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.

@mibbelucieachwell, the reason why rent are high is because of the government taxation in BTL. Only those who have bought the property outright or who don't work or on low income can make a profit. Those on 40% tax racket are not.

Say in a £1000 monthly rental, you pay £400 in tax, £200 on interest. That leaves £400 to pay for letting management, insurance, annual checks, repairs, maintenance, and putting something aside in case if non payment, refurbishment etc...

It might seem very high rental from the tenant perspective, but little if anything goes into many landlord for which the only benefit is the capital investment. What person is prepared to make an monthly loss in a capital investment?

@TulisaIsBrill

This is probably the most appalling thing I've ever wrote, but I can see that room (because that is indeed what it is) place stacking up as a buy to let / Airbnb thing. Probably a reasonable yield.

Maybe at a pinch it might work as a pied a Terre For someone.

But there is absolutely no way I would buy it as an full time owner occupier. Nearly 2 bitcoin to live somewhere that depressing?

Btl or Airbnb? No way. That room is one of the most depressing things I’ve seen in a very, very long time. My son’s three bed terrace with garden cost £4k more than that.

[quote dontdisturbmenow]@mibbelucieachwell, the reason why rent are high is because of the government taxation in BTL. Only those who have bought the property outright or who don't work or on low income can make a profit. Those on 40% tax racket are not.

Say in a £1000 monthly rental, you pay £400 in tax, £200 on interest. That leaves £400 to pay for letting management, insurance, annual checks, repairs, maintenance, and putting something aside in case if non payment, refurbishment etc...

It might seem very high rental from the tenant perspective, but little if anything goes into many landlord for which the only benefit is the capital investment. What person is prepared to make an monthly loss in a capital investment?[/quote]
This is a good point. The government has used the supposed unpopularity of private landlords to milk them like a cash cow. Not being able to deduct mortgage interest from tax due is ridiculous and happens nowhere else in the world.

Yet the major rental scandals involve council and social housing in the main.

The government has used the supposed unpopularity of private landlords to milk them like a cash cow. Not being able to deduct mortgage interest from tax due is ridiculous and happens nowhere else in the world

But when they announced this there was a news article on tv with renters rubbing their hands to get her with glee that their landlord was going to be stung into getting less profit.

Any renter with an ounce of intelligence would have realised it was only going to go one way. Rent increases and less rentals available

You can get mortgage tax relief on Airbnb type lets. You don’t just have to live in a touristy destination to have an Airbnb. We have used them for when we have had work or been in a course.

Do you think it's relatively easy to avoid CGT though?

Do you think it's relatively easy to avoid CGT though

Yes
Just don’t sell it

auctionhouselondon.co.uk/current-auction/

Also with regards to the “affordable” studio flat on Barking Road. It’s cash buyers only (and not due to a short lease) got to wonder what makes it unmortgageable, no planning perhaps? Also it says use of the seating area to be confirmed, yet they've photographed it as if you can walk out from the door and sit there...

A rule of thumb is anything that is under 30sq metres is unmortgageable.

I did not know that. Probably just as well, makes living in such a small space less normalised.

amp.ft.com/content/e921a438-3532-4ddf-8f5b-06113cf3f762

I havent read the full thread, it is growing faster than I can read.

But, the UK is not "one blanket situation" and "one location"

SE sounds to have grown exponentially.

In my area, it is safe. Schools are nice. You can buy a 3 bed mid terrace that is nice, for £90k. You can walk to a train station and commute to 2x major cities or 1x major town within 30 minutes where there are many jobs. Commuting costs are low. You can walk to 2 or more local schools which do not suffer excess demand. So you do not have to jump through hoops to get a place.

House prices have only in the last 12 months returned back to the value they were at pre 2008 crash.

House ownership is affordable here.

As working from home is now far more prevalent following covid, relocating to lower priced areas may be affordable and good for your family set up.

This is not ideal. But it is not a new phenomenon, this has happened for many generations.

It is an option. But not everybody is willing to explore this possibility.

@notbabiesforlong well said. The real issue is that people don't WANT to buy where they can afford, not that they can't afford to buy. This is why I get so annoyed by these whinge threads. Plenty of cheap affordable and pleasant places to live all over the UK, and with a bit of sacrifice, in the southeast too.

Yes, Hothammock, my family, plus previous generations and also inlaws have all relocated at various times for work.

Options can be available. Moving to new areas has been a positive experience.

It would help some people if they moved to another part of the UK - but it's only a partial solution and definitely not enough on it's own.

It doesn't help the most vulnerable in the SE, i.e. the disabled and ill, and those in the lowest waged jobs. These are people who would never have bought but now they can't afford to rent either. Disabled often need to stay close to local support networks, and the low waged are doing essential work. SE needs hospital cleaners and porters as much as anywhere else.

It's not going to work very well for people relying on family for the childcare that enables them to work, or the people who need to stay local to provided care to elderly or disabled relatives.

It will also push up the prices in the other areas, spreading the problem.

Mass displacement will only cause other problems.

@Tealightsandd

It would help some people if they moved to another part of the UK - but it's only a partial solution and definitely not enough on it's own.

It doesn't help the most vulnerable in the SE, i.e. the disabled and ill, and those in the lowest waged jobs. These are people who would never have bought but now they can't afford to rent either. Disabled often need to stay close to local support networks, and the low waged are doing essential work. SE needs hospital cleaners and porters as much as anywhere else.

It's not going to work very well for people relying on family for the childcare that enables them to work, or the people who need to stay local to provided care to elderly or disabled relatives.

It will also push up the prices in the other areas, spreading the problem.

Mass displacement will only cause other problems.

You are right - dd is miles away so miss out on helping with dgd