To think there is a serious problem with the housing market in this country

[Kitchendisco21]

I was just about to buy my first home having spent 10 years saving a deposit. Thanks to the stupid help to buy intervention, the houses I was able to buy are now 50k more expensive so I am completely priced out. I am so utterly sick of it.

And no, I can’t move elsewhere/ get somewhere smaller/eat fewer avocados! I have been saving for a decade.

Aibu to be so fed up. I read last week that 98% of keyworkers couldn’t buy a home in the uk now. When will people actually wake up & see what a major problem there is? I am so angry.

@BillMasen

I think someone has just over egged the pudding...

Do you want proof?

@bathmatty

What do you work as *@TulisaIsBrill*

A strange sort of Engineer.

I know plenty of people with senior high earning jobs. None of them need the validation of an anonymous online forum

@BillMasen

I know plenty of people with senior high earning jobs. None of them need the validation of an anonymous online forum

Don’t need the validation. The thread is about housing. Everything I’ve posted had been about attacking the arguments of the cheerleaders if the housing market and house price inflation and those who enjoy the mass disenfranchisement of great swathes of this country. I’d be posting the same stuff if I was a billionaire. It’s called integrity.

You’ve been boasting about your income and assets (highlighting gold and crypto if I recall).

I know wealthy people exist, trust me. I just don’t believe they’re so insecure as to need to boast online.

People often say it’s the politics of envy and ‘oh well if you worked harder blah blah blah’. That’s why I’m explicitly stating my position as a decent earner, without any problem on participating in the market - who can still recognise its completely messed up and doesn’t bleat on like some about ‘how hard it’s always been’. It hasn’t.

@BillMasen

You’ve been boasting about your income and assets (highlighting gold and crypto if I recall).

I know wealthy people exist, trust me. I just don’t believe they’re so insecure as to need to boast online.

You forgot my sizeable amount of vanguard etfs and direct equities.

@BillMasen

You’ve been boasting about your income and assets (highlighting gold and crypto if I recall).

I know wealthy people exist, trust me. I just don’t believe they’re so insecure as to need to boast online.

Ooh careful there Bill - you’ll be accused of being jealous or unable to even conceive of the level of wealth (liquid of course😉) that Tulisa has! I have no idea what her agenda is but she seems to make a habit of posting on threads we detailed information about her wealth, bit strange really.

@Soubriquet

It’s incredibly frustrating

I pay more on rent that I would on a mortgage. But the bank won’t give me a mortgage without a hefty deposit as I can’t be seen as being able to support myself. Despite me paying for my landlady’s 3rd home

I’m always surprised when I read/hear this. Round here a 2 bed flat rents for £900. They are about £250k to buy. If you had a 10% deposit the mortgage would be about £1100. Same with 3 bed houses, they rent for 1200-1300 per month, they sell for about £400k, a mortgage would be £1800 per month. Most people I know rent much more expensive houses than they could ever afford now. They can live in them because the person who bought them years ago has got little or no mortgage or a btl interest only mortgage.

@TulisaIsBrill

"A strange sort of Engineer" - I personally would love it if you could be more specific about exactly what your job is.
Yes, of course I'm nosy, but I'm also intrigued. I'm crap at anything scientific or technical.
You will of course have people on here jealous of you, but that's not your problem.

[quote TulisaIsBrill]@lettinggoagain

Definitive how the housing market got messed up play list:

• Dizzee rascal - dirtee cash
• Shania Twain - ka-ching

Two songs that say more about the state of affairs then anything else imho.

But if you really want to watch something that goes right back to 2003, and would never be shown today

This BBC (yes - that fawning property propaganda institution today - can you believe it!) documentary goes into exactly how the market got so messed up. Liar loans. Prices are set at the margin, so if people were allowed to just lie and say they earn twice what they could to get a mortgage, guess what happened to prices!

This is a golden piece of history - it should be shown to every politician and every young person to explain exactly how it came to be they are paying for this madness.[/quote]
Really interesting, will have a look when I'm not working.

I work a shitty call centre job earn less than 19k a year and still live with my mum at age 23, feeling FOMO with lots of my friends buying houses and having their lives starting, being able to decorate, make somewhere their own, etc, but I've got the long goal in mind, and reinvesting as much of my wages as possible into viable projects, currencies and business' of the future, instead of putting it all into a mortgage is my plan now!! Things aren't safe the way this government are, in my mind the further away the govts sticky fingers are from something - the safer and more viable option it is financially.

God I love an eggy pudding don't you

Saddest thing is OP is trying to help others, and warn them, but some people will never listen until they are well and truly in the shit. Then they will still deny it and say they are happy with their decisions...carry on, just means more profits for those who don't think like this. OP is genuinely trying to help but some people have too much pride for their own good.

[quote LindyLou2020]**@TulisaIsBrill

"A strange sort of Engineer" - I personally would love it if you could be more specific about exactly what your job is.
Yes, of course I'm nosy, but I'm also intrigued. I'm crap at anything scientific or technical.
You will of course have people on here jealous of you, but that's not your problem.[/quote]
@LindyLou2020

Basically i create informal processes and internal tools for a tech firm.

My role is something like this. I get in, have a cup of tea, and chat to people - ‘how’s it going?’ In my usual chatty way. I find out what’s bugging them, or holding things up.

Then I wander off, have another cup of tea and go out with the smokers. I chat to them, ruminating on what I’ve heard previously, and get more info about what’s causing issues.

I then go and have a coffee and a snack, and if it’s something simple I can do to help, I do it then and there. Or if it takes longer, and I need to integrate things with other teams, I sort that out and do that.

It’s a mix of statistics, programming and practical stuff.

