..to think a lot of large houses will come on to the market?

[Whatarisk]

AIBU to assume that larger more expensive houses will start to appear on the property market?

My house is currently up for sale. We’d like to upsize. DH doesn’t think the property market will be affected much and if anything, people in larger houses will be put off listing their home. I think the opposite will be true.

Our jobs are relatively secure (in the sense that v few can be 100% confident of total job security right now) and I’m of the opinion that we sell ours, move in with my parents and hope something comes up. There are no properties that we are interested in currently but I’d rather sell before the market dips too much.

Interested in people’s views.

I'm talking from my own experience of living in and out of cities Red. I'm not disputing your own experience might be different, but this is mine.

I never said they were!

You said

It has been a godsend to be in London during the pandemic. Ridiculously easy to get hold of all basic supplies, delicious restaurants still delivering, neighbours in close proximity so you can club together for online shops

People have been pointing out that those things happen elsewhere.

Yes, and in my experience of living in the places I've lived in that weren't cities, I'd have struggled to get hold of those things nearly as easily.

There is a local cocktail bar doing home delivery of cocktails for example. Maybe there are places that do that rurally too though 🤷‍♀️ but I expect it is less common.

Yes, and in my experience of living in the places I've lived in that weren't cities, I'd have struggled to get hold of those things nearly as easily.

When was that?

How many years?

And just because some places are like that, that certainly does not mean that everywhere outside zone 3 is the same.

As I say, you need to expand your horizons rather than blanket statements that London has facilities and coped better with supplies than anywhere else.

Cos its utter utter nonsense.

My DH works in house renovations. During lockdown there have been a LOT of people enquiring about upgrading their current house. Obviously because they’re sitting there feeling dissatisfied with the four walls they’re currently staring at. They’re still getting paid because of furlough, they’re saving three months worth of mortgage payments, plus not spending on clothes or going out, they can’t book a holiday, etc. So they have disposable cash and want to improve their homes. He’s expecting a huge boom in business once the economy gets going again. I think a lot of people will be renovating rather than moving.

Rural southwest 2000-2005, Rural cambs 2005-2008, rural Kent 2008-2009, Bristol 2011-2013, Newcastle 2013-2016.

And I lived in London until 2000.

I haven't made a blanket statement, I have told you of my experiences based on the places I've lived. I wasn't trying to insult other places. Apologies that it came off that way.

And I was in Tunbridge Wells for 6 months in 2009 as well.

There is a local cocktail bar doing home delivery of cocktails for example. Maybe there are places that do that rurally too though 🤷‍♀️ but I expect it is less common.

I have a wine shop AND a specialist gin and beer shop that I know are delivering here. One is same day delivery. There may be more i don't know about.

Now they don't do cocktails to my knowledge, but seriously if its not sufficient and you NEED cocktails to the door you really need a reality check of a different kind!

I'm sorely reminded of the story about how BBC staff didn't want to move north because they were under the impression that there weren't specialist cheese shops up north. Strangely enough...

Can you even sell at the moment? Are people visiting properties in lockdown? We want to move but have put everything on hold until this is all over.

I don't NEED them of course. I don't "need" any of it. It just makes life more cheerful. I don't drink wine or beer so I've really been missing sitting in my local cocktail bar of an evening.

And I've lived "up north" and loved it.

We have a largish house (5 bedrooms). Secure jobs (as you mention, as secure as one can consider right now) and almost paid off mortgage. We planned to move next spring as we would like a larger house, bigger garden of about an acre. we are already talking about if we need to postpone as we need to make money on this house in order to fund next upward purchase. We spent most of our savings doing amazing renovations last year that significantly increased value (Pre Carona) and saleability of our house. We think house prices will drop and we also think bonuses may be much less (if any) next year, also worried about taxes as these will have to go up to account for all the government spending during this crisis so not sure what our disposable income will be once the government makes plans to pay off its debt incurred during this crisis - income tax go up, stamp, VAT etc Somehow all these furloughed salaries and aid to self employed needs to be paid for.

With that said, yes, there will be houses for sale as many may need to sell if they’ve lost their jobs or businesses, plus very sadly divorces that may result from all this enforced togetherness and very, very sadly there will be estate sale too.

Leflic - what a strange response.

I grew up here. I moved to London after university and I’m now 30. I like this area not only because our families live here - it’s always been ‘home’ but because the wider community is nice. Why would my family be
‘The last thing the MV needs’?! Baffling.

I love London and love the proximity Of London to Hampshire. I’ll be sad to leave but happy to start a new chapter.

I live in London, I have also lived in several towns and cities around the country and I have lived in villages in the countryside.

It doesn’t matter that you can get the same amenities elsewhere. It is everything else that goes with it.

Although I fail to see how getting a ready prepared meal from a top restaurant delivered to your door is comparable with being able to have the ingredients delivered to your door and having to cook it yourself.

