House Prices

[Lanavalentine]

I was also born in the 90’s. But I have worked hard and saved and have now sold my first home looking to buy my second. (On my own I might add with one income) It’s what you make of it. If you were able to do something that would make you money I’m sure you would. It just comes across as very bitter saying that landlords want to not work and have others pay their mortgage - of course, who wouldn’t want that?! I have been a student and rented. Landlords are necessary and it’s a service that wouldn’t be there but for these people able to buy a second property and rent it out to you

Except that if swathes of people who benefitted from becoming an adult in a time where living costs and mortgages were easily affordable on a basic wage hadn’t decided that property were THE thing to invest in, buying a home would be more affordable for many, and therefore a lot of people wouldn’t need to rent.

By the way, privilege and luck account for most success in life, especially financial success. Where you live is also of the essence. Not many people born in the 90s buying houses where I live. I’m in my mid-30s and will be one of the youngest people on my new street.

Attempting to re-frame greed as an essential service is a bit silly, too. We all know nobody is thinking about the service they provide when they become a landlord.

 

[Kim Mild]

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.

It's like how a renter can't use the proof that they can afford , and do pay £x amount on rent each month to get their own mortgage but their rent can pay their landlord's mortgage.

 

[fireflies]

I think to might be joking

Economics rarely agree on anything but at the moment they're arguing that it will either be a deep recession or very deep recession

I dont think we ever seen a recession like it.
People who work hospitality and tourism thier income seriously be affected.
All depends if we go into second lock down.
Looks like intu owners many big shopping centres going into administration.

We lost quite a few retailers last few months im amazed how Debenhams hangs on in there.
My freind works in negotiating retail rents.
Our uniform shop is moving to a cheaper area.
The kids shoe shop sadly shutting down.

Bet amazon doing well.
Primark will recover as their owners own mostly food businesses and will bounce back.
If we all skint we shop at cheaper shops.

We were fortunate buy our 1st home year and half ago its a project so we renovating over time and investing lots saved money from lock down into the house and garden.
We 3.5 years left on fixed deal and were hoping maybe remortage to do the loft extension as we never ever want to move again.
I'm glad we brought a doer upper and dident overstretch ourselves but we were lucky we had house sale fall through and looked at some overpriced dumps back in 2019 and found this house through a old freinds freind and they were desparate to sell and hates estate agents and wanted ro move quickly so did we

What did shock us when looking were how awfully presented some homes were.
How rude estate agents could be.
Also sellers we were 1st time buyers mortgage in place and in rental so no chain.
Even then many dident want to negociate
Divorced and old persons relatives were tricky some were just delusional.
Now in 2020 same sized house same area we wouldn't be able afford to buy.

Its about time priced just came in line with wages.

 

[Anne1448]

My children are at uni. The eldest has finished and is interviewing for jobs, he pays for everything else but we pay for his phone, same with my daughter. Once they're working full time they'll be paying for them.



I think your idea of poor and mine are different. I can't afford a holiday every year but I can pay my bills so I'm don't consider myself poor.

Since I lived in France and Ireland I saw different types of poor. So our definitions will indeed be completely different.

As someone who grew up dirt poor (ate the same food for days, had to wear hand-me-downs, couldn't afford basic bills) but now lives a very privileged life it angers me when people are blaming poor people for a problem created by wealthy people.

 

[Begborrowsteal]

They won't move her as she has a long term tenancy and pays full rent. What she should have done is bought it.

She should be moved into a smaller property if her needs still requires it. Then a family who actually needs the 3 bed house would have it. Buying it removes the house from the social market and deprives another family of a home. Social housing needs a big shake up.

 

[hollowcrown]

I have the exact same salary, savings and rent as you (I earn 2k and save between 500-800€ per month) yet I can't buy a single house on the market right now because the entry level house starts at 150k. I moved twice in hope to find a cheaper neighbourhood but by the time I spend 12 months in a place the prices go up by 50k. It's mental!

My parents said that they could give me 8k which would put me at 20k of down-payment but even that isn't enough.

Out of my entire family only 3 have a house and they bought them in their late 30s.

My biggest fear is not being able to buy in my youth which means that my entire pension will go towards my rent when I'll reach the age of 70. Or worst being homeless.

