House Prices

[JLXRD]

I wouldn’t say I’m privileged because I worked hard at school, worked in my spare time, was sensible with money, worked hard at my degree and then got a graduate job after spending my whole life working towards it?

You are privileged to have parents who allowed you to move home and pay next to nothing to do so though, don’t you agree?

And also without knowing your background, I can’t comment on whether you are privileged to have those things but your social and economic background (which you were born into) definitely affects your prospects in terms of universities, tapping into potential academically, etc.

Imagine for a moment you grew up with parents who were not very good with money - who didn’t encourage you at school, etc. You are behind when you initially start school as your parents have not put any time into teaching you at home.

No one in your family has been to university nor do they encourage or expect you to. Your parents have minimum wage jobs and have never discussed you having more. Maybe you are bullied at school and don’t want to spend time there.

Then it would be quite hard to get into a good university - you likely wouldn’t. Unless of course, you find a teacher or other role mode to nurture and encourage you.

Did you have all of these obstacles in terms of your background? No? Well then you are privileged.


You seem to keep saying about being sensible with money, but I’m not sure quite what you mean there in terms of someone on a lower wage than yourself. We need people to do the minimum wage jobs, not everyone will be able to have a highly paid role. If their rent on a small flat is a large portion of their wage, where are they to find money to save?

 

[JLXRD]

At uni I lived in halls and then rented with other students (this is why I worked part time during uni). After uni I lived at home for 1 year, paying £300 a
Month to live at home (cheaper than renting granted but still led to having to choose where to spend money). I then rented for two years but chose a cheap little 1 bed flat because I had no need for anything bigger and wanted to save more.

I’ve worked since I was 14 (paper round). I was earning £40 a week from doing that and covering the odd round, plus I worked in a supermarket for 10-20 hours a week on top of this for 12 months. I also earnt money by going around peoples houses and asking if they had any tasks they wanted doing (anything from gardening, housework or cleaning cars) when I had time.

Lucky you had parents who let you live at home for a year for only £300 per month - far cheaper than renting somewhere and paying bills. Then lucky you had a job where you could afford a 1 bed flat with cash left over to save. Many people could not do either of these things and both of them are privileged positions to be in.

Sure - some people do not own a home because they have prioritised other things, nothing wrong with that - owning a home is not the be all and end all, some don’t want to own and would prefer the lovey holidays!

But for for many people it is not just a case of priorities not being on saving or owning a home - they simply don’t have a choice. Minimum wage does not get you far in many parts of the UK and they are probably unable to save any significant amount.

 

[rosieflowers]

I mean there's no chance they'll increase and anyone that says they will probably is trying to offload their own overpriced houses.

"Property expert" is pretty meaningless. Estate agents is just sales job with a very low barrier of entry that attracts people looking to make a quick buck. And that ghastly Kirsty makes a cheeky offer of 1000 under the asking price for a 400k flat in penge has no qualifications other than interior design. Phil's "property empire" it consisted of 2 full-time staff close to the last downturn. I can't stand those two and the untold misery they've caused by millions

Their cheeky offers are rubbish aren't they I never understand how they get so many people to buy or offer on houses they show them, do they show them ones they're already interested in?!

OP just to add my two cents, if you're looking for a home you can be in long term, like 10-15 years, and you can comfortably afford the mortgage, don't worry too much about small anticipated dips in prices. It should be a home not a financial venture. Also places like the Midlands aren't as vulnerable to huge rises and falls like London which is just crazy town for house prices.

Good luck, it's great to finally own your own home, you will love it

 

[Clickbait]

Some of the boomer generation came from working class families and managed to save up and buy a house - they didn’t earn a lot but they could afford a lot more because things were cheaper and tax rates were far lower. In the mid-60s it was just over 2% (if you had a family you were given bigger tax breaks) and nowadays it’s around 23%.

Many now own houses that are worth several times what they cost when they were built or purchased. A deposit in the late 50s/early 60s was around a fifth of an annual salary, nowadays it can be more than twice an annual salary.

I don’t doubt that they worked hard to save a deposit and to keep paying the bills, and went through periods of financial uncertainty but objectively it was easier to save and buy than it is today.

Not everyone is frivolous with their money and to suggest that people could work harder, get a second job, cut back on any/all luxuries is a very simplistic view when there are many other factors in play.

