to think that at least a house price crash would be a sliver of silver lining

[yougottheshining]

I voted remain. I am beyond upset that we are leaving. However, if house prices in my area come down by 20% I could afford to buy. I'm not even that bothered about being a home-owner per se but I can only afford to rent because I get tax credits and housing benefit (despite working full time). For years I have been shiteing myself about what will happen to me and my kids when these top-ups stop, all the while being subjected to programme after programme about property porn, and headline after headline about how good it is that houses are worth so much money . I have had a permanent knot in my stomach about what will happen when my oldest hits 18 and we have to move to a smaller house because I will no longer get enough to house us all, and again what will happen when my youngest hits 18 and I will have to move to a room in a shared house, and there will be nowhere, I mean absolutely nowhere, for the kids to go. Because rents keep on going up, and I can't afford our (modest) house anyway on what I earn alone, and the only way around that is to buy, but I can't buy because I'm paying out so much in rent. I cannot explain just how worried I have been about this, for years. I really don't want to leave the EU. I have been crying and swearing around the place for the entire weekend. But actually I am in a fucking horrible situation in regard to housing and shelter for me and my family, so AIBU if one of the effects is that house prices fall to a level that will make it affordable for us to have a family home?

[ImperialBlether]

But surely you'd never be able to afford a deposit?

How long do you have before your children leave home? Could you take courses to improve your job prospects so you can get a better paid job?

[SpudTato]

Yes, YABU to the rest of us who have scrimped and saved and are now watching in horror. Buy a house if you can. Don't rub it in

[AbyssinianBanana]

You can't afford rent on your current salary. You think you might just barely afford to buy if prices magically fell by 20% and everything else stayed exactly the same.

Does. Not. Exist.

If house prices fell that drastically, it would be pry of a tsunami of our economy. Everything would be affected. You wouldn't get a mortgage - you can't afford trent on your current salary, you have no safety net if you lost your job, you are high risk, etc.

Also don't understand how you think by paying to live somewhere, you've thrown money away. Do you think a house/flat has zero expense once you own it?

[AbyssinianBanana]

Gah, sorry about typos - my phone has gone nuts.

[birchygoo]

Thanks throwing pebbles I'll look into that

[JillyTheDependableBoot]

The thing is, in order for people like OP to get on to the housing ladder, other people have to be selling and moving up it. In the event of a house price crash, that won't happen - the market will freeze and people will stay put unless interest rates massively increase, in which case, OP, you'd be unable to buy anyway.

[OrangeFluff]

But if there is a crash, banks wont lend without much higher deposits- 20% at least, just like in 2008. Probably higher interest rates too so higher mortgage payments.

Yabu to think negative equity and people potentially loosing their homes is a silver lining.

[burdog]

OP, what makes you think that a house price crash will not be accompanied by a similar drop in salaries, interest rates, or banks lending? What makes you think that these elements will remain stable while house prices drop?

[Babyroobs]

How will you find a deposit to buy a house if you are already struggling and relying on benefits?

[BeYourselfUnlessUCanBeAUnicorn]

I'm not sure why you have asked OP. You clearly think YANBU. You are U though. Very few people got their houses easily. Most of us had to scrimp and make do and rent shitty places.

I'd look into shared ownership. It gives you the stability of not having to move and a cheaper way to buy. Our last house was a SO and I'd do it again if I had to. It was the first bit of stability we had in 10 years of living together.

[yougottheshining]

But I am going to lose my home. And no-one seems to give a fuck about that. Very very few people will actually lose their home because of negative equity - even in the 90s, that didn't happen to a large degree. They just ended up paying more than they ended up owning. Well, I've paid £60k more than I've bargained for and ended up with fuck all to show for it other than the right to two months' notice and a bedsit at the end with nowhere to house my kids.

[bakeoffcake]

I'm with you OP. I'm a house owner with a mortgage but I hope prices do go down, they have become absolutely outrageous.

[Griphook]

Oh op, I'm familiar with the knot In the stomach, it keeps me awake at night. I honestly think that the answer is huge taxing on btl and with the additional tax to build some actual affordable homes, we need some decent legislation to support renters and owners.

