House Prices

[Yel]

Doesn't this happen every year at this time with asking prices?

Good news for homeowners as prices up 15%!

Good news home buyers as prices fall 0.3%!

 

[TheWitchIsBack]

Apparently places Glasgow and Edinburgh are going for at least 20% over the asking price just now.. madness.

I will shortly be moving back to Scotland from England but not going to buy until the market levels off! I’ll take the stamp duty hit if it means a cheaper flat.

Almost everything in Scotland is going 10-30% over home report value now. Our LBTT break stopped in March and it’s still mental.

The boom will end when furlough and SEIS stops - there will be a lot of businesses tightening the reigns either closing, making redundancies or significantly reducing overtime/shift allowance and it’ll make people who are close to the limit of their means reevaluate their finances which will either mean houses go on the market or worst case scenario we have 12 months then the repossessions will begin.

A lot of people working from home will have gotten too used to the saving they’re making on commuting and will have opted for bigger mortgages, bigger car payments etc and when returning to the office a lot of people will struggle.

When barclaycard reduced their spending limits for a lot of their customers it came as no surprise - I would imagine the utilisation of revolving credit will skyrocket in the next 12 months while folk go back to living pre covid.

Will be very interesting to see how property prices sit over the next 24 months - I’ve seen a few houses on rightmove lately with values that are ludicrous, so much so that if a first time buyer ends up with a 95% mortgage on them they’d probably be in negative equity for the next few years - surveyors really should be tightening the reigns just now rather than overinflating to keep estate agents sweet.

 

[heretoreaditall2019]

Quite possibly prices will decline in the next few months, Halifax already showed a fall last month.

Agree completely. I mentioned that disgusting house that needs destroying that sold for 15% more than ours that just needed redecorating just 2 years apart, if that value is upheld that means our property hasn’t just gone up 15% in 2 years but 20, 30, 40% whatever they value the work being done at or want to pretend is feasible? Give over!

I feel sorry for people who pushed themselves into houses that need a bit of work who were intending to remortgage in 3 or 5 years to cover the work but will find their next valuation to not be favourable

 

[Yel]

No one knows what will happen, there's so much money being pumped into the system and market intervention.

The market never crashed before because interest rates have been kept near zero. The price of houses is dictated by how much people can borrow. If people can borrow more because of low rates they won't fall.

Could rise by 10%, could fall by 10%. Will know later in the year if the stamp duty ends and things return to some kind of normal.

Long term they'll need to return to some kind of relation to wages, but who knows what form that will take.

If there isn't some correction it doesn't bode well for social cohesion with the young that keep getting sacrificed.

 

[Holidaybobs]

My friend has just purchased a house in Manchester for £120k and that’s during a massive boom in prices. Originally, they thought buying was impossible as they didn’t want to compromise on their lifestyle - they enjoy city breaks and eating out/living life. Since the lockdown hit they’ve been able to save a lot from working from home and genuinely not being able to leave. Within a year they’ve achieved their deposit. So for them the lockdown has benefited them but, for other friends the house they were purchasing went up by £60k. All in the same city - it’s mad.

 

[Anne1448]

For half of the population the lockdown ruin their finances but for the other half it was great because they could save a ton of money.

Regarding how quickly houses are sold, it comes from a lack of supply. Because builders couldn't finish all the houses and apartments in 2020 (due to the regulations, price increase, lack of employees in trade, multiple lockdowns) the only few on the market are snapped quickly.

Also, a lot of parents are funding their kids purchases. Which creates a situation where tons of people with rather large disposable income are engaging in bidding war. The average amount of money given by parents is 20k in Ireland. Which is enough to fight during a bidding war.

