House Prices

[heretoreaditall2019]

Anything re: prices is pure market speculation, no one can say with any degree of certainty. Personal opinion is: remember recessions aren't all the same, all recession actually means is two consecutive quarters of decline it's just hard to disentangle from the catastrophe of the last one (or ones before that for people who were cognitive then). The factors causing this (inevitable, imo) recession are so very different I think we'll see a faster recovery & house prices will largely remain unchanged. It'll be the market itself that undergoes a few months of weirdness where people are scared to sell/buy, the UK already has a housing supply problem though so nothing really that new there...

The one thing I will say is lenders have already reduced their risk appetite and apparently they've already revoked most of their 95% LTV products. I've heard of people even having credit card limits reduced (!!) so it may be worth re-mapping your savings goals?

Oh and those awful HTB / new build schemes will be even more fucked I suspect. Those houses are already overpriced + shabby so best to avoid anyway, but I imagine they'll have to reduce their prices but that'll just be to reflect their true value tbqh??

 

[Begborrowsteal]

Oh I know. I totally agree.

And the fact the bedroom tax has an upper age limit, to me, is madness. As it is most likely to be older people in large homes who's children have left home!

Yep, exactly. Its poorly managed!

 

[Lisdiz]

In a very run down poor area on the coast

Thanks for getting back to me.
Do you think the bubbble is go8 g to burst?
I am of an age where I do recall houses being affordable, though I was too young to buy one as I was still at school. This is back I. The day where 50p for a loaf of bread from the local garage was co soldered an expensive waste of. Money
The last 20 years have really screwed a generation of people.

 

[Italy2]

This graph says it all, I bet on Mumsnet they're still talking about house prices not falling at all

View attachment 152333

Very interesting! They are very cynical on Mumsnet lol.

 

[Esbeepea]

I just feel really frustrated at the moment. In the last 6 years or so we paid off a significant amount of debt (35k+) and are now debt-free. We sold our home in 2018 and made some money back which is our next deposit, we're currently renting.

Since selling our affordability has been affected by two things mainly 1) childcare - was pretty high pre-covid (£700/month) and 2) defaults on file owing to going into a DMP.

So we've waited until our 30 hours free childcare kicks in and the defaults are about to drop off and now the LTV rate on mortgages change has meant the deposit we had saved isn't going to get us the size of home we want and our credit history isn't helping. So just as it felt like we were getting somewhere we're back to square one again. I've contacted some local house builders to inquire about HTB schemes as this seems like the only viable option for us. We're not struggling where we are but I'm conscious that we want things that come with owning a home again, like being able to have pets, decorate etc.

I just don't know what to do for the best other than sit, wait and save.

 

[Columbo]

True. but the bank cannot kick your out with two months notice when your still paying.

I have rented for a long time, I enjoyed the freedom but now we have bought I enjoy the investment on the work we are doing to the house. We have no plans to move for 10 or so years. I think renting is ideal for some, especially as it doesn’t tie you in to the area or the person you choose to rent with.

Yes you're right, that is the only drawback of renting. My SIL bought her house as a new build 22 years ago, she only has three years of repayments left but is already talking about taking out a loan as soon as she's nearly debt free the house needs a new kitchen, new bathroom and she could he doing with an extra bedroom now that her kids are teenagers and wanting their own space. It's never ending, it's like no matter what your situation you're still at the mercy of the landlords or the banks!

 

[Caffeine Fiend]

Houses around here still flying off the market for 20% over asking within a few days of going live. Our stamp duty cut ended a while ago now in Scotland.

Im still waiting looks like I will be for a while.

 

[Former_Antelopee]

Honestly I would view the place if you like it and then make an offer accordingly. Even in these crazy times, something is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. I’m currently in the process of buying a house which was offers in excess of a price. We saw it and offered under. Eventually we had to offer asking price which was accepted.

You may have other things on your aside that are worth as much as extra money to some sellers - a short or no chain, a willingness to move at speed or wait for the sellers pace. Good luck!

