Mail Online spent much of the weekend chasing the story of Alan Lane and Katrina Smith. A ‘middle-class’ couple, they claim to have spent much of the last few months homeless, living in various terminals at Heathrow. For the Mail and its readers, their downfall is evidence of the state’s failure to support decent hard-working people. Inevitably, an online fund-raising campaign has appeared. At the time of writing it has raised several thousand pounds for the couple. It’s a happy end to a grim story. The trouble is, not much about the story makes sense.
Let’s start with the facts as presented. This being the Mail, the meat of the story is supported by a backbone made of house prices. He was a high-flying PR consultant, she was a nanny. In 2002 they moved to Poole, buying a three-bedroom house for £265,000, taking out a £170,000 mortgage. By 2004, work had taken a turn for the worse. In 2005, unable to afford the £700-a-month mortgage, they sold the house (£397,000, releasing £200,000 in equity), and bought a flat (£295,000 with a £95,000 mortgage). Still unable to make ends meet, in 2006 they sold again, releasing £190,000, and “downsized to a small £900pm flat”.
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