To not want to buy property for fear of WW3?

Maybe, like me, they watched the documentary at school in the 1980s about what would happen in a nuclear attack. I was always quite reassured that, given where I lived, I 'd be likely to be wiped out immediately.

I agree with you. The best thing you could do now would be to dig out an air raid shelter in whatever land you can get your hands on.

If/when WW3 kicks off, the use of nukes will mean we all get anihilated.
And there won't be anywhere 'safe' to go to.
The radiation poisoning will get you wherever you are. Then think about 'nuclear winter', famine, ecological collapse..

Luckily, we have a nuclear base just 30 miles up the road from Glasgow, which is bound to be top of the target list, so should be assured of a more instant death than anyone who tries to 'escape' by living somewhere more remote...

OP: watch 'Atomic People' on BBC I-Player, about the two bombs dropped on Japan 79 years ago. And be aware that there are now over 12,000 (much more powerful) nuclear weapons in the world. If even a small % of them go off, humans are fucked.

If you are seriously concerned about this issue, then please take action rather than fretting about whether or not to buy a house. There are loads of campaigning groups like CND which you could join/ support. It would be great if the UK decided to sign the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons - read more about this at https://jointheban.icanw.org/

Totally agree with this... 2024 Doomsday clock shows that we are in a moment of historic danger right now.

Exactly this..

Well yes, except that would be Sterling ….

OP, I'm late to the thread but wanted to let you know that I was born in the 60s and my mum was very into CND. She used to tell us to live for today, because we probably wouldn't get to see adulthood. She even kept a drawer full of medicines for making a suicide soup when the bomb fell. (I realise this sounds kind of weird.)

Well,the bomb didn't drop and we are all still here, my mum included. She still works, partly to make up for that pension she didn't bother building!

Sure, anything can happen, but you can't plan for all eventualities so I recommend living as if there is a future!

America..well, unless you want to live close to Canadian border and cold weather.

One practical piece of advice I followed and others I know is to avoid buying a property susceptible to rising sea levels and localised flooding. Ie not near a river or beach. I deliberately filtered houses when buying for ones on higher ground (in a town).

I am not actually sure of that. my SILs fled Israel within months of war breaking out and i am almost 100% if they had an otherwise comfortable life, they would have stayed. War is doubly hard when you are moving from rental to rental every year in the best of times and when you are struggling to afford groceries

Another friend I know (gay guy in a great job and who can easily afford his rent) is absolutely thriving in Israel, he says he wouldn't return to London cos its so dangerous compared to where he is (not sure i agree with him but there you go). He can even afford to go on holiday during the war.

'Poor people' may actually be at an advantage in the post-apocalyptic world; they will be used to living frugally and improvising, and they won't be psychologically devastated to find that the nearest Waitrose is now a 200ft radioactive crater.

"no better off than a poor person": not going for empathy,are you?🙃

@Opalfleur2025

Thank you so much for sharing this. I’ve read your message, but will read it through again later, and read the attachment.

I hope so, I’m shopping in Stirling right now !! 🤣

https://www.boi.org.il/en/communication-and-publications/press-releases/2362024en/#:~:text=The%20existing%20program%2C%20which%20is,to%20defined%20amounts%20in%20their

"With the aim of helping customers deal with the implications of the Swords of Iron War, about a week after the outbreak of the war, the Bank of Israel announced a comprehensive program to ease the burden of credit and fees, which was adopted by the banks. A few weeks after the war started, and in view of the fact that residents of the north were also evacuated from their homes, the program was expanded to include residents of the north. In view of the continuation of the war, in December 2023, the Bank of Israel announced a further three-month extension of the program, which was adopted by the banks, and expanded the program to additional population groups. In March 2024, based on the security situation and with a desire to provide special leniencies to soldiers in the reserve forces, the Bank of Israel announced a further extension and expansion of the program.

The existing program, which is valid until June 30, 2024, enables first-degree customers[1]—people directly affected by the war—to defer loan and mortgage repayments[2] with no interest or fees, receive and exemption from most fees, and receive an exemption from interest on overdrafts to defined amounts in their current accounts—all for a period of 3 months from the time they join the program. All other customers—second-degree customers—have the option of deferring loan and mortgage repayments with no fees for a period of three months, with the deferred payments bearing interest that shall not exceed the interest rate in the loan contract."

I imagine that as a developed country and also as a country with nuclear weapons and defense systems, our approach would be more like Israel. There would be men and women going to war and so their mortgages would need to be paid during that time.

I’ve been wondering about what happens to your mortgage during war. I’m sure I’d be too busy trying to protect my family and find food and water to be going out to work to ensure I can pay my mortgage. So if I can’t pay my mortgage due to war, would my house get repossessed?

Also, do you stop getting paid when you can’t work (such as if you had to flee your area)?

I don’t know if these are silly questions, so forgive my ignorance, but I’m genuinely fearful of WW3 starting, and would like to know.

Maybe, for those of us lucky enough to have gardens, we need to start building bunkers. While I wait for WW3, I could use it as a hobby room. I've seen similar things on some of George Clarke's property programmes.

I am Jewish and know plenty of people in Israel who have bought property- they are fine. Most Israelis live in apartments as well! Even the flats without bomb shelter- while they are less desirable now, the last i checked, my sister in law is attempting to sublet her tiny studio flat (no bomb shelter) for the equivalent of £1k (it is in tel aviv). The rich/upper middle class in Israel mainly do own as it is a home owning country like the UK and I don't think they are disadvantaged by it at all.

Unless of course they bought land on the gaza border but that was always a risky punt (tragically). property prices have even increased slightly as the diaspora buy property there as a back up due to fears of antisemitism

In fact the people I know who have been forced out were renters (recent immigrants) as the difficult economic situation combined with increasing rents made the situation untenable.

You can't live your life in fear. You might get hit by a bus tomorrow.

if WW3 starts , you won’t be able to go down to your local branch of the Halifax and take out £20,000 in used tenners.

I think anyone who is considering fleeing nuclear war needs to read On The Beach by Neville Shute, and then consider the fact that nuclear bombs were much, much less powerful at the time it was written.

Or watch 'Threads' and see what the nuclear winter will be like across the entire world. Actually, 'Threads' is probably the last thing OP needs!

If there's a nuclear war, the planet is screwed (except, of course, the cockroaches and Keith Richards, as the old saying goes), and being killed outright will be the best thing.

Apologies of course, I forgot the mythical third world war could indeed target any part of any country, for any spurious reason. I also lived in Sheffield for a bit so really should've remembered the history!

So many questions:

which part of America has no risk of those disadvantages?

do you think you will be the only person heading for this sweet spot?

how are you going to get there with a war going on?

why do you think you will be allowed into the country?