To think no one has a right to make money off their house

[Laughingstock1991]

The general consensus among financial commentators this week has been that the housing market has turned. Interest rates are still going up and are unlikely to come down for a few years. The low interest rate financial experiment that has been in place since 2008 has ended and it’s unwinding is going to be painful. The housing boom was based on cheap credit.

My mortgage is likely to go up about 400 a month. Lots of commentators reckon we are in for a big fall in house prices. Good thread here:
https://twitter.com/EdConwaySky/status/1668987423643119623

What pisses me off is the absolute assumption made by some people (like my friend today) that the government should use public money to bail out mortgage holders. Most people were stress tested on their mortgage- I was- and yes it’s going to be tough but do I think public Money (renters money) should be used to bail out mortgage holders- fuck no! The Lib Dems have raised this also today.

House equity is unearned wealth. There are no guarantees. We have been through a boom and now it’s going bust. Hopefully sanity will return & housing will be seen as a home again- not an investment. Its not a ‘market’.

And I say all of this as a homeowner who is going to have to pay a lot more. I want everyone to be able to afford a decent home- not just those with money.

I don’t think that’s unreasonable!

In terms of help, I think if someone has to claim UC and has a mortgage, there should be a housing element paid at the same rate of the local housing rate.

@Paul2023 I don’t think people will go into negative equity like the late 1980s though, I’m sure no government would let that happen

But that’s exactly my point- that would be a bail out then! Why should the government use taxes to stop people going into negative equity?

I agree it would be wrong to use the public purse to bail out those who overextended themselves. Everyone knew rates have cheap for too long and actually historically 5 percent is still cheap. In the 80's a family near me lost their house. They were given a council house. They'd be lucky to get one now though.

I agree, people using houses as a get rich quick scheme especially on the back of renters and future generations of buyers are selfish in the extreme. A house is a haven not a goldmine to be tapped into and people should just be grateful to be safe and dry; they should t expect the government to bail them out when the conditions change.

We didn’t see a public clamouring to pay more tax when interest rates were very low and people should have risk managed their own situation knowing there was always the risk of interest rate rises especially after the pandemic

There was a time when people could easily release equity from their homes and buy a property to rent out - buy to let.

Lots of lenders don’t allow this so easily anymore, those times are over.

A bailout to help people who have done the right thing tried to buy a home ,not claim benefits and put a roof over their kids heads then yes. Renters seem to have some sort of pent up jealously of mortgage holders.

Why is it the right thing to buy? Why do you think some owners don't receive benefits?

Renters seem to have some sort of pent up jealously of mortgage holders

Worst comment on the thread award 🥇

But how can the government bail out people with mortgages? Everyone’s finances are different and so are their property prices.

What would the criteria be? How long for? Interest rates might not fall for years, so how can the tax payer pay people’s mortgages for an indefinite amount of time?

Would it be means tested? It’s far too complicated and would be open to abuse from certain people who work cash in hand and claim minimal earnings like the furlough scheme.

I fucking hate it when people say renters are jealous of mortgage owners. It’s utterly entitled bollocks.

Most renters I know are utterly sick of being priced out of decent secure housing in the wild west of private renting. Everyone needs a safe secure home & the housing Ponzi has to end for that reason.

And I say that as a homeowner.

DS rents, he doesn't want to buy a house at the moment, he has enough money for a good deposit though, maybe he is waiting for us to die...

This will just increase inequality. The rich who have made massive profits on their homes and are mortgage free will stay rich and probably up the rent they charge on their portfolio of properties while first time buyers are plunged into negative equity and people who were forced to overstretch start losing their homes left right and centre.

All of these changes will negatively impact anyone who isn’t really well off / rich so stop arguing amongst yourselves about people making money on property and face up to the fact that the current strategy of government is to squeeze us all to the max, for various reasons and finish off privatising the NHS.

All of that’s okay if you are rich / well off older generation with no mortgage and can weather the storm, if not you’re screwed.