When I lived in the countryside my nearest town was at least a 20 minute drive away and even then I would not have wanted to eat anything from the so called restaurants in the town normally let alone think they would spend 40 minutes delivering the meal

Just a quick glance on some threads on here where it the town has been mentioned, it doesn’t sound like it has changed

There’s been such a skills shortage for yet past 10 years anyone in demand will be utterly unaffected by this latest crisis and anyone else will need to change tact and remobilise as soon as the furloughed money runs out. I think easy street just ended for a bit, people who were planning to give up work now probably won’t. But that’s it, bills are going to get paid by everyone I know, we won’t allow each other to be repossessed and children to be homeless. Sorry about that OP

Frompcat, "I can't imagine that the threat of another pandemic is going to be most people's driving forces when it comes to house buying. "

Really? You don't think that many people won't cautious? You are utterly sure that the coronavirus itself will be containable and a reliable vaccine will be found? And that the massive damage to the economy and huge borrowing to pay for current measures won't have any long-term impact on employment, taxes, etc?

I am less convinced of that.

You misunderstand me. I am sure people will be cautious. I'm sure that many will choose not to move now. But I can't imagine that people will forego living in cities because of a pandemic which will be contained in 2 years time (or less).

Ezira - agree with you, for those that can afford it, I'm sure they will be looking to expand their current property. Those cramped in too-small homes will want to increase their space.

I suspect the government will look at changing rules around extensions to encourage people to start spending money again.

I also suspect massive youth unemployment, sadly, will lead to far more young people having to move back home, which is likely to lead to more extensions.

@effingterrified actually if you were really terrified of a pandemic situation, you wouldn't waste money on moving and stamp duty. If this becomes a long term thing, the economy would be very crap for a long time and wage rises far more limited. Keeping your current job may become a question, let alone getting a new job. If that is the case, its better to stay in London where the jobs are. And We aren't going to be living in a state of permanent lockdown; at some point lockdown would be lifted and we would return to work albeit with social distancing measures (even those of us working from home now) Yes we all talk about how wfh would become super common. It may become more common but if you have 2 candidates (one who lives in London and can wfh or come into the office, as well as one who is going to ask for wfh 2-3 days a week). In the past, there were more job opportunities so in a sense, employees could ask for more privileges including the choice to wfh.

Frompcat - I disagree with you. I think the drift towards moving out of London has been going on for a few years now, due to a combination of high house prices and the start of the trend towards home working.

I think that once the coronavirus is over (assuming that that happens) that move towards increased home working will continue but become much more widespread - it will be very hard for employers to argue against it being feasible, when all their employees have been doing it for months on end in white collar jobs.

There will be many people especially those with young kids who will welcome the opportunity to buy a house big enough for their needs at a price they can afford, while keeping their jobs in London.

Desiringonlychild

"If that is the case, its better to stay in London where the jobs are."

As in my previous post, increased home working will mean that is not necessary.

If you're a young couple with kids, would you rather skimp and save so you can all squeeze into a 2-bed flat in zone 3, knowing that another pandemic could mean you all stuck in this little flat, or buy a bigger house in a cheaper area and work from home, while enjoying a better quality of life?

If you're a young couple with kids, would you rather skimp and save so you can all squeeze into a 2-bed flat in zone 3, knowing that another pandemic could mean you all stuck in this little flat, or buy a bigger house in a cheaper area and work from home, while enjoying a better quality of life?

I would rather stay in London, near my family and within a 15 minute train ride of Central London.

Mad though it is to believe, I assure you it's true.

And we aren't scrimping and saving either, we live quite comfortably despite living in a flat.

@effingterrified and if you lose your homeworking job, does that mean you have to find another homeworking job? I actually think that may have been easier pre covid because people tended to have choice with regards to jobs and hence more bargaining power. They didnt need to take the first job they got to pay the mortgage. Jobns were also more stable, if your job allowed wfh, there wasn't much reason to believe you would lose that job. Unless you are telling me 90% of white collar jobs are going to become permanently wfh and the entire city of London is empty? I also own a 2 bed flat in zone 3 and am very near family too. Also if you look at places like St Albans, Beaconsfield, and Amersham, they actually aren't much cheaper than a lot of places in London. In the end its all supply and demand, if everyone moves out of London, london prices drop and the towns would have crazy prices. Frompcat and I would be very happy as this might mean we can upgrade to a 3 bed flat or a little terrace. And we also stay in London which is the city we love and this means that we have more choice in terms of jobs long term. And in the long term, London house prices always recover faster. The boroughs with the highest number of homeworkers are not on the outskirts, they are in camden and Chelsea and kensington. There is no reason why you need to live in zone 1/2 for work even if you have to go into the office daily, but people still do and they pay over the odds to do so.