There is essentially nothing else a lot of people can do now other than couple up with a partner or wait for a pay rise or a big hit of inheritance. I'm worried that even if I do get a chunk of inheritance (my grandmother recently passed away) that it's still not going to do it. It's annoying as it seems something completely out of your control.

It's a straight up theft of wealth between generations. The younger generations are paying off their future for the present of those who can afford to own multiple properties. Landlords are for the most part absolute parasites who just want to sit on property and get an easy income.

There are grave consequences looming in the future but of course our governments can't look beyond the next 2-3 years. I hope the older generations don't expect us to wipe their arses for a pittance in the future though because that certainly will not be happening with the current and future housing market state + lower brith rates in the UK.

 

[HoGi]

My next door neighbour is selling her house (I am gutted as we get on really well) and I’m checking Rightmove constantly to see if it’s up yet so I can see inside as I’ve never been in

You can set up an alert for the post code and then you get an email as soon as it is listed.

I have one set up for my postcode,
my post code + 1/4 mile and my old postcode (in case my old house comes up) both for sale and renting...not a stalker at all

 

[BettyCrockerr]

archive.md

Articles like this are so misleading. He wouldn’t have got a mortgage at 19 - unless he had a large deposit and a guarantor. What kind of job did he have at 19 that the lender based the decision on? What a load of garbage. Josh Parrott has well off parents and that’s about it.

 

[Yel]

I cannot abide anyone who comes out with this anti-pension myth. It drives me insane, but seems to be quite common in some circles.

The anti pension thing is all a bit silly. People acting as if they have no choice but to speculate in bricks

My private pension has gone up 6% in the last year (after fees taken) and obviously is much less of a liability than buy to let and way more flexible and suited to being a pension.

So many people demand that their buy to let is a guaranteed investment and even if it was bought for 50k and is now worth 200k they'll bemoan if it goes down to 195k

 

[heretoreaditall2019]

Same here, some really have their heads in the sand - those working in industries that show no sign of recovery and they expect furlough to end and things to go back to normal.

And those who work in jobs that have been carrying on fine and think that'll continue unaffected, when every industry will be squeezed if we enter a deep recession.

It's the uncertainty that's making me apprehensive, wish the can kicking would end to as it's just going to make it worse in the long run.

Agreed on both parts re: jobs. I've worked throughout the whole of covid (from home) but the majority of my company were furloughed immediately, my company have used the furlough scheme to better their cash position at the expense of the taxpayer. They can afford to pay staff, and retain staff, but why would they now? They've just survived one of their busiest periods ever with 30-40 of us, out of *thousands*. It's going to be a blood bath, but it'll be palatable because they can dress it up as uncertainty due to covid rather than outright greed, which it is.

I know there's a lot of bad blood now as none of us who worked throughout the period received any sort of additional pay or recognition. They did a PR piece that went to press about bonuses, which they even had the cheek to circulate internally?! But I know of 5 people who enquired about theirs and they've been informed they're not eligible, I'm not going to embarrass myself by asking tbh. But what can people do, the market is fucked and with IR35 looming most candidates are competing with people with significantly more experience than them willing to take their roles now out of sheer desperation...

I do think this crisis has shown just how awful some employers are tbh, I've never been stupid enough to think any job actually cares about me beyond my productivity but there's that and then outright endangering people's health, lying, and taking the piss all round?

 

[Lanavalentine]

Well, what would your suggestions be for those elderly people? I know them not from just the landlord side, but also from the tenant side - quite a few of our friends rent their homes from elderly landlords.
There are other situations, when the “landlord” can be in a care home and relies on the undone from renting their home to fund the care. I know a single mom, whose husband passed away. She moved to a small flat with her baby and rents their home to supplement her income. Are all of these scenarios still make the people evil landlords? And what would you do if you were in their shoes? What would they need to invest in to get a semi reliable income straight away without the need to wait for several years? Not everyone has the knowledge, understanding and time to invest in stocks and shares.

To be fair, the scenarios you are describing are not necessarily common. Most elderly people sell their homes to pay for care, for example. The vast majority of landlords are in it by choice, not because it was their only option.

