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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To be pissed off that house value is all that seems to matter in uk?

39 replies

3asAbird · 21/10/2013 17:09

Met friend this morning.

They were renting

but managed to buy a house within last 8 weeks.

They due to move into new house soon putting in new kitchen/bathroom before they move in think the whole things been more stressful/time consuming than they thought, they had some equity from another house her husband inherited but never lived in was really pleased for them as they were paying crazy rent but was nice area big house.

Today she said they might sell as house prices in our area have shot up-seems nuts where heck would they live? Unless theres more to it then shes let on.

Then this afternoon popped into shop and faced by express headline.

Ps dont read express just hit me

houses increased by 7k in 4weeks

www.express.co.uk/news/property/436981/British-house-prices-rise-to-record-high-as-inflation-remains-steady

Just dont see why house prices are only measure of a good economy.

Given up on buying ourselves as house prices never crashed.

combined low interest rates, help to buy can see another boom happening.

just seems sad a house can no longer be seen as a home always an investment.

I would love to have more security but priced out buying, high rents and no chance social housing makes it harder every year.

OP posts:

FlapJackOLantern · 21/10/2013 17:12

This is why the Conservatives will lose the next election. They have done little to nothing to help people (Help to Buy is a farce!). Rents are scandalous and should NEVER be about Buy-to-Let and making a profit out of other people's misery.

We need more social housing and more affordable housing, to rent and shared ownership.

lifeinthefastlane1 · 21/10/2013 17:16

move up north with us, the rents are more expensive than paying a mortgage up here, and we seem to have the cheapest house prices in the uk!

we were lucky to have our house bought for us, we couldnt afford a mortgage on it if we had to buy it now!!!

propertyNIGHTmareBEFOREXMAS · 21/10/2013 17:18

Read something earlier saying that the average price for a house in eng and wales is now around £252k. Agree that seems really high. It must be very hard for the average person/couple to buy adequate family accommodation.

SirChenjin · 21/10/2013 17:19

I don't think houses have ever been seen as anything other than an investment in this country (and we have an SNP Govt up here but have had a Labour Govt UK wide, so definitely not restricted to the Tories).

We are obsessed with home ownership in the UK, but until one Govt decides to take the bull by the horns and introduce some form of rent control in the private sector it will continue, sadly.

katese11 · 21/10/2013 17:22

That's Gotta be a false economy. .. once you take off estate agents fees etc they won't make a profit. We are selling and buying atm and have made a tidy profit but have done it by just living here for 6 years. And house prices going up just means we can't afford the next house. No one wins here except the government collecting stamp duty!

Original poster

3asAbird · 21/10/2013 17:24

I did think odd thing to say but as non home owner wasent sure as agents fees, stamp duty , legal and surveys must add some. They do have a family and need somewhere to live and their landlady had upped their rent to crazy 1500 a month,

OP posts:

gabbymum · 21/10/2013 17:33

I actually think wages are more of an issue than house prices. When I got my first job 20 years ago, the salary was exactly the same as it is now for the same position.

Housing will always be expensive in the UK because of the basic rules of supply and demand but if wages had gone up too, affordability wouldn't be so much of a problem.
It's the issue of stagnant wages that really needs addressing imo.

BrokenSunglasses · 21/10/2013 17:44

I think the increased population is what has caused the problem. Too many people living in separated families (me included) too many immigrants (my family included) and too many people having too many children.

As long as we have an oversupply of labour and and under supply of housing, this situation is going to continue to get worse.

Rising house prices don't do anyone any favours, including homeowners. The value of my house has risen quite a lot, but then so has the value of every other house that I'd want to live in and upsizing in this area to a house big enough to comfortably accommodate my family means finding at least another £150,000, which is never going to happen!

SirChenjin · 21/10/2013 17:49

I agree Broken. The housebuilders seem obsessed with building 3/4/5 bed houses round here as opposed to small starter homes and flats - so it's no wonder that no-one can get a foothold on the ladder - and don't get me started on all the people on decent incomes in LA/HA housing and all those properties being sold off at knock down prices to tenents who promptly sell them for big profits.

Lazysuzanne · 21/10/2013 17:52

does anyone remember the days when you could get your rent registered?

Iirc you had to contact the council and someone would come round to look at the place, they'd decide what was a reasonable rent and then the landlord had to stick to that amount and wasnt allowed to charge any more.

Or did I dream it all

Fleta · 21/10/2013 18:34

But also don't you think people's perceptions of a "first time buyer" house have changed?