 

[Bumblebee]

It’s not just tenants that ruin houses. The worst condition house I’ve seen is privately owned. It’s filthy no family members will visit them as it smells is mouldy and messy.
the mum has offered to help tidy and clean and even paid for a new kitchen which a couple do years later is a filthy disgusting mess.
thsi is a ‘young’ working couple with two young children (5 & 7) no reason for the house to be like it is they are just lazy.
so because they pay a mortgage they can leave the house to rack and ruin but someone renting would be checked up on.
I have a house up north that we own. We rented it out when we lived down south for work intending to go back but it’s been more than 20 years now.
we rented down south for years and inky finally brought a house a couple of years ago after admitting that’s it’s unlikely now the children are adults and settles here that we will be moving back.
We looked at selling the house up north as the mortgage will be paid at the end of the year and when we spoke to the family that we rent to they have begged us not to as they can’t afford to buy the property and would struggle to find a new key as the town is a popular student and tourist town so lots of second properties student houses abs air b n b’s

I worry about my children being able to afford houses. My eldest has managed to buy during lockdown. He saved moneyto Go to uni decided not to go and sk used it for a large deposit. He only managed to get a 2 Bed 89’s built house and he earns good money. Over £60k but he wa a buying on his own and so the amount he could borrow was limited.
may 19yr old is at uni on an apprenticeship and when qualified he’ll go into earning around £40k but here (south east) he’ll not be able to get a mortgage for a house/flat around here. He’s in about moving further south for his job abs so he can buy.
I also have a 15yr old. As horrible as it sounds I think she’ll end up working in a low paid job. She has no idea what she wants to do. So maybe retail or a basic office admin role earning what £18k a year. Will she even be able to afford to rent somewhere around here on that? A studio or one bed flat are around £700 a month to rent here.

 

[Yel]

I saw a mortgage advisor on Tik Tok

Were they dancing while dishing out advice?

 

[bellinibobble]

A friend looked at buying a house on my street, literally a few doors down from me. It has gone for at least £70,000 more than I paid for mine 4 years ago.. even taking into account the average rise of house prices in our area of the uk, offers have gone way past that. I can’t imagine the mortgage valuation would be approved but even if it was I’d be terrified of ending up in negative equity. It really is madness at the moment.

 

[Boutros-Boutros Ghali]

Is it just me that rolls my eyes at stories like this?

If only your parent owned a farm then you could spend 30k on a glorified shed to live on their land

No you’re not the only one….look how amazing we are having no mortgage in our 20’s but then we did get the land for free. And no doubt still use their parents home. Not like her parents will want her to sell it or rent it, so what happens when they want more space and they realise they spent £30k on a garden shed

 

[Yel]

@Mrs McCarthy I stand by what I said. I don’t dislike Estate Agents I find them amusing and I’ve had enough dealings with them. I also have a good friend who is one and socially is the best company ever but I do know the shit they get up to.

I think estate agents have their reputation for a reason, but that's of course not to say they're all bad. End of the day it's a sales job with no required qualifications that at one point could earn someone a lot of commission. So it's not surprising the kind of things that some of them got up to.

 

[Lanavalentine]

I work in property management, I deal with landlords on a daily basis and I can say about 80-90% of our landlords are good ones.

In regards to 'Around half of private landlords refuse those on benefits', do you know why? Because many freehold insurance policies don't allow it. This isn't a policy the landlord has any power over it, it is issued by the land owner and they are obligated to pay and follow it. We have one in a block of over 60 flats and the policy states no DSS so what is the landlord expected to do because if they do and there is issue that their fault they are liable.

Can I ask where you got your data regarding white 50+ men being the majority of private landlords? I can say from experience this is not the demographic of most of our landlords and specially most of our 'bad' landlords are of a completely different demographic.

From the Government’s English Private Landlord Survey 2018:


Landlords are, on average, older and less ethnically diverse than the general population10. Most have been landlords for some time.
 Over half (59%) of landlords are aged 55 years or older. Not surprisingly, given the older age profile, a third (33%) of landlords are retired. The majority (89%) of landlords are White.

I read about them mostly being male elsewhere, and the climate change non belief is here.

I am aware of the issue with insurance that can occur, but interestingly it seems most landlords seem to find “no DSS” not discriminatory because they feel they should always have final say.

You clearly work for a good company with anectdotal evidence of good landlords, but the bigger picture and stats do not support your claims.

