House Prices

[Yel]

If governments do not push property prices back to a healthy level they will deal with low birth rates, an insane homeless population and increasing poverty.

The problem is that happens in the long run and governments only cafe about the next few years.

I expect once the demographics change and people realise all these "help" schemes are actually screwing them over and only helping house builders and financial institutions then their priorities will change.

 

[Columbo]

My partner also grew up in the care system. He struggles to hold down jobs for longer than a couple of months which obviously doesn't look good to employers. He's 35 and recently found that working a pattern of seasonal jobs works for him - however the pandemic has thrown some spanners in the works for that too.

It's so easy for people to tell you to prioritise when they don't know your situation.

I know right? I mean if only my husband gave up all those flash holidays we’d have a house by now

I’m glad your partner has found something that works for him Even though my husband is in a stable job now we still have very little left over to save. If growing up in care has taught him anything it’s that bricks, mortar and a mortgage might get you a house but it doesn’t make a home. Yes we’d love to have a place that we can put our own stamp on but it’s not the be all and end all that people think it is.

 

[Homebird44]

The problem is that happens in the long run and governments only cafe about the next few years.

I expect once the demographics change and people realise all these "help" schemes are actually screwing them over and only helping house builders and financial institutions then their priorities will change.

My niece used the help to buy for her house. She had it valued last week and its increased by 40k in two years. She'll move soon but you have to pay something back, not too sure if its the deposit. Think if you sell in the first five years you pay something back.

 

[Giggling Squid]

My niece used the help to buy for her house. She had it valued last week and its increased by 40k in two years. She'll move soon but you have to pay something back, not too sure if its the deposit. Think if you sell in the first five years you pay something back.

With help to buy, the government loan you a % up for 20% of the value of your home, which opens you up to much lower interest rates because you have a higher LTV. you basically owe the government whatever % of the property value that you took as a loan. Eg we paid a 7% deposit, and took the 20% help to buy loan, then a mortgage for 73%. If house prices go up, the value of the loan goes up, if they go down the value goes down

the loan is interest free for 5 years, then you pay interest on it after that unless you pay it off/remortgage to take it into the mortgage/sell.

It’s good to get on the ladder, but you pay a premium for it in the price of new builds, and it’s much harder to pay off/move in the future

 

[Bitofthebubbly]

What annoys me about where I live is that all the new builds tend to be shared ownership to make them look ‘affordable’. It’s not something most people I know looking to buy would ever be interested in. If anyone has done shared ownership I’d be really interested to hear your experience, I’m not really sold on the idea myself.

 

[hollowcrown]

Shared ownership is a massive scam

 

[JoeBloggs]

What annoys me about where I live is that all the new builds tend to be shared ownership to make them look ‘affordable’. It’s not something most people I know looking to buy would ever be interested in. If anyone has done shared ownership I’d be really interested to hear your experience, I’m not really sold on the idea myself.

I know a few people who have, personally I wouldn’t. My best friend did, she’s been trying to sell for over a year. She works for the housing association in another department and they have been nothing but trouble.

 

[Bitofthebubbly]

Shared ownership is a massive scam

That’s what I think to be honest. I can’t fathom having to pay rent and a mortgage on one home, even if overall it does work out cheaper than renting. You don’t seem to get the ‘benefits’ of renting i.e not responsible for repairs. Surely if the council or who ever own half or what ever percentage they should split costs like that? So weird.

I know a few people who have, personally I wouldn’t. My best friend did, she’s been trying to sell for over a year. She works for the housing association in another department and they have been nothing but trouble.

Yeah I have heard they can be really hard to sell if you want to move. People just don’t want shared ownership, especially if you already have a mortgage on a home you fully own. It’s a silly idea, imo just another way to say they are building ‘affordable housing’ but with a catch. A scheme cooked up by some rich person to make them richer and keep the less well off in their place.

The new builds always end up occupied so there’s obviously a demand for it, or maybe it’s people desperate to own property/have some security, even if it’s just a portion of it? Wish the whole idea would get in the bin and we could stick to you either own a home or you don’t. It’s confusing enough as it is buying somewhere.

