Shouldn’t you have to reside in the UK to buy a house here ?

[KangarooKenny]

Just wondering what others think, and considering we’ve got a housing crisis. I was watching Homes Under the Hammer the other day and there was a guy on there who has a business buying multiple houses for non UK residents to own, and presumably rent out, and it got me thinking that surely it should be a rule the owner lives here. This particular one was a guy buying multiple houses for people in China.

Were they properties for investors in China or were they for those coming from Hong Kong? My understanding of it is limited, but I recall there being a lot of articles and discussions around housing with the Hong Kong visa scheme, including the buying up of houses in some areas, affecting the housing market.

The main issue is a shortage of housing. The whole greenfield spaces is a hollow argument. In the NW it’s now £400k for a small 4 bed home. It’s way too high a price which isn’t good for the economy as a whole.

In the past 20 years in the local area 4 homes have been built. It’s a joke. The land could take 100 extra homes easily with no impact to the land which is currently farmed. You can’t rent anywhere because all rentals were sold off when they changed the tax rules. A 5 acre field with a horse on it is ridiculous when you could easily build 2-3 nice family sized homes. We also need a government who is serious about stabilizing the mortgage market. Every other country has a system in place where you get a 25-30 year fixed rate mortgage. Our politicians and civil servants are failing the people they serve.

I live abroad and own property in the UK. I plan to return to the UK at some point, ideally we would have moved back this year, but plans fell through.

Same thing happening in the UK at the moment. Cannot get onto the property ladder because people from Hong Kong are buying houses with cash at inflated prices before they are even coming over here. I've had 5 different people take pictures of my house and it's to send to their friends/relatives back in Hong Kong. I've told 3 times on separate occasions we aren't selling. They have been in touch with my friends estate agent to get in touch with the owner of the house to see if the owner will sell them his house. It's so unfair and something needs to be done about it. It's also partially the greedy landlords over here who are willing to kick families out of their rented property to sell to these people who are interested.

Yes I think it needs addressing when we have such a housing shortage

Houses should be homes first and foremost, not investments and not holiday lets. If that means there aren’t enough to go around, then priority should go to residents/natives, even if this means banning foreign buyers.

It is 5 years to residency and settled status for me too. Only got settled status this year due to covid related delays. But have had my mortgage for 3 years.

@stanleywine a friend sold to a cash buyer from HK, they paid way over odds & never even looked at it in person

That requires Govt legislation and no one wants to stop the Russian/Chinese/Mid-East money flowing in. Certainly not the Banks, developers and Estate Agents. As long as the money seems clean it will keep coming in until someone dares to say enough!

Switzerland has a good system - we should do that too. Swiss abroad can buy and so can residents with certain permits. Council tax in most cantons is then based on earnings rather than just property value. And you pay an annual wealth tax on the property too.

I think Denmark and New Zealand both have rules that say only nationals and residents can buy property It seems like a good idea to me.

And do we want British expats who can't speak the local language and read the Daily Heil to buy properties overseas anyway. They probably can't now anyway because of Brexit but other countries outside the EU may still let them buy.

Why? It could be a holiday home, rental income etc

Yes the situation in the UKmis ridiculous

Nearby big properties are being pulled down then tuned into blocks of flats all squashed in

Makes me frustrated if they are being bought as investments for people not here.

None of those are human rights or entitlements.

The need for people to have a roof over their head trumps all of those sorts of luxuries.

I live in the EU but I still pay tax in the UK on some of my income.
If I have to live in the UK to own a home there then why should I pay tax if I don’t live there.
You can’t have it all ways.

You're not strong on logic are you?

The income taxed in the UK will be UK sourced income, I assume? That's why it's taxable here.

All countries will tax income that is sourced within their borders - including those countries that already have rules restricting who can own property there. The two things are totally separate.

The Danish system is not one to aspire to. As the foreign wife I was not able to jointly own property. In divorce the courts won’t assign the residence to the foreign spouse. It’s not right and nothing is changing on this despite the EU rulings to say it’s not consistent with EU rules.

The UK has a massive supply issue. Until that is addressed, issues will remain.

@Bittenbitten But, on the upside, a home in the uk won’t be so frighteningly expensive that you feel the need to buy it before you can even live there - which I’m guessing you did, as property prices keep rising?

sorry I wasn’t clear. I live in the U.K. home we bought together with my 2 kids who are here in U.K. When my DH’s kids leave home in his home country he will come join me. We bought together. We wouldn’t have been able to do that and I wouldn’t be bringing my kids up in a much nicer home if we were restricted and he wasn’t allowed to buy here. It’s an unusual case but that’s why putting restrictions on people creates family issues like this.