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.

I agree the housing market is awful - from prices to how hard it can be to get a mortgage right through to the appalling process of actually getting from offer to completion.

I think a proven record of paying rent should be taken into consideration when applying for a mortgage - we bought in January but it took 2 years of being pretty much debt free to and saving like crazy to get a mortgage, but we'd been paying rent in full and on time every month for 13 years by then.
I don't understand how previous debt made us a risk when FTBs who lived with parents and had never paid any bills were considered 'safe.'

I also don't think landlords are the devil, but I do think there needs to be better regulations about the standards of houses they provide and caps on the rent they charge. They also shouldn't be allowed to put your rent up by unexplained amounts each year.

I don't know the answers to all questions but I definitely don't think letting big companies buy up any green space and put up hundreds of new builds then overcharge for them is the right way, especially not when there are so many empty buildings just being left to rot.

House prices are rocketing but then I just bored of people moaning on our local Facebook group about new flats being built.

It is a crap situation and has been for a few decades, but don't know what the answer is to this problem.

I agree with you about Help to Buy OP and recall a discussion about five years ago with an estate agent, who thought I was a socialist for not liking the scheme, wanting Help to Build instead.

I would have a sunset clause on planning permissions for houses, which would at least provide a few years of increased building.

We have enough housing. Distribution is a problem.
I can say that whilst also totally understanding buy to let landlords perspective. I don't blame them individually, but as a group it affects the UK market in a bad way.

There is no magic bullet answer. But I certainly don't want more building on green space.

I’m in a NW city and house prices are madness. We bought in 2016 and made £50k on a 2 bed terrace in 3 years. We did nothing other than paint.

Am I happy about that? No, because the houses we want to buy are now £80k or so more expensive.

Interest rates being so low have pushed house prices up - because the monthly payments on massive mortgages are affordable. This has now been exacerbated by the stamp duty holiday.

Lots of people I know can afford the monthly repayments on a £400k house, but they still owe the bank £350k plus interest. It’s terrifying and a lot of people are in a precarious position should they lose their jobs. The same if interests rates rise - that £800 a month on a £200k mortgage jumps to over a thousand, and I dread to think what will happen.

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

YANBU. My DH owns our house because he got on the property ladder at 22 (his mum died and he used his inheritance as a deposit, so family money but not the kind that's nice to get). We'd be renting if he hadn't inherited money. The good news is that once you get the house, the financial discipline will put you in a much better position than a lot of home owners. The bad news is that once you own a house, you'll still find yourself trying to save as much as possible because there's always something that needs to be done. Or at least that's been our experience...

YANBU I look at Rightmove sometimes in my area and I don't understand how ordinary, 3 bed semi detached houses can be worth half a million pounds when wages are so low. I'm talking about a fairly run down area just outside of London. You would think if they were being snapped up by high earners commuting in then that might be reflected in the area but its not. These aren't lovely houses with a big garden and a modern kitchen, just average properties with a box room and dated decor.
I don't see myself ever being able to afford property here and the idea of moving far away from our friends, family and jobs is daunting.

We purchased in 2004. 200k for a 3 bed terrace. They are now selling for 380k and the next size up ( semi detached or 4 bed) are now 500k.
We can never move. And our kids will never be able to stay here to buy

@Jangle33

House prices are rocketing but then I just bored of people moaning on our local Facebook group about new flats being built.

It's awful though as it increases the traffic and there isn't the infrastructure. We want to keep our green spaces as much as possible. Flooding is another issue if there is too much concrete. Most families want houses but the greedy property developers want to maxi mise profit with flats and inadequate parking spaces😡

@ForgedInFire yes, I am settled where I live and my kids are in good schools etc and I have a good job at a uni. It’s really doing my head in tbh!

I'm bloody lucky to have got the house I'm in, but I would welcome a fall in prices, even if it meant negative equity for me.

The government are fools to keep propping up housing price growth. Its tying up huge amounts of money that is tending to accumulate wealth in the hands of the already rich, when it could be circulating in the economy in other ways and actually creating more value. I understand that falling prices is unwelcome as it can hammer confidence & create crashes, but why can't they just let them flatten for a long while and let wage growth catch up?

I think a proven record of paying rent should be taken into consideration when applying for a mortgage

This would be a good place to start. I'd been paying £1,775pcm in rent every month for years and my mortgage is now £1,350pcm. Pretty sure it's blood obvious that I can afford the mortgage on my own without also spending years saving a deposit.

Thing is with the building more homes argument, +200,000 homes in this country have been sat empty more than 6m. The government ought to bring in policy and financial breaks to motivate owners to do them up or sell on.

I am preparing for my DC to be living at home for a long time to come if they want to save for their own home. At some point they will probably want partners to move it too.

Can't say I'm looking forward to it, note can I work out how else to help all of them into the property ladder.

The whole thing is a mess and as a home owner I'd rather house values took a massive hit.

I agree, it’s so much harder for younger generations to get on the property ladder than it was for me when I bought my first flat in 1998.

@caringcarer

The thing is though people should be allowed to spend their own money on what they want to. Some people buy several cars. Others buy loads of shoes. Others buy too much food and much of it goes to waste. I prefer to spend my money on houses. There are so many houses on Rightmove but many people don't have a deposit saved. By buying a house I am not preventing a person without s deposit getting it because without a deposit they won't get a mortgage. I don't see how I am doing anything wrong. I have 6 btl houses. They are all rented out and housing many people. They are kept in good repair and I charge below market value and only increase tent by inflation every 2nd or 3rd year. If I were to sell them all tomorrow the houses would have appreciated and no one without a deposit would be able to buy any of them. I have bought 6 as an investment for me and DH and 1 house each for my 3 DC and 1 foster child who has lived with us since he was 5. Without private rental properties many, many more would be homeless. I also pay taxes on rental income which contributes to society also.

Can you really not see how this is contributing to the problem? BTL purchasers push prices up, which makes it more difficult for people to buy. And it takes another house out of circulation. More rental properties = fewer houses available to buy = higher prices. You'd have to be daft to think your actions don't play a part in this.

@woodhill no of course they must be built without parking spaces. This country needs to stop its reliance on the car. 65% of English councils have declared a climate emergency. Have you got any idea what we are doing to our planet?

The problem is that the government and their cronies own huge numbers of properties directly or indirectly and it is in their interest to keep property prices high/rents high.

@Rollercoaster1920

We have enough housing. Distribution is a problem. I can say that whilst also totally understanding buy to let landlords perspective. I don't blame them individually, but as a group it affects the UK market in a bad way.

There is no magic bullet answer. But I certainly don't want more building on green space.

This report below also says housing supply not the issue, but distribution.

Buy to let plays a role definitely, albeit not only. Buy to let mortgages became possible from 1990s.

housingevidence.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/20190820b-CaCHE-Housing-Supply-FINAL.pdf

@Kitchendisco21, if all btl LL sold their houses tomorrow there would be a massive crisis as councils would not have enough hotel accommodation to put them all in, do many more homeless and rough sleepers. How would that in any way help you buy a home?

Increase of population, mostly by adult people.

@caringcarer please stop trying to make out that what you do is for some social good. It really isn’t at all.

Where are you trying to buy OP? London? If so, why are you surprised that houses cost a lot there?

Also, where do we stand on second homes? I know it's mentioned all the time, but most immigrants already own property in their home countries.

This puts pressure on two property markets and double the pressure on the environment.