I phoned to book a viewing but they said they had a few offers quite a bit over the asking so I just left it. I’m not in a rush so And I put an offer one one yesterday at the asking price but the sellers are waiting a few days to let others view before they decide

 

[Giggling Squid]

have you ever lived in a rented property or in a house share??


you said upthread that sometimes people living in rented housing don’t always have to pay bills.

that’s not the case.

my point here is that sometimes if you are a student and you are living in a shared house then you pay an equal proportion of all the utility bills. you don’t each get sent a gas bill, electric bill etc - you just pay an amount ontop of your rent to cover your share of bills. That would be the only reason why it may appear that people living in rentals “sometimes don’t pay bills” which was what you said earlier.

the point is; everyone has to pay their utility bills!!!

The bills get paid, but you don’t always ‘pay the bills’ in shared houses/HMOs - I’ve lived in a few over the years, and just paid my rent in all. That includes water, electric, council tax etc…

 

[Sickofinstacrap]

Well you're at the mercy of the banks if you have an unexpected change of circumstances and can't make your repayments. I know someone who couldn't make her repayments after her husband's suicide and she lost the family home

Also it depends where you live, where I live it's definitely much cheaper to rent than buy. In an ideal world I'd buy and be able to make my home my own but until then there's nothing wrong with renting!

Same, I have both rented and own, and my rent for my room share in a house in north London is less then my half of mortgage for new 3 bed house in Essex! It’s mental

 

[Lanavalentine]

We were just about to put our house on the market as Covid kicked off in the UK. We held back, and now we’ve decided to go back on.

Personally I’m not worried but that’s because of a lot of factors - we own our current house outright, using that equity as the deposit on the next house, and therefore even with an upgrade to space and location, we can comfortably afford the mortgage on just one salary. My partner’s job is extremely secure, and we have excellent savings, credit scores and pensions. We’re very lucky and see no reason to delay further now.

We’re going to be in the next house for a long time, so we’re not concerned about price fluctuations overall. We’ve started browsing and talking to estate agents and the markets are starting to move again now.

We’ll even be happy with selling our current place at a slightly lower price than valued, as long as we can get a similar percentage off the new place we’re buying.

 

[Yel]

See I don't think people want to pay as little as possible, but they do not want to pay more when what they currently pay isn't being spent well.

Health care isn't underfunded because the money is there and pumping more money into the system and taxes isn't the answer, better spending is.

This also opens up the issue of benefits etc from personal experience the system isn't working. It gives too much to those who don't need it and doesn't help those who really do.

See I think people do want to pay as little as possible. Most won't admit it and possibly dont even see it.

I don't think the money is there and there's no way to just spend it better.

Spending needed to massively increase with the aging population and while it has increased its no where near the level needed to fund social care.

Then if it's increased now that puts the pressure on the working population to fund healthcare at a level they won't receive themselves. On top of funding things like state pensions that anyone under 50 will probably never have. How do you fairly fund it? Very tricky.

So I do get how shit it feels when you’ve done the right thing and it costs you, but maybe it’s a privilege to not be upset by that? Idk.

It's similar to unemployment benefits, if you've saved up some cash then if you lose your job you get next to nothing. Where as if you have no savings then you can get housing benefit, council tax benefit and all that. I don't know what the answer is.

At least with social care you aren't just getting the same as if you have no money/assets, you have the choice and can often get better care.

 

[idk2]

Of course they can, Estate agents is just a sales job with a low barrier of entry so attracts cowboys looking for a quick buck.

It's happening lots around here, buyers demand 10% off so they are overvaluing by 10%. Any pent up demand will soon be over (if it isn't already) as no one would realistically take on a huge debt when there's no chance prices will increase and the current reductions in house prices are likely to keep happening for the next few months.

Yes, I thought that would be the case. I've started looking at auction properties and have seen a lot of fixer uppers in a few good areas well within our budget incl. potential renovation costs. However not too sure we want to take such big risk on a build like this in times were we could potentially lose jobs, etc. I've been filtering my searches by houses that have been reduced recently and theres only been 3 since June so fingers crossed, more come through in the summer.