 

[heretoreaditall2019]

Shared ownership is a massive scam

I can’t understand why anyone does it. I honestly think the scheme was a way to acceptably sell off old council stock, I don’t think they expected anyone to fall for it (ETA - I think they thought it’d go to developers or investment landlords rather than owner occupiers living in hell holes).

Obvs entirely anecdotal but I know someone who’s in one in Belfast, the house “sold” for £100k and they own half. The house needs about £20k worth of work doing to it….. the council don’t pay half of that, when you sell it you don’t recoup your investment into the house before splitting the profits, plus they’re limited term leases so you’ve not even got anything to leave the kids? I can’t wrap my head around why anyone would do it. If anyone has had a good experience I’d love to hear as I may be entirely wrong?

 

[Homebird44]

What annoys me about where I live is that all the new builds tend to be shared ownership to make them look ‘affordable’. It’s not something most people I know looking to buy would ever be interested in. If anyone has done shared ownership I’d be really interested to hear your experience, I’m not really sold on the idea myself.

My sister did it. It was a good way on getting on the housing ladder. They bought more of a percentage from the housing association. They sold a few years ago and now have a straight repayment mortgage on a house they are renovating.

 

[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

 

[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.

 

[Yel]

Shared ownership is a load of wank. It's sold as a scheme to help people but what it's there to do is prop up prices and help developers sell at a premium and help sell more financial products. So many cons with it that come back to bite.

Remove all the props and let prices align with wages. Also have rental sector fit for a developed country that provides security for those that can't or don't want to buy so that they aren't forced into shady schemes.

 

[Yel]

Don't think this has been posted; Josh Ryan-Collins puts it pretty well imo.

In the long-term we need higher incomes, lower house prices and less household debt.

Is the UK housing bubble about to burst? These are the best and worst scenarios | Josh Ryan-Collins

UK GDP has fallen – yet house prices have soared. Even a small rise in interest rates could hurt the economy, says economist Josh Ryan-Collins

www.theguardian.com

 

[Lanavalentine]

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.

That is shocking. Full on scam.

 

[Clickbait]

A friend’s sister decided to do shared ownership to buy a one-bedroom flat on the outer edge of zone 4. She lived there for about 8 months and then landed a dream job abroad. She wanted to rent the flat out on the open market - not allowed. She wasn’t allowed to sell (a clause about length of time between purchase and sale) and so in the end she had to rent it out on the sly.

Everything was ok until the tenant stopped paying rent. She was abroad and he had basically cottoned on that he shouldn’t be there legally from opening post/talking to other tenants. She then had to pay him to leave(!) and get another family member to stay rent free to keep an eye on the place.

It may work for some people in certain situations, but if you can avoid it I would.

 

[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.

 

[Yel]

It may work for some people in certain situations, but if you can avoid it I would.

I think there's been so many problems with the cladding scandal and people left hanging for years in unsalable property. The shared ownership has compounded an already very difficult system.

buy-to-let landlords

Buy to let full stop is a ghastly system, nothing more than a Ponzi scheme that allows people to remortgage and speculate on housing to push up values. Causing an untold amount of misery. But that's the dream for many - people farming. Exploitative.

 

[Homebird44]

I think there's been so many problems with the cladding scandal and people left hanging for years in unsalable property. The shared ownership has compounded an already very difficult system.

Buy to let full stop is a ghastly system, nothing more than a Ponzi scheme that allows people to remortgage and speculate on housing to push up values. Causing an untold amount of misery. But that's the dream for many - people farming. Exploitative.

Its a business like may others. Most landlords are fantastic. I have family that own houses and its their pension pot. They are amazing with their tenants.

 

[Yel]

Its a business like may others. Most landlords are fantastic. I have family that own houses and its their pension pot. They are amazing with their tenants.

It's not like many other businesses. It relys on pricing people out of something essential and is exploitative by nature.

Very parasitic and provides next to no value to society. It's causing untold havoc for the whole of society with people feeling unable to put down roots and being seen as a failure for renting.

It's mainly people that were born at the right time to buy when house prices were affordable and they've now remortgaged to speculate on. They slap themselves on the back at what a great business person they are because they've benefited from the loose lending and printing that keeps causing asset bubbles.

"Most landlords are fantastic" evidence please? Your posts on this thread are interesting . Most landlords are like most businesses and want to make the most money.