[PNGirl]

I bought in 2008 just before all the 95% mortgages disappeared and my small 2 bed immediately dropped in value (we knew this, bought then on purpose). In 2013 we were finally able to sell for what we paid. In that time not one of my 10 neighbours sold theirs either. The majority of people will simply sit out a crash. We had to - we didn't have the 15k it would have taken to make up the shortfall. So yes, YABU. If prices fall we all stay put.

[Lunde]

I would wait and watch and see what will happen - house prices may fall but what will happen with interest rates is unclear but recessions usually mean unemployment rising. How secure is your job? There is also a lot of experts saying that that costs are likely to rise - food, heating, petrol etc.

[katemiddletonsnudeheels]

I appreciate you're not 'on benefits' in the sense you are wholly reliant on them, but to phrase it another way, you are in need of benefits to afford your lifestyle - I think that's how the bank would see it anyway.

[lljkk]

you shouldn't have asked OP. Of course you would only be sane to make the best of the situation, whatever it may be.

More likely a plateau will happen than outright crash, I reckon.

[yougottheshining]

My job, without going into too much detail, is pretty secure. I have a long term health condition that is classed as a disability and due to relapses, although I have always worked, I have been bounced in and out of jobs for most of my working life. I have now finally found an employer that doesn't just pay lip-service to inclusion and I intend to hang onto it, despite it not being particularly well-paid - it is way better to have this security than get something else, have a relapse and find myself looking for work in the thick of that, as has happened several times before. However that does mean that I'm tied to this (relatively expensive ) area, housing-wise. If I went somewhere cheaper and became ill again, we really would be up shit creek without a paddle. So, yes, in short I think my job will due to the nature of how it works ride the storm out. And I don't think I could do anything else anyway.

[yougottheshining]

Griphook, I'd be up for that. I just want to be able to have a secure home. I don't really care if it's rented or owned.

[Griphook]

It's awful isn't it, I dread opening every letter that I'm not expecting.

[AndNowItsSeven]

It really isn't that difficult to get a mortgage if you work full time with top up tax credits. Also the 16k savings limit is for JSA, IS etc there is no savings limit on tax credits. You can have £10Ok in the bank. All that happens is any interest your receive about £300 a year reduces your tax credits.

[BarbaraofSeville]

When you say you've paid £60k with nothing to show for it, it's not strictly true is it? Do you mean £60k in total or £60k above what your HB that you wouldn't have got if you owned your home covered? It's probably £60k in total as few people on low wages can find £500 pm in rent above their HB entitlement.

Someone with a mortgage would have paid for building insurance, repairs and maintenance and mortgage interest that is more money paid out that you haven't had to.

And they may not even have benefitted from increase in value either. The houses where I am are at best a few thousand pounds higher priced than 10 years ago, so minimal inflation.

[temporaryusername]

Homeowners can't logically be outraged when renters hope for a significant fall, not a crash, in house prices. Yes, it will make home owners less well off, but by living in their homes and by benefitting from house price rises, they have been making renters worse off through the same symbiotic relationship. Very much worse off, for a very long time. Unless you have spent the last few years hoping the price of your home will stagnate or more realistically fall, you have been actively wishing that renters become poorer and maintain a lower standard of living and security. A fall of 20 % would be unlikely to affect many owners as badly as the current crisis of prices spiralling upwards has affected renters.

That kind of fall might affect those who have overstretched themselves and bought property they cannot really afford, and might not help those who are not yet anywhere near saving a deposit. But it would be a start. Currently most renters I know pay vastly more per month for an inferior property than those with mortgages repay, and they get no future security or home paid off for that money. They are less able to save due to high rents, and even if they can save, could not do so at the same rate as house prices rise. People in DP's office have literally seen their house value go up more in the last year than the value of their entire salary.

[HorseDentist]

I'm Fucking terrified! YABU
I bought my home from my Landlord for the exact reason that the rent was going up and up beyond my means and I was sick of living in disrepair. They offed it to me at a discount or face being homeless. I saved, I scrimped, I sold everything that I owned.
I now own a house that faces negative equity and uncertainty that I will be able to afford the mortgage if rates rise much higher in the next few years. Your desire for a secure family home is much the same as mine, however now I face losing £10,000's.

[Floggingmolly]

There is no contingency plan to bail people in negative equity out who need to sell, op . And there never will be. Who in the name of God would throw money at that?