Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

good news for homeowners as house prices increase again

270 replies

nettlewine · 29/04/2015 20:49

So the nationwide are reporting that house prices are up this month.

Seriously this isn't good news, even if you own a home as any step up becomes more expensive and even if you don't and have kids its no life to still be living stuck at home in your 20s and 30s!

The vast majority of homeowners in this country couldn't afford their home if they had to buy it now. The system is broken and its wreaking the whole country and the economy. London isn't a place for londners as they can't afford it and all new builds are sold off plan on Malaysia! Arrg every time I hear the thread title quoted I want to scream.

If only house prices were sensible and people could invest in something useful like producing stuff. I can't see this country as a good place for my children to grow up in.

OP posts:
HelenF350 · 30/04/2015 15:46

Sometimes you have take a chance and buy something that's not ideal. My first flat was in a 'crap' area but it was near the city centre with good transport links. Was told I was all kinds of mental to buy it but I could get parked without a permit and it was half the price of a similar property a mile or two away. Low and behold the area boomed fairly soon afterwards (as all the signs suggested it would) and I was able to put the profit towards a house. I didn't want to live in a flat, or in a crap area but it was a gamble worth taking. I could also afford this property comfortably, did not have to stretch myself to pay stupid city centre prices. I'm not saying this works for everyone but it's an option worth considering if you really want to buy but can't afford the house/area you want.

OrlandoWoolf · 30/04/2015 16:00

In my city, a 1 bed flat costs £100k.

It's not London. Nor the South East.

15 miles away - a 2 bed house in a very crap, very run down,deprived area can cost £80k to £100k.

slithytove · 30/04/2015 16:01

A drop in prices would definitely change our ltv upon remortgage. That plus changing interest rates plus recent life choices (kids) would probably result in us having to sell.

ConnieBaby · 30/04/2015 16:25

But I guess a couple of average salary each could buy a house at 100k assuming they could raise the deposit. The deposit required is a big sticking point these days. We bought our first house with 100% mortgage. I knew people who took 105% mortgages at that time. I can't see those days ever returning.

PrimalLass · 30/04/2015 16:36

In my city, a 1 bed flat costs £100k.

That's not far off what our tenement flat cost in Edinburgh in 2001. But we were both lowish salaries and the mortgage was pretty cheap.

OrlandoWoolf · 30/04/2015 16:45

But I guess a couple of average salary each could buy a house at 100k assuming they could raise the deposit

And then one of the couple gets pregnant and then you have a mortgage and either work / childcare or reduced work and reduced income.

Then mortgage rates go up.

If there are only 4 houses available in a city of 200,000 people to a couple on an average salary (and that's without looking at childcare costs), I would suggest that house prices are ridiculous.

ConnieBaby · 30/04/2015 17:03

Oh I'm not disagreeing that it's ridiculous that every house is so expensive in some cities.
But I guess some people choose to move to cheaper areas just to get on the ladder, especially in London/SE. As for the pg/childcare thing, I don't know. We met at uni but held off having kids until nearly 40 just so I could be sure we could afford it. So I spent 20yrs saving as much as possible to pay for parenthood. I knew it meant I might miss the boat but being able to afford it on one wage was more important.
I'm not saying everyone should do this, just what we did to be able to afford the kind of family house I wanted.

peggyundercrackers · 30/04/2015 17:12

In my city, a 1 bed flat costs £100k.

in my city I can get a 1 bed flat from 25k, and there must be 100 or so flats on the market under 50k - these aren't particularly bad areas - they aren't great but there is worse. these flats are all within an 60-75 minutes drive or train journey to Edinburgh/Glasgow/Aberdeen.

I don't think the issue is all over the country, seems like its in some of the bigger cities and more an London/SW issue.

piechuck · 30/04/2015 17:14

I do think the answer lies in restricting property sale to people overseas, that 90% statistic is terrifying!

We have an overinflated house-price situation and a huge shortage of affordable homes. Surely if 90% off all new-builds were suddenly made available to people living in this country (rather than being creamed off by investors) then house-prices would stabilise?

no idea how you'd go about enforcing it though

peggyundercrackers · 30/04/2015 18:48

Pie chuck why would house prices stabilise - it's mainly in London where lots of overseas investors are buying houses - if overseas investors don't buy them locals will - the housing market won't slow down if we stop overseas investment because there isn't that many houses selling in the big scheme of things. The number of houses being sold is only in the low 1000s which is a drop in the ocean compared to the amount of people who are looking to buy.

As long as the population keeps growing in the UK house prices will always go up...its simple really.

JassyRadlett · 30/04/2015 19:14

Slithy - yes, the LTV issue and people being overextended at current interest rates is an issue, I can see that. But it's a combo of factors that would change your affordability - not just a drop (or stabilisation) in values.

