The whole somewhere to live thing in London is sick, frighteningly and depressingly so, and I am mightily pissed off that circumstances have made me complicit in the sickness. What can I say? I bought my terraced house in Lee when my family grew and I moved out of my flat in Lee. My story was commonplace at the time because there was a realistic relationship between savings, earnings, and property prices. It has meant going without stuff other people spend on like holidays, but I am not a great fan of an annual holiday in the sun anyway. What makes me sick is how much my house has grown in 'value' as I watch neighbouring properties being bought and sold, and I feel like the blimmin aristocracy compared to most. However the value of the house is unreal because to get somewhere else to live in Lee would be the same cost as the 'value' of the house. The money my place is worth is meaningless unless I moved to somewhere I don't want to be, away from what I know and like. Anyway my very secure and comfortable position has come from a lifetimes work, but I feel the younger generation will not have the chance I have had and somehow I feel it is my fault. Just like benefiting from free education whilst others, my son included, rack up 9K a year in tuition fees alone. I don't feel smug about my good fortune having a modest terraced house, I wish everybody else could have one too, and it is down to the loss of council housing, no house building, and a combination of stupid policies that has led to this crisis. London has always been about, jobs, housing and transport, but it is now becoming a divided society where the posh expect their cleaners to travel in from Sittingbourne each day to 'do' for them. Roll on a property price crash where values halve at the very least.
Have any of you seen what they're building at Kidbrooke, and the prices they have the temerity to ask...and more shockingly, get?
Nice post Seth. When I started this thread I did so because I don't own and it will probably be some time until I do own. However, there's no way in the world people should feel complicit or guilty because they own, and have seen the values of their properties rocket to the detriment of others getting a shot.
I would even say that to own 2 properties is something I have no issues with. Everybody is looking after their families at the end of the day and I would probably do the same.
What I do struggle with, is the culture of the modern day property market. If you watched the show, foreign/domestic owners with 4/5 houses. Suddenly everyone is a project manager because they buy to let and do up a house or houses. My burning issue is that I was born in south east London, grown up here all my life and have the pleasure of paying someone else's mortgage. I'm ok(ish) with that because at the end of the day I have a roof over my head.
But it just seems like the whole system is one that is set up in such a way, that if we are not careful, could be beyond redress in the not too distant (probably already is).
You made a good point about tuition fees above. My argument is that if someone completes their a-levels and wants to go into university and their parents can't contribute, then that person is saddled with debt from a young age. Yes, they have a chance that they can earn decent money in later life, but the jobs market is also competitive. 1000s of graduates flood the market every year, those that don't hit decent grad schemes are then left to take an entry level job, that doesn't pay as well. There is nothing wrong with that, but if you have then spent 30k on University and perhaps have to accept a lower starting salary, you're left asking, what was the point in the first place.
I know for a fact that there are people leaving uni coming onto the job market taking jobs that don't require a degree. Again, I'm not saying those jobs aren't worthwhile and I'm pleased the government promote apprenticeships in all sorts of sectors. IMO if you pay your taxes and contribute to society whatever job you do doesn't matter. I'm just linking the fact that whatever route, the chance of owning seems very far for a lot of people at the mo when you look at it like this.
And then, they say you've got to save for a pension because the state pension is on its knees.
As Seth says above, a combination of all this is very hard to fight against.
I have friends in San Francisco, New York, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Perth, Brisbane, Budapest, Holland, Sweden....none would return.
The Russians who have stashed away their stolen Roubles in London property are being encouraged to take it back to Russia cos its running out of money. Putin has given an amnesty on declaring money that should have been declared. So will we see more properties going on the market and an increase in supply at the top end that might stifle price rises? The fall in the Rouble means they would be even richer when it lands in their bank account so could be attractive if they already have to live in Russia.
The stamp duty increase might not deter the uber rich but every little helps in damping down prices. If prices start to fall it's the sort of event that could change sentiment and cause foreign investors to cash in their profits and take their money elsewhere if they think prices are about to drop. You don't need a big prick to burst a bubble.
As for a property price crash a la 1990s, well, you can't rule it out but the London boom is being fuelled by the richest people on the planet and their cash is not going to run out anytime soon!
As a golfer, I can't help but agree. One of the worst things about the game is the, frankly, ridiculous waste of land associated with it. The number of courses in Surrey is obscene - it could easily be cut in half. However, the land is designated greenbelt in most cases, so unavailable for housing.
Surrey councils are starting to clamp down on planning permission for golf courses in the past few years - there's an ongoing row about another needless golf resort being built somewhere near Leatherhead I believe - but it's too little, too late.
This would be the £50m development of press baron Lord Beaverbrook's former home near Leatherhead.
I Would imagine that The Majority of the area's residents are unhappy with another golf course.
Probably create a few hundred jobs, will they be for local people.
Comments
The stamp duty increase might not deter the uber rich but every little helps in damping down prices. If prices start to fall it's the sort of event that could change sentiment and cause foreign investors to cash in their profits and take their money elsewhere if they think prices are about to drop. You don't need a big prick to burst a bubble.
I Would imagine that The Majority of the area's residents are unhappy with another golf course.
Probably create a few hundred jobs, will they be for local people.