I seem to be pretty good at this sort of ‘free role’. I’m not managed per-de. Whatever I think can make peoples lives easier and speed things up, I have carte Blanche to do it.

It’s a great position to be in. And yeah, working part time helps this because I don’t deal with the political stuff in the same stressy way as most. I’m more relaxed.

And so my rather ad hoc approach have combined to mean (without sounding all Liam Neeson) I’ve got a ‘very unique blend of skills’. And I know what I’m worth. So I try and make sure I’m paid like it.

@BillMasen

You’ve been boasting about your income and assets (highlighting gold and crypto if I recall).

I know wealthy people exist, trust me. I just don’t believe they’re so insecure as to need to boast online.

@BillMasen

Well, here’s your proof that ‘wealthy, insecure’ people can care about mass disenfranchisement.

Here’s me, in my Tesla with one of my accounts open.

Haters gonna hate.

@lettinggoagain

You might be in that job now, but with a brain for the contrarian I have complete confidence in you that you won’t be there for long. The very best of luck - not that you need it because you’re smarter than most of these bloody leveraged fools!!!

@TulisaIsBrill........

Thanks for describing what you do!

We need house prices to stagnate and wages to rise - and for that we need interest rates to increase.

Highly unlikely to happen in any significant way, because if it did the housing market would collapse and the economy with it for the reasons you've outlined. Also don't forget that our Government is in record amounts of debt itself. The repayments are only manageable because interest rates are low. The economy has also just been through the worst recession in 300 years (although many aren't yet feeling it due to furlough, payment holidays etc, but that won't continue forever). So the Government will do everything possible to keep interest rates low for a good while yet. The only reason they will be increased is if inflation gets out of control and they are worried about a run on the pound so forced to raise them. It's a very precarious situation all around.

The main issue really in terms of housing is that the prices have risen far faster than salaries for decades. The best way to fix that problem without creating another economic catastrophe would be to increase the woeful UK productivity so that salaries rise faster. And that would also create a virtuous spiral where investment was directed to the productive economy rather than assets like property, increasing productivity and salaries further, etc.

@MagentaGiraffe

We need house prices to stagnate and wages to rise - and for that we need interest rates to increase.

Highly unlikely to happen in any significant way, because if it did the housing market would collapse and the economy with it for the reasons you've outlined. Also don't forget that our Government is in record amounts of debt itself. The repayments are only manageable because interest rates are low. The economy has also just been through the worst recession in 300 years (although many aren't yet feeling it due to furlough, payment holidays etc, but that won't continue forever). So the Government will do everything possible to keep interest rates low for a good while yet. The only reason they will be increased is if inflation gets out of control and they are worried about a run on the pound so forced to raise them. It's a very precarious situation all around.

The main issue really in terms of housing is that the prices have risen far faster than salaries for decades. The best way to fix that problem without creating another economic catastrophe would be to increase the woeful UK productivity so that salaries rise faster. And that would also create a virtuous spiral where investment was directed to the productive economy rather than assets like property, increasing productivity and salaries further, etc.

The woeful productivity problem is not helped by the fact we hand out corporate and landlord welfare in the form of Universal credit/housing benefit. Not that the initial recipients of that don’t require it or deserve it. They are blameless.

Now, I have stated my position on this many times on this site. I think it’s the rational choice for individuals who’s earning capacity is limited to take advantage of UC. Because why wouldn’t you? The escape velocity needed to get out of the benefit trap is ridiculously high.

But it’s a vicious spiral and the only winners are corporations and landlords who’s profits / revenues are subsidised by the state. And they lobby harder. There is no solution because we no longer have a free market in anything.

If all we care about is nominal £ values of house prices remaining high, then another solution is to debase the £ (so salaries rise), whilst simultaneously making lending stricter. Which will lead to inflation but not necessarily as big interest rate rises as people might assume depending on what the BOE does with their ‘wonderful’ toolset.

Which has winners and losers.

Winners:

• holders of non £ sterling assets
• people who don’t want negative equity
• people who want to buy a house at sensible earning multiples for their mortgage

Losers:

• cash savers (reduced buying power if IR rises don’t match real inflation)
• people with non-index linked pension annuities.

I’m positioned for deflation or inflation. Beauty of liquidity.

Unfortunately I can’t quote it but that Tesla post is absolute comedy gold! It’s the post-its that elevate it to genius level! Sad thing is I am not sure that you are actually joking, I fear you are an actual living embodiment of Harry Enfield’s ‘richer than how’ character.

Sorry ‘richer than yow’

@TulisaIsBrill

Interesting posts. We think alike. Although I’m not as rich as you but I seriously have a feeling I will be one day 🤣👍.

@korawick12345

Unfortunately I can’t quote it but that Tesla post is absolute comedy gold! It’s the post-its that elevate it to genius level! Sad thing is I am not sure that you are actually joking, I fear you are an actual living embodiment of Harry Enfield’s ‘richer than how’ character.

At least I’m willing to prove I’m who I say I am. I stand by everything I’ve wrote. I actually care about people, which most of you ‘I’m alright jack’ - ‘why can’t you buy a 1 bed’ Fools clearly do not.

Do you give even the slightest shit about your kids / grandchildren? Do you want them to be better off or worse off than you?

Literally no one has said you are not who you say you are! I have no idea why you keep labouring the point. It’s very strange.

@korawick12345

Literally no one has said you are not who you say you are! I have no idea why you keep labouring the point. It’s very strange.

That bill person said that no wealthy person would give a shit about those worse off than them.

No they didn’t, they said that generally wealthy people don’t feel the need to post about it in great detail online! You need to read what people are actually posting.