I do also understand in some cases that people complain about not being able to afford a deposit when they’re choosing to spend money on having a particular lifestyle instead.

 

[HoneyBee29]

We finally got our offer accepted on a house after looking for a year. I think it was just pure luck and coincidence, the people in the house can’t move out until February/March next year as their waiting on their new house being built and our lease for our rental isn’t up until then so we couldn’t move out till around that time anyway. We ended up in a bit of a bidding war for it but was so worth it, we’ve been renting for years and sick of it

 

[Kim Mild]

No need to for the rudeness, just pointing out facts. Yeah I have lived in both of those…. FYI we’ve just sold out flat and have bought a house for 425k, it’s not that hard to save if you prioritise. I’m not yet 30 and haven’t had help from parents.

If people say they cannot save I don’t realistically agree, it’s that they prioritise other things such as going out, holidays etc (absolutely nothing wrong with that, we decided to forego that because we valued the home ownership more).

Some people's outgoings are as much as their wages, through no fault of their own , especially if they are already paying rent for their current home.

 

[Nebbymoo]

8 years ago I was adamant I couldnt possibly save and owning was an unachievable dream. Admittedly we had phone contacts that wasnt exactly expensive, the cheapest tv package. I did drink at weekends (at home so cheaply) and buy take aways but aside from my car payments (cheap car just simply tax and insurance payments monthly) I didnt live a careless lifestyle.
Now over the last 4 years we have finally managed to save the deposit and the house prices are now what are making it unachievable to own.
Each time you go without and make do to save that little bit more the goal posts move again.
I come from poverty. My dad disappeared when I was 2 and my mum was a single mum for years until I became an adult. we had sod all. Since having children Iv gone to college and bettered myself which has left to a better job, my husbands had a huge promotion at work which means more money and weve still got sod all . Unfortunately we dont all have parents to help us out while we are young with the cheap home lifestyle that affords us to save. But looking back 8 years if I'd know that owning is still out of reach I wouldnt have spent money any differently trying to save more. Because even by saving this past 4 years hasnt made any difference.

Hopefully this makes sense it's still early

 

[BettyCrockerr]

Yes exactly what I’ve said - it’s about what you prioritise which is completely fair enough either way. It’s the fact people say “I can’t save” when they’re spending all this money on other things - it’s not that you can’t it’s that you’ve prioritised something else, which is fair enough!

no, you very clearly stated earlier upthread that it’s “easy” to save for a deposit. That people just need to stop spending on unnecessary things and then everyone would have money for a deposit. You said that. The back peddling now because you’ve been called out on your sweeping, Insulting generalisations is mind blowing.
if you’re in a hole, stop digging.

 

[Lanavalentine]

No we had to spend jusy short of £1000 on professional cleaning , minor repairs & trades and the deposit wasn’t even half of that, about £350 . Plus it takes a whole to get it back .we also had to fully replace flooring as they didn’t report damage to laminate and it has swollen and cracked due to a spillage . It was damage and dirt that cousl have been avoided not wear and tear. They were also fairly anti social so the neighbours reported which I was embarrass about but we only got those reports when they left . It’s not all coin
Luckily we have long term tenants now who are looking after the place well.
In terms of the topic overall , house prices, all I can say is surley the bubble has to burst soon. Anyone old enough to remember the northern rock crash will remember that came down like a tonne of bricks . What I don’t get is where peopel are getting the money from to throw at offers over (Scotland anyway) ?


Eta the washing machines x 2 was

we done the opposite kept it lower to
Make to more realistic and it also helps with longer tenancy.

I don’t want to be rude but surely this is just the risk you have to take, being a landlord?

You can’t micromanage your property when it’s someone’s home. Good landlords should factor in the costs of wear and tear, repairs and end of tenancy professional cleaning into their maintenance expenses, surely?

Also, I thought landlords were allowed to charge up to 5x weeks of rent as a security deposit. Yours sounds very low, although I don’t know where your property is nor the condition it is in. The national average deposit is about £900.

 

[heretoreaditall2019]

we’ve even had an Estate Agent try to organise a “street valuation party”

omg they’ve truly tried it all now

Although ngl if you’d get to go nose around other people’s houses (obviously pre covid) I’d love it. I love when I see a for sale sign go up* I’m straight on right move seeing what they’ve done with the place!