Also lots of people who rent pay more than people with mortgages. My mortgage is 800 per month for a 4 bed detached house in the south east.
Renting this house would cost way more!

So how would helping people with mortgages help when renters often pay more? It makes no sense!

Yes, I think you're right, but there's lots of people given money who don't need it. Whilst we're paying benefits to wealthy people who don't need it, there should be some help for people who do. Why should a wealthy mortgage free retiree, with a generous final salary pension, get a winter fuel allowance, or a free bus pass, or a state pension that increases with inflation, when workers wages aren't. I think more help should be given to those struggling to feed, clothe, and house their families, and less given to people who don't need it. If that means help paying the mortgage, fair enough, it's better than a homeless family. When we've stopped bunging the blue rinse Tory voters tax-payers cash to keep them voting Tory, then we can talk about how fair, or not, it is to support those who need it.

What is this obsession with the NHS? It's always the obligatory benchmark and shoe horned into most unrelated debates.

Blue rinse? I guess you think ageism is perfectly acceptable, then.

@Artycrafts well its just one good example of what our taxes are spent on. As was pointed out earlier, the country is crumbling because the entire economy has been based on house prices rising. They have become the economy at the expense of everything else. Rising house prices has become the altar to die on. It’s utter nonsense.

Completely agree. Aged 60 with a young adult ds with autism. Single with a small, manageable mortgage on a 'requiring improvement' property. It's larger than we both need so hope to finish improving it enough to downsize and be mortgage-free in 2+ years, whilst ensuring the future independence of ds. It's a slow road.

No private pension but already qualify for full-state plus a bit of additional at 67. So i hope to be mortgage free for the last 5 years of my low-income working life, not much to ask for really, I certainly won't be off on cruises or taking early-retirement because my wealth increased because the value of my house did.

But very unfortunately for many younger people, that's exactly what many of my peers and older people have been doing. It needs to change.

I agree with you but comments like this Do I care that out mortgage free home will lose value - not at all are just so tone deaf.

I mean, lucky you that you own your home free and clear. I think the majority of people worrying about this are people that are mortgaged to the hilt after scrimping for years to save to buy a starter home they might never be able to move from because they've been hit twice by recessions.

I know of a few windows who are wealthy. Living close to London in big three bedroom houses worth about £700 k.

They get good pensions and have thousands in savings. Yet they get money from the state. When they really don’t need it. And their pensions are linked to inflation.

When millions of people are working bringing up families, are really struggling and haven’t had a pay rise for years.

They system isn’t fair but they’ll never take money form wealthy pensioners!

Agree in part. We should view property as homes not investments. That’s partly caused the problem. I couldn’t care whether the price of my house goes up or down as long as I can pay the monthly cost. However the reality is that people losing their homes en mass will be a disaster in an already disastrous rental market. Which is largely funded by taxpayers money I might add! I don’t really see a solution that doesn’t involve some kind of government intervention.

@User98866 council housing might need to be the intervention.

THIS!

Horrendous views on here from those who bought cheap and have paid off their mortgages wanting a collapse so their children can buy. Those who likely also got free education. Completely screwing (as always) those in their 30s / 40s who scraped together a deposit over years on top of paying student loans and now face losing everything they worked for

Utter scum.

A few wealthy windows😂😂😂

People are going to struggle if interest rates stay this high. I agree that it isn't up to the government to bail private householders out but they need to pressure the banks to come up with solutions - maybe allow borrowers who are in difficulty to go interest-only for a while, allow the mortgage term to be extended.

The problem is that if there are enough people who cannot pay their mortgages, then the choice to sell up and downsize or go into rented falls away - the housing market grinds to a halt with very few sales, even for those desperate to sell (and there's not much point selling if you're in negative equity, as you can't pay off the lender). At this point does the government step in? Could they lend homeowners the money needed to keep up with their mortgages and put a charge against the properties that has to be paid back within xxx years? I don't know, it is really complicated.