Shock house price news for the South East

[JanH]

Love this bit from the \link{http://www.lep.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=73&ArticleID=1485125\Lancashire Evening Post}

"The average price of a house in Lancashire will shatter the £150,000 barrier in the next five years"

jeez i need to move to lancashire!

'You could be looking at shelling out £151,807 for an average property in Preston and in South Ribble it could reach as much as £154,757.'

Isn't the average house price across the UK around £200K now?!

The thing about Lancs is that there are a lot of towns with large areas of small terraced houses - see \link{http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/in_depth/uk_house_prices/html/30ud.stm\this chart} from the BBC, most boroughs average well under £150K (although South Ribble has just managed to shatter that barrier )

I don't think Burnley is ever going to make it though, do you?

house prices doubled over five years in Lancs just like everyone else; just because they're not at London prices doesn't mean it's not an issue

for someone on an average wage £154,000 is a hell of a lot

house prices are lower than in the south, but then so are wages; it all correlates; the cost of living is lower generally

why are you being so snide about it?

I don't think the difference in income really makes up for it in London or home counties for instance - plenty of people there are on incomes comparable with up north (teachers, nurses, police officers etc are generally on similar wages wherever they are).

Not being snide about it - I guess just in relation to most places £150K for a house is pretty good going! You couldn't get much for that round here (maybe a flat!) and I'm in the North West too.

you do get London weighting for a lot of public service jobs though

I'm not being snide about it - was just amused at the language used by the local paper. I live in Lancs.

London weighting?! Ha ha, I had that and it doesn't account for the fact that houseprices are probably at least £100K over what they are elsewhere.

London weighting varies with your employer. Dh works for a London Council and gets a grand total of £1,250. he thinks inner London councils pay a bit more. The POlice are quite generous and apparently get £4 or 5k, but compared to house prices down here it's peanuts really.

I am always staggered when I look at London prices, even in the cheapest areas - how does anybody get started any more, unless their parents can afford to chip in a large amount?

london prices are silly, yes. there was a very enjoyable spoof of eastenders once on (I think) dead ringers where pauline and dot were talking about how their houses are worth half a million so why are they working like drudges in the laundrette?

prices silly here too actually. but at least rents are low.

we're in Lancashire and we'll be selling later this year for approx £150,000 and that's for a 13 bed hotel - so a home and income all in one. We'll probably stay up north somewhere, definately won't move back down south.

High house prices = high rents and increasing homelessness and debt problems.

Wages just don't keep up.

Sadly, we are having to seriously consider leaving long term. We simply cannot go on spending over 50% of our take home income on rent, council tax and power. It's just too dear when you also want to eat and have at least some decent quality of life.

Saving? LOL.

Move somewhere else for cheaper rents and you wind up spending the difference getting to work.

The UK and US have got to lose this perception that people in debt or who don't save are in such a situation b/c of living a frivolous lifestyle.

One of my best friends has actually managed to have what must be the only house in London that hasn't increased in value over the past five years. She bought in a run-down area, which usually means in a few years everyone priced out of the decent areas will move in, colonise it and force prices up. But her area, uniquely, has been spared that phenomenon.

Agree with Expat, btw, especially the point about relating morality to wealth - wtf has having money got to do with anyone's worth as a human being?