US banks are demolishing dilapidated, foreclosed building to avoid hefty maintenance bills.
Although – perhaps justifiably – politicians from all sides have been swept up in the post-recession turmoil of blame, there can be little doubt that the primary perpetrators of the worst global downturn since the Great Depression were the banks and financial institutions. Indeed, as citizens across the world continue to struggle to make ends meet, bankers now have a popularity rating somewhere just above venomous snakes and just below double glazing salesmen.
But those same banks whose profligacy set in motion the domino effect that would decimate the global economy now find themselves with mounting maintenance bills for the upkeep of foreclosed homes. And in some US cities, the banks’ problem could prove to be demolition’s salvation.
For rather than continuing to pour money into the upkeep of often dilapidated homes, the banks are increasingly viewing demolition as a low-cost alternative. And while some might argue that vacant lots are no better than a run down house and will merely encourage continued urban blight, such a move will be music to the ears of the beleaguered demolition contractors of Cleveland, Georgia, New York, and Philadelphia and many other US cities.
Of course, such action will be of little comfort to those rendered homeless by the banks’ over-zealous lending and subsequent unforgiving repossession cycle. Nor will it help those left unemployed by the banks’ willingness to accept public money bailouts and their almost universal to share that money to help rebuild consumer and business confidence and thereby kick-start an economic recovery.
But if demolition contractors did enjoy an upswing in workloads at a direct cost to the banking fraternity, few of us would shed a tear.