*unless it’s an elderly person’s home then I’m like ffs that’ll be sold to some dickhead LL won’t it

 

[Bitofthebubbly]

If those on minimum wage jobs want a home so badly and it matters to them they can do what a poster above did and study in there evenings or time off. This will reap the rewards down the line as they will have a profession/skill/trade which can earn them enough to save for a place.

Again, before those with a chip on their shoulder try and apply it to their own circumstances I am talking in general terms. Some might not want to own a home, some might prefer to work the hours they currently work etc, which as I’ve said all along is completely up to them

Hot take: It should be perfectly possible for people earning minimum wage to be able to save up and get a mortgage and not break their back doing so. Homeownership shouldn’t be something reserved for those who ‘earn enough’ because 1. What ever is deemed ‘enough’ seems to be getting higher and higher and 2. we need people working minimum wage jobs as they are often the ones which keep the economy ticking over. Shelf stackers, delivery drivers, cleaners etc. Someone has to do it and not everyone is going want or be able to train their way out of it, should those people just never get the opportunity to own their home? It should be realistic for everyone to get on the ladder if they choose by saving up a modest amount in order to get a mortgage on a home at a fair price but that’s not what’s been happening for a long time. It’s hard enough for people on middle-higher wages to get on the property ladder. The problem isn’t with people not working/studying hard enough. The problem lies with ridiculous house prices, high rents and investment landlords who buy more properties than they need. Not with the people at the bottom trying to get by who just want somewhere to live that is more secure than private renting.

Telling people to study is great and all but it won’t solve the problems in the housing market. Not to mention, you often need to pay as an adult to study in the first place, you also need the time and when you already have a family and/or a job where you can’t afford to cut your hours it’s not always feasible for everyone. Mental health is also a thing and stretching yourself too thin in life doesn’t help anyone.

 

[Yel]

The fact that people still believe that poor people should not be allowed to have a good phone, one holiday a year and new clothes at least once is absolutely appalling. Are poor people supposed to never be able to take a break from poverty and have the worst things because they are born poor?

Poverty is not a choice and poor people should have the right to enjoy life too. The few hundreds that they spend on a phone or a holiday doesn't come close to what they could save when house prices went up 91% in 8 years (these are real figures in Ireland) but their salaries didn't. Why are poor people supposed to suffer in silence when they simply want to buy a roof over their head?

The fact that some people in this thread are trying to justify the greed of a few at the cost of a basic need for humanity reeks of privilege and an absolute if not total lack of empathy.

How dare some people have modern living standards and take advantage of advancements! They should live in Victorian squalor to save a deposit .

 

[Lanavalentine]

To be honest I think what this country needs is a huge overhaul of renting - both rules on landlords, HMOs etc but also an attitude makeover towards renting vs buying.

The amount of shit people spew about renting is just embarrassing. Many countries around the world have fairer rental markets, better support and rights for renters and less home ownership overall… personally if I hear one more person refer to renting as “throwing money away” I will scream! I never saw renting as throwing my money away - how could it be when I was paying to live somewhere?! It doesn’t make any sense!

I feel extremely lucky to own in the current climate, but I wish I didn’t feel like that and there was more focus on renters’ rights and avoiding exploitative landlords overall. I wish the choice between renting or buying was available to everyone because there absolutely are pros and cons to each in a fairer marketplace.

 

[Mamacita]

Yes exactly what I’ve said - it’s about what you prioritise which is completely fair enough either way. It’s the fact people say “I can’t save” when they’re spending all this money on other things - it’s not that you can’t it’s that you’ve prioritised something else, which is fair enough!

When I was working minimum wage job, I went on holiday once a year which cost me 600-800 pounds and went out for a meal a couple times a year which all added up to like 1k per year. If I saved that it would still take me over 10 years to save for a deposit and I bought the cheapest food, hardly bought new clothes, cheapest make up etc. It's pretty hard, if not impossible, to save anything if you're in a minimum wage job, it's not always about what you prioritise.

 

[heretoreaditall2019]

Yes and the current government are playing a blinder at keeping that delusion going.

Yep! Imagine punching down at people who are being punished more than you by a system also punishing you. Imagine looking at ppl who can’t afford to feed their kids 3 meals a day and thinking that a college course can sort that?

