夠建造出

the kinds of places we actually really like.

我們真正喜歡的那種地方。

And the reason for that has nothing to do with prices.

而這其中的原因與價格毫無關係。

The argument isn't that we should build replicas of Georgian crescents,

爭論的焦點並不是我們應該建造喬治亞時代新月形建築的複製品，

let alone rows of canal-side Gothic palaces, 片語搭配

更不用說運河旁的哥德式宮殿了，

any more than it would be an idea 文法

就像我們不會認為

for someone who loved the English language

一個熱愛英語的人

to begin addressing strangers in Shakespearean dialect. 用詞

應該開始用莎士比亞方言和陌生人搭話一樣。

The answer is to create housing developments

答案在於創造住宅區

in the best architectural idiom of our times, 用詞

採用我們時代最好的建築語言，

places like, for example,

比如，

the exceptional Accordia housing scheme

卓越的Accordia住房計畫

in the suburbs of Cambridge,

在劍橋郊區，

to which, unsurprisingly, no one objected.

毫不奇怪，沒有人反對它。

Solving the housing crisis requires

解決住房危機需要

that we get better at grasping the nature of the problem we're facing.

我們更好地把握我們所面臨問題的本質。

The issue isn't stubborn selfishness, 表達脈絡

問題不在於頑固的自私，

it's a longing that we shouldn't build unless we can build beautifully. 文法

而是一種渴望：除非我們能建造出美麗的建築，否則就不應該建。

Crack that and no one will mind the felled trees too much, 慣用語

解決這個問題，就不會有太多人介意被砍伐的樹木，

and mortgages will come down too. 片語動詞

房貸也會降下來。

So what's the solution?

那麼解決方案是什麼呢？

It's to stop thinking that creating credit for house purchases does anything.

就是停止認為為購房創造信貸會有任何作用。

It just stokes house inflation.

它只會推高房價通膨。

What we should be doing is creating not-for-profit housing corporations 講解

我們應該做的是建立非營利性住房公司

that are incentivized by volumes rather than prices reached. 用詞

它們的動機是數量而不是達到的價格。

And most importantly,

而最重要的是，

we should build so beautifully that no one minds a patch of land near them being developed. 文法

我們應該把建築建得如此美麗，以至於沒有人會介意他們附近的一塊土地被開發。

Tantalizingly,

令人嚮往的是，

all this could be done.

這一切都是可以做到的。