 

[HoGi]

You are wrong in saying that 90% of people who rent want to buy. Do students want to buy a place in a city where the are only likely to stay for a few years, for example? No.
There are many people who have to move around for jobs. There are migrants that cannot get a mortgage - yes, I am a non-eu migrant and regardless of my salary I cannot get a mortgage for 5 years in this country. There are migrants on temporary working visas, who will need to leave after the visa runs out. There are people who have to move around for their job or career. There are people who just don’t want to tie themselves down to one place.
Not everyone has to buy, although because the economy of this country is linked to mortgages, people are conditioned to think that way.

I agree

I know people who have the money to buy but don't want to. They like the fact they don't have to pay for repairs, boiler servicing etc.

 

[Caffeine Fiend]

Were they dancing while dishing out advice?

Haha no. Shes actually quite good. I dont seem to get any dancing videos anymore... just dog videos and other random stuff

 

[Consumerism_fatigue]

Not aimed at you, but this mindeset that for home owners an increase in value is good news is so harmful for the economy and society. A home should be that, not an investment vehicle. Everytime they go up in value it causes misery for others that weren't born at the right time and takes away money from being invested in something productive.


It's a bit something and nothing. It's not really to help the plebs, just like help to buy is mainly a help for the house builders. Would be better to let it be a free market and stop proping it up at the expense of others. But so much of the UK economy is based on house prices they have to rig it. Who know where it will end

No worries, I know where you’re coming from! I just meant that I was happy for the previous poster that the valuation wasn’t under like mine.

I’m also in a different boat because I live in central London, so the place I’m buying is a temporary home for the next 3 years or so, rather than a forever home. That being said, it’s home first and I’ve chosen it because I love it and want to live in it.

 

[Begborrowsteal]

When I viewed my current house to rent it my landlord told me (after signing the lease of course) that he picked me because I work in tech and my salary goes up quite often. Which allows him to raise my rent knowing that it "wouldn't bother me". I was so shocked on the moment that I kept quiet. When I brought it up with my friends they said that their landlords did the same thing. Every year or two they'd raise their rent by 50-100€. And apparently it is quite common for landlords to do that for people working in tech in Ireland.

It pissed me off so much that I made it my goal to save as much as possible to buy my own place.

My rent went up every year without fail sickening

 

[Boutros-Boutros Ghali]

Although the amount of money wasted someone should be held accountable….but they won’t be of course just billions squandered that could have been put to better use elsewhere

 

[Holidaybobs]

Do we live nearby?! Seems like exactly the same situation over here. It's been mental.

I think it must be at the owner discretion re offers without viewing as if I was to put an offer in and then view it, decided I don't like something or spot some extra exterior work that needs completion, I would back out. I can see why it would be seen as a faff.

I've thankfully booked a viewing for Weds now. Hoping to just whack in an asking price offer but really don't know how high I'm willing to go as I think some people are being so silly with offers that will end up falling through.

I live in Cheshire! They’ve accept an offer now that is over the asking price. The couple who put it in went straight over the asking price. But, people are still trying to book viewings. The sellers don’t want a bidding war though so are happy with the sale. It’s manic atm. I’ve seen houses priced ridiculously too high and yet they are selling.

Best of luck with your viewing!

 

[littlepup]

The next level of insanity/scam I’ve encountered is a woman in her 30s being signed over her nan’s house as they don’t want it to be used for potential care costs in the future Apparently the paperwork is only £1,500 - I find it obscene that families are being allowed to pass wealth down like this then ask the underfunded state to pick up the bill?!!

This could be 'deliberate deprivation of assets' and they can reverse it or back charge, even to the person who now 'owns' the property. I would need to be done well in advance of any care being required.
If the house is gifted or sold and the money gifted it would be part of the estate for inheritance tax purposes (if applicable) but it'd probably be cheaper than paying for care. Again though if it's done just before care is needed it could be investigated and reversed.