I am a non-British passport holder, and I am not even from EU, so I am aware of the difficulties. However it’s not the landlords fault, it’s the way the whole of the English society is geared in treatment of migrants, whether from EU or non-EU. They are not inventing the problem, they are just following a pattern.
The stories I shared are not singular. My husband’s grandmother is in a care home, and the majority of the residents there are renting their homes. His other set of grandparents are planning to do the same, as do all of their friends.
I feel like people assume that the private landlord is a property mogul with 100s of awful bedsits. Whilst they do exist, the average landlord is not a mogul. The majority of them may be male, white and British, but again it’s because of the way the society is geared.
It’s the same with tenants, the same with people who live in leaseholds, rather than freeholds. We used to live in a leasehold flat that we owned, and the only difference between owning a flat and renting one was that we were allowed to paint our walls whatever colour we wanted.
There is a reason why BTL is popular as an investment. It may be more lucrative to do other things like invest in stocks and shares but you need to understand what you are doing otherwise you will lose money. With BTL you can get an instant return within the first months. If the government wants to tackle this problem, they should change the terms of BTL mortgages; not turn landlords into evil people.

I think the fact that they’re perpetuating the problem (rather than creating it) is what most people take issue with. I did say that in my post.

I think most people are aware that the majority (45%) of private landlords only have one property they rent. I’m not picturing someone who owns 100 bedsits with no hot water. I’m thinking of the landlords I’ve had and landlords I know.

 

[HoGi]

A lady I work with bought with shared ownership.

She is a single mum to 2 kids and was fed up of landlords being able to give her notice to leave etc.

So she went shared ownership. She said she can still claim housing benefit towards the rent, so it means she is living in a 3 bed new build doesn't have the worry that comes with renting that she might have to move etc. And pays less than she did when renting. So I can see how it is appealing to some people

 

[Yel]

Agreed, this covid lockdown is the single biggest experiment in human history. To think that house prices will stay the same or keep increasing and the economy will come roaring back seems pretty far fetched.

 

[hollowcrown]

I was 90% of the way to completing a shared ownership purchase last summer before backing out. The affordability criteria is well off - the mortgage + rent was in excess of what I am paying for rent + bills in a more central location in my city right now as opposed to a neighbouring village. They also didn't let me view the property or put in more than a 10% deposit (I could've put in up to 50% on the share and then paid off the share in a couple of years). They can also raise the rent at any time and selling on can take ages. Seemed a waste of time so I just decided to pull out, wasn't worth it.

Seems a way for developers to keep income trickling in over time instead of letting people actually own the homes they live in.

 

[Gembo]

It there were no landlords though there would be nowhere to rent. Not everyone can or wants to buy, some people need a stop gap between selling one house and buying another, some people need to rent when moving to a new area for work. I agree there are some terrible landlords and people treating tenants unfairly but without them there would be nowhere to rent.

 

[Kim Mild]

Just received a flyer in the post saying how sellers are disappointed nothing is on the market and have we considered selling our house….. what a compelling argument for uprooting our lives and spending thousands and thousands of pounds, thanks hun x

Where would they expect you to move to, if you did sell?

 

[JoeBloggs]

It’s a leasehold house. I have read though that apparently after two years you have the right to buy the lease if you want so least there is that option. But they said it won’t increase so I think should be fine

You have the right to extend the lease after two years, buying the freehold isn’t always the same.

To add, saying they won’t increase the service charge is BS. It depends what the service charge covers but I doubt they will keep it at that rate for 10 years. This is my job so got any questions let me know.

 

[Yel]

They really should have done some capital gains tax on main homes.

Would have stopped parents remortgaging to gift money to pump back into houses (a pyramid scheme!), stopped the buy to let remortgaging madness of gazumping would-be owner occupiers and kept houses more inline with earnings.

What we have now is an unfair broken system that's causing so much misery. No matter what your situation is, the current system isn't good for a cohesive society.

 

[Anne1448]

I'm in the same position. My goal is to buy next year. Hopefully prices will go down. It is actually coming back to reality in my area so I am really happy.