Personally I have a problem with the way our entire property and renting infrastructure is set up. I find it gross that so many people think of BTL as an investment for themselves only, when in reality, your property will be someone’s home. People forget this and the way some tenants are treated is beyond belief.

Let’s be honest, the amount of awful landlords out there far exceeds the number of good ones. Around half of private landlords refuse those on benefits for example, and 44% refuse to rent to non-British passport holders. Private landlords are far less likely to return full deposits to tenants than agencies. The general makeup of private landlords in the UK is 50+ white men who don’t believe in climate change! BTL perpetuates the existing unfair social hierarchy under the guise of personal investment.

In general it’s a very selfish way to make a bit of extra cash. It’s also not the cash cow people seem to think it is. I can see how if you’re desperate and you need that extra bit of money monthly, then it probably suits you. For most people however, investing in stocks, shares, financial products and your own home (if possible to add value) is probably more suitable and more lucrative in the long run.

 

[Italy2]

I don’t understand the hate on here for landlords. It’s supply and demand. People need/want to rent, therefore landlords provide this service. With investing people can make money investing in morally questionable companies. Yes people have taken advantage of a situation if they’ve been lucky enough to make money from their house. Don’t be bitter about it. I’m sure you’d be glad if it had happened to you, just, it didn’t.

Oh I'm sorry I was born in late 90s when the house prices now are not proportionate to people's salaries than in 1980s when they were cheaper and 90-95% LTV mortgages for landlords were easy to get. It's definitely my fault that I'm born at a wrong time when houses are looked upon as investment vehicles and businesses for profit making and not as a home for a little family who works hard.

 

[Bitofthebubbly]

I’ve always had to pay bills and council tax I’ve been renting for near on 10 years. I don’t think that’s very common anymore, maybe in a house share situation but most people renting a house or flat will be paying all their bills themselves like everyone else.

 

[Begborrowsteal]

I'm 33, went straight into renting as the family home would literally have driven me mental. I wished for years I could buy one day. Now? I honestly don't care. It's held as the goal to reach, you're successful if you own a home etc. I'm happy to rent, the repair costs alone make me shudder and im so relieved I never have to worry about that. I wish rent was fairer though and landlord held accountable to a uniform standard.

I moved from zone 3 London as I couldnt afford to rent there, I'm now in a commuter town just outside london and the rent is the absolute maximum we can afford on our wages right now. We will never be able to buy, there is no chance we could get a deposit together. There is property inheritance in line though, which is more than some have.

 

[SansaStark]

Following this thread with great interest! We’re currently saving for our first house and the area we’re looking at (not London) is currently overpriced- 2 bed terraces £20,000-£30,000 more than this time last year we’re not ready to apply yet but hope to be next year. We need to sit tight and see what happens with our jobs and the economy. I’m really hoping the higher LTVs come back because a 20% deposit is unaffordable for us unless we rent for another 6+ years It really feels unfair that so many people just can’t get on the ladder.

 

[Yel]

That’s great news for you! Every area will be different I am sure.

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.

I really hope they do something similar with LTT in wales but I doubt they will

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

 

[Caffeine Fiend]

I saw a mortgage advisor on Tik Tok saying that valuations are coming back low, no wonder, houses are going on way over what theyre worth

 

[Bitofthebubbly]

I get so offended at those leaflets that ask you to sell. We’ve even had handwritten notes through the door from some estate agents, I hate it. It’s so beggy. Im a tenant, of course I don’t want my landlord to sell, please don’t encourage him or I could lose my home????

Begging people to sell their homes should be banned imo.

 

[Yel]

There are so many pros and cons to both renting and buying, it really depends on an individual’s circumstances and what they place more importance on. There’s not right or wrong path. What suits one person doesn’t suit another.

This exactly.

Mixed in with a very uncertain future especially with the changes covid brought forward and white collar jobs rapidly being replaced by algorithms. The lessons of the past do not alway hold true for the future.

 

[Begborrowsteal]

If she has been there 45 years then she is probably old enough to be exempt from the "bedroom tax".

Yeah, possibly. Its still a 3 bedroom family home that could house a family in need, and they could go to a 1 bed. This is what I mean about things being managed better. We cant provide social housing to everyone in need permanently - we would run out of houses and flats anyway. They do need to be reused as and when possible.