Average first time buyer deposit in greater London is apparently £90k now !!!
There will come a point and I do not believe it is far away when the combination of falsely low austerity wages and insanely high property (purchase and rental) costs in London will lead to a crisis in provision of essential services.
Police officers, firefighters, nurses, doctors, teachers, waste, er, "operatives", cleaners, social workers and the like will simply have to give up on London and will move to other large but cheaper urban centres in order to live an affordable life.
We will then have a huge urban area where high cost private services are bought in by those in wealthy ghettos and there will be a subclass existing without the most basic services. The children of these will be brought up with a decreased life expectancy, a lack of basic education and with lifeskills based on survival in that scenario.
Happy New Year everyone.
I read an article about London firefighters. They were living in places like France, Devon, Scotland... I guess they live at the station when on shift so no need to live in London
^ @cabbles. Ever checked out Pocket Living? Great little developer for the first time buyer in London - nothing is cheap in this City but they are likely as good as a first time buyer will get I reckon although, naturally the size of flat is somewhat reflective of the price.
Didn't the Torres also relax rules about having to include social housing? Agree higher tax on foreign investors is needed to reap a reward here - don't like that we penalise uk people for buying a second home /investment property for a pension or savings plan though
Someone overseas buying a property they have no intention of living in really is no different from someone in the UK doing the same. In fact you could argue the person from overseas is bringing investment into the country so is more of a positive than a second home domestic buyer.
I just saw on BBC London a piece on the collective in Acton. Essentially it's like an upmarket halls of residence with amenities, gym, en suite etc. You go in and share a little kitchen, then it splits into two bedrooms. It's £1000 a month.
I know how it's set up because I've been in there. It's shocking that they're charging that. I couldn't believe it when they said £1k a month having been in there
Didn't the Torres also relax rules about having to include social housing? Agree higher tax on foreign investors is needed to reap a reward here - don't like that we penalise uk people for buying a second home /investment property for a pension or savings plan though
Someone overseas buying a property they have no intention of living in really is no different from someone in the UK doing the same. In fact you could argue the person from overseas is bringing investment into the country so is more of a positive than a second home domestic buyer.
There should at least be a law that the property be lived in or rented out.
I think you are missing a bit of the point that a lot of properties are being left empty and many sites bought off plan by domestic and global speculators who thus control and manipulate the market and set price and rental levels way above reality. It's almost at cartel level in some cases.
People should be able to afford to rent a home in their own home town and still have some pocket money for some of the good things in life instead of being permanently skint as all of their expendable income goes on just having a roof over their head.
This is a subject I have massively strong feelings on for a number of reasons. First and foremost as a perennial renter I apologise if this comes over as sour grapes and my argument is led via rant than objectively taking into consideration all viewpoints (this is also almost entirely written from the point of view of living in London).
The whole property market here in our capital is a disgrace. for the 2nd time just gone I volunteered at crisis. What we have is a society led by a government who couldn't give a f*** if you're ever unfortunate enough to need help, disabled, sick or have the misfortune to lose your job. Not wanting to get overly political or left vs right, but the Tories just do not care.
Should you fall victim to homelessness, councils cannot help you anymore. There is no money left. You are at the mercy of what charities like st Mungos and Shelter can do for you. You are prioritised if you are a woman/woman with children which is absolutely fair enough, but if you are at the thin edge of that wedge then it's a long hard, hard road.
You may wonder why I lead with homelessness when this is a discussion about property, but it's all linked. Take rents. Now I live 3 to a 2 bed because I share it with my sister and her boyfriend. It's a lovely property and believe me, having done a couple of volunteer stints at Crisis, in the grand scheme of things, I have very little to moan about. What we pay in rent I imagine covers our Landlord's mortgage quite comfortably. I have grown up in London so have family and a network of friends.
Imagine you're a single person who moves to the capital for a job, then loses that job and can't afford to pay rent and doesn't have a network to fall back on. You then slip through the cracks and through no fault of your own you're out on the streets. It can happen. And I believe it can happen to anyone outside of this demographic if certain things conspire to work against them in an unfortunate perfect storm.
The whole way housing is set up in the capital isn't fit for purpose anymore. Am I jealous of my mates that all own houses now. Of course I am. I'm happy that they have one, but at the same time, I feel I work hard, I was born in this city, I work here, my friends and family are here, why can't I buy a house here. I don't doubt that maybe if I'd have scrimped and saved and lived like a monk, there may be a deposit there by now for an over inflated property somewhere, but I also went to Uni, had to pay back a student loan, and a graduate loan when I decided to do my LPC at the College of Law and I've had to move a few times when renting. Each rental move for most means they've got to stump up quite a bit up front to cover a deposit and the first month's rent. Renting isn't cheap. When you consider all these factors, especially now, as it costs more to go to university, how the f*** are people going to save unless they're earning mega money?
I laugh when I see new builds going up in London that hit the market at £350k for a one bed flat. In the grand scheme of things that means you still need to have £35k deposit to play. Keep building as many f****** homes as you want. If they're priced at £350k to start, only foreign investors or existing homeowners can play. So essentially these properties become rental accommodation. The cycle of shit continues.
Again, I need to reign my vitriol in a bit because if I had a family and wanted to leave them security and an investment for their future and I already had one property but could buy another, of course I'm going to. I'm just saying in the interests of fairness for all of society, I don't think we have that luxury in London anymore where owning 2nd and 3rd homes is going to help address this practically.
I've also got to be mindful that the city is overcrowded, so I do have to take into account what practical steps can the government really make to address this. One thing I was amazed at was the BoE's decision to lower rates post Brexit. Great. Yet more lower rates of interest that benefit existing homeowners but don't really get to the core of solving the problem, and if anything just feels like another punch in the gut.
Sorry, I really do feel like I'm not being very objective here and have gone off on some diatribe. It's just that I'm sick of what seems to me a culture of people back slapping one another because they bought at a time when their property was worth X and it's now worth a lot more. I'm sick of not really feeling like I've achieved something because I turn 35 next week and feel like I'll be renting forever, despite playing the game to the very best of my abilities. I should really pull my head out my arse and remember I'm lucky to have a roof over my head having volunteered for crisis and seen how it could be.
Too many people in the country is the fundamental problem.
The sad truth of the matter is that the way things are it is nigh on impossible for a single person to get on the housing ladder.
Similarly it is not realistic to get on the property ladder now in central London. More and more people will need to move slightly further out and hope it's the next place to boom.
To be honest I love having my place in Kent. I've got green spaces for the kids to play in - I'm an hour from the coast, 35-40 minutes to The Valley and a fraction more to central London. 10 minute drive to Ebbsfleet and 10 minute drive to the middle of nowhere and tranquility.
Sometimes I'd like to live in London - but there is just no value for a normal person with a family.
My job relies on residential developments such as the one mentioned on here and we provide a service to the construction industry but their profits are becoming more and more obscene, their treatment of their supply chain worsens and the quality of the "product" goes down every year.
I'm not sure what the answer is really. Or rather I'd prefer not to think about it....
I'd extend the tax on foreign owners to all home purchases, not just those above £1 million