JassyRadlett · 30/04/2015 19:24

Pie - in Australia, foreign buyers can only buy new build properties, and the Govt has just just announced a proposal to levy a fee ($5-10K) on applications from foreign residents to buy Australian property.

It's an interesting plan, especially if the revenues were recycled into affordable housing for residents.

piechuck · 30/04/2015 19:46

Peggy, it's the lack of supply that's pushing the prices up. If you remove 90% of buyers from a market (or restrict their activity as per Australia), there's more housing stock for normal people to buy.

We live in an area where prices have totally rocketed and the only people buying are landlords, presumably from overseas (as soon as it sells a 'to let' sign appears). Foreign cash is pricing people out of the market.

There was another thread earlier from someone selling an ordinary 2 bed flat in London for £500k - half a million for a starter-home?! That's not right, who can afford that as a first time buyer? They'd have to have a combined income of ££165K , and we're not talking a fancy area with brilliant transport links and schooling, just an ordinary area!

DiamondDoris · 30/04/2015 19:59

I agree with you and I'm a homeowner. I don't care that my flat has increased in value - I can't afford to buy anything bigger anyway. I only own it due to a divorce settlement - I'd not have been able to buy otherwise. It's all got ridiculously out of hand but I don't know what can be done to stop it. I really wish everybody had the opportunity to live securely.

ImNameyChangey · 30/04/2015 20:01

Oooh it's all going to POP!!!

peggyundercrackers · 30/04/2015 20:02

Piechuck even though these houses are expensive there is still a demand for them, they aren't sitting empty which to me says there is still a demand for them, it's not that there isn't enough supply - where would all these houses be built if you could supply them? You can't physically fit all these people in that small an amount of space.

The long and short of it is London isn't representative of the UK - if you can't afford to live there move out, simple really. It would be nice if we could all live where we wanted to in a house that wasn't expensive but that's a utopian dream and not reality.

ImNameyChangey · 30/04/2015 20:02

Jassy what if you're a foreigner but your partner is Aussie? And you want to buy together?

ConnieBaby · 30/04/2015 20:02

Yes piechuck, but it is just in certain areas. Large chunks of the country still feel like they're in recession. We live in an affluent part of the NW are our house prices are still not quite back to 2007 levels despite us having lots of people locally on 6 figure salaries.
I think part of the heat could be taken out the London market if companies were given incentives to relocate elsewhere in the way the bbc have moved to Salford. There are plenty of government agencies too who have absolutely no need to be housed in prime Westminster properties. Why can't they run out of Leeds or Liverpool? I'm not talking about departments such as the FO, more communications or environment.

trixymalixy · 30/04/2015 20:03

Agree that this is not good news and I'm a homeowner.

JassyRadlett · 30/04/2015 20:20

NameChangey, I had to check (hasn't come up as DH and I aren't in the stage of moving back yet) and it says:

'You do not need to submit an application for approval to acquire residential real estate in Australia if your spouse is an Australian citizen and if you and your spouse are purchasing the property as joint tenants.'

It also doesn't apply to foreign citizens who are permanent residents.

orangutanhihio · 30/04/2015 20:30

It's not good news, I have a home but I can't afford to move due to prices having gone up so much more than my meagre pay rises. I'm terrified for dc at this rate.

I agree than foreign investors should be restricted/pay a levy to buy property. My friends who rent flats in London rent from wealthy Singaporean investors, these investments are inflating the market.

JassyRadlett · 30/04/2015 20:31

There are plenty of government agencies too who have absolutely no need to be housed in prime Westminster properties. Why can't they run out of Leeds or Liverpool? I'm not talking about departments such as the FO, more communications or environment

Because their ministers are required to be within 7 minutes of Parliament 4 days a week, and ministers usually want at least some parts of the organisations they're running located with them for efficiency.

That said, part of environment is in York and Bristol, and other depts have regional presences. Prob not enough, but in 2009 25% of civil servants were London based, down quite a bit on 10 years earlier. Not sure what it is now, but I found a stat saying the number of govt buildings in London.

I don't disagree with you - but wonder if the numbers involved would really make much difference.

CalamitouslyWrong · 30/04/2015 20:36

Maybe the thing to do would be to change the rule than ministers need to be within 7 minutes of parliament 4 days a week. They could easily be available for videoconferencing within 7 minutes if their department was based somewhere else.

OrlandoWoolf · 30/04/2015 20:36

There are plenty of government agencies too who have absolutely no need to be housed in prime Westminster properties

You do realise that many public sector jobs like the DVLA, Passport Offices, Pensions,HMRC-the ones that have 1000s of employees are not based in London but around the UK.

These are the ones where many people in the city are employed by such agencies - and who have borne the impact of public sector job losses.

ImNameyChangey · 30/04/2015 20:37

Jassy phew! Thank you so much for looking that up for me. We're moving over to Oz this year. :)