@Yel said it perfectly but we shouldn’t have to live like the Victorians to access a decent, safe, property. If they’d only introduce rental protections like in Germany & other EU countries the majority of us wouldn’t even want to buy tbh. I hate the burden of having a WIP house tbh.

 

[hollowcrown]

One of the most stupid things about the housing market is that buy-to-let landlords can rely on tenants income for getting a mortgage on multiple second properties, but first time buyers can't rely on an income of a lodger. One rule for some, another for others.

 

[Vloggerfam]

A months rent value was the standard here . The rent was purposefully low not reflective of the state of property, it’s a decent flat and well maintained , just to make it more realistic and longer term tenant . Anyway my point it is respect. Not eveyone knows how to or chooses to treat home rentals with respect, so for thst reason the inspections are needed, in my view and experience. I get they can be invasive so they need to be within the terms of the lease & done at a realistic abs discreet levels. There’s also the safety aspect, make sure fire alarms , gas etc not blocked . I will never excuse the state it was left on that occasion as wear and tear or a landlords downside, irrespective of how much it cost to put right, it was disgusting. It’s one example of bad tenants though, we have had mainly decent people who treat it like their own. It was to make the point that inspections have their place . I agree also with the above it’s not just rentals some
Owners will be the same of course , or even down to if you rent a holiday place . I guess it’s just galling when someone treats your place like c*** when you are trying to keep it in a good condition yourself longer term.
Anyways house prices are still shocking and I still
Hope they come crashing down to reality!

I think if you rent out a property/s you have to take any emotional attachment away from it and treat it as a business. I’ve seen people rent out a house they love then take it personally if it gets damaged. Yes it’s really shit of tenants but unfortunately not everyone is lovely.

Over the years I’ve had some proper shitty landlords that ranged from just turning up and sitting reading a newspaper in the kitchen whenever they were in the area and just walking into bedrooms, to ones who flat out lie to keep the deposit. (Saying we’d left a sofa and they had to pay to clear it which had been in the furnished flat when we moved in etc) Luckily it was done properly through the deposit scheme so I managed to dispute it most of the time.

Once you give in your notice agents seem to completely forget that they are meant to give notice for viewings too and just turn up whenever they please.

 

[ChokingOnZofloraFumes]

Also just to chime in, it's not as easy to just go out and get a second job. Lots of people on minimum wage (myself included) are shift workers and as my partner put it to his colleague, nowadays you need basically 70 hours availability for your full time contract meaning you can't get a second job.

Edit: This whole "just go without and if you really wanted it you would find a way" sounds so similar to when a lot of people would come out and say "All these people on benefits buying mcdonalds and phones and tvs, they wouldn't be poor if they just didn't spend money!!"

 

[Yel]

This is interesting. We are landlords and rent through an agent who do regular inspections , every three months as part of their contracts. We had tenants who are careless, filthy to be honest and basically didn’t know how to keep a hosue. When they moved out we had to spent hundreds cleaning g their mess things that were not picked up during inspections be sure it was things like inside thr oven, behind the sofas, skirting boards, they also managed to damage two washing machines in two years. If we didn’t have inspections I’m sure it would have been Much worse . Isn’t it reasonable to have the property checked to keep it in a decent state? I rented when I was younger and had no issue with a quick walk through Check, it’s not invasive and is arranged discreetly ?

But if it was hundreds wouldn't the deposit cover it?

Hundreds sounds about what landlords should plan to spend between tenancies and sorting the oven and behind the sofa I'd guess isn't uncommon with how some renter's don't look after a place.

If they damaged the washing machine again that should easily be covered by the deposit and if it broke when not that old then the guarantee should cover it id of thought?

Not saying this is you, but I do know landlords that complain endlessly about ever paying a penny to maintain the property which seems very illogical. Like bemoaning the management charge off a pension.

 

[JoeBloggs]

You are still not getting it.


sometimes people CANNOT make saving money - for a mortgage or for anything else - a priority because they only have enough money coming in to make PAYING THEIR ESSENTIAL BILLS A PRIORITY.

I think you’ve said it all when you made the point that you chose to rent a flat in a “shitty area” which wasn’t in great condition. Some people don’t have a choice. The fact that you had a choice, is the entire point.

100%. Choice in itself is a privilege.