While politicians struggle to get the American dream of homeownership back on track, across the pond Queen Elizabeth is reportedly setting a rather impressive example by turning her private royal estate into low-income housing. Here, a guide to the Queen's proposal and the, er, British dream:
Which private estate, exactly?
The land the Queen has her eye on is at the 49,000-acre, privately owned estate of Balmoral in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The Balmoral was purchased in 1852, by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and has since been the traditional summer home for the Queen and members of her family.
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And what's her low-income housing plan?
Discussions are still in the early stages, but land near the Prince of Wales' retreat at Birkhall has already been earmarked. The project would help local low-income families get into the housing market. But instead of just building homes and offering them out, the houses would be partially built by the would-be homeowners themselves to help keep costs down as well as show "how self-built homes can increase the supply of housing... for people who live and work in rural communities."
What are people saying about her proposal?
It's "an amazing idea for helping young families," says Lindsay Cross at Mommyish. And it has a real American-dream feel to it with that whole pulling yourself up by the bootstraps thing. "It would be nice to hear a little more thoughtfulness like this from the current crop of politicians fighting to win our votes here in the States."