When we bought our first house together (2002) we bought a lovely little two bed cottage. Now I have acquaintances ranting because they can't afford 5/6 bed houses.

katese11 · 21/10/2013 18:40

Round here it's all minuscule 1 bed executive flats for 400kish. Blooming gentrification. ....

valiumredhead · 21/10/2013 18:42

Our flat went up by 25k in a matter of weeks during the boom, we couldn't believe it but it meant we could sell and move to a cheaper area and get a house. By the time we moved it had tripled in price. We were very lucky as there's no way we could start out now,I don't know how anyone even manages to save the deposit these days!

I'm not surprised your friend is considering the same.

BMW6 · 21/10/2013 18:55

Fleta I believe you have a point. I live in the expensive South East, large port city.
I was a first time buyer 4 years ago (at the grand old age of 50) after renting a flat for donkeys years.

Flats near me START at 150k, but i mile away from the centre found this two bed victorian terrace for 118k.Had been on the market for 2 years.

Needed lots of work painting & decorating as was really grim.
Lived in it while it was being rewired.The only furniture we had for the first two months were a bed and a coffee table, which we sat on.

We saved up for two years to do new kitchen & bathroom.

There is still affordable property out there, may not be in the state you would like, but time, effort and quite a small amount of money can make it what you want.

specialsubject · 21/10/2013 19:06

it's all cobblers. House prices have NOT increased by 7k in the last few weeks. Newspapers are chip wrapping and firelighters.

flats near me start around 50k. Nice little town too. Decent 2 bed semis £110k. Oh, but look - it's not London or the south-east. And there is work here, and things to see and do, and transport, and civilisation.

BTW buy-to-let is an honest way of making money, which is not evil. Of course rental properties should not make people miserable.

JumpingJackSprat · 21/10/2013 19:10

I think there should be regulation on buy to let (or more regulation) they buy all the cheap housing which leavesthe dregs for first time and second time buyers then rent them out at astronomical prices.

SirChenjin · 21/10/2013 19:11

It's not evil, no - but I really do think it needs to be controlled and affordable, and that it should be a legal requirement that rental properties are let in good condition.

NotYoMomma · 21/10/2013 19:16

im in the north east and in my 20s, my mortgage is cheaper than next doors rent.

if I rented my house I would be £200 a month up.

house prices are increading due to help to buy and it is going to create a lot of pain for a lot of people in future.
the government pushed it up so they coukd give a better economic picture in the run up to 2015 elections and then watch as people struggle with rising interest rates and house vvalues evening out

anotherway · 21/10/2013 19:23

Its unfair to simply compare rent vs mortgage. This never takes into account insurance payments, redecoration/repair expenses that mortgage payers face.

Selling off social housing has been hugely damaging. People have bought into the whole "property porn" nonsense. Everybody deserves a secure home.

SirChenjin · 21/10/2013 19:30

Totally agree re social housing. Social housing (local authority and housing association) should remain in public ownership, and tenancies should never have been allowed to be passed to next of kin upon death.

SirChenjin · 21/10/2013 19:31

Sorry - should have been clearer - I mean shouldn't have been passed to children upon the death of the parent

ihategeorgeosborne · 21/10/2013 19:37

If house prices are booming again and the economy is doing so well, perhaps it's time to raise interest rates. I hope the bank of England are keeping a very close eye on this, as interests rates may need to rise very soon as everything is on the up now.

maleview70 · 21/10/2013 19:46

I'm not sure why people get excited by wealth and house prices.

The only thing you need in life is enough income.

I saw someone the other day who was going on about how their house was worth £1m....I said well done what are you going to spend it on....they said were not but we will leave it for our kids......I said and they will then have to sell it and pay £140,000 to the tax man possibly even before they can sell it. What's the point of that?

I said....Why not sell it now, downsize to a house costing £600k and give the cash away now if you don't need it....

"we wouldn't give the cash away now, we may need it"

Argh!!! I give up sometimes......

ICameOnTheJitney · 21/10/2013 19:55

I agree OP....but then I would since we can't afford to buy and our landlord is selling due to rocketing prices. A rental agent sniffed when I told him and said "Good luck to your landlord...nobody' getting a mortgage at the moment anyway!"

plus people are not dumb....the house we're in is worth about 14o thou and it's probably going on for two hundred thou! Who'd pay that for an average semi in an average area with shit school?

mizu · 21/10/2013 20:01

Fleta not every first time buyer wants a big house.

I am on MN a lot bemoaning the fact that we can't afford to buy at the moment.

All we want is a small 2 bed that can be our home. Nothing fancy, we have rented for a long time, been in present house for 6 years. Save £500 a month and have done for a year and a half now. It is hard as we are not big earners. About £40,000 between us.

I am 40 and am really fed up of living in someone else's house, have given our landlord £43,000 in the last 6 years.

The annoying thing is that we could afford a mortgage what with £600 rent a month and saving £500.

Sometimes I feel like giving up and not even bothering as it will be a good while yet before we can move.

The UK definitely need more social housing and affordable housing, but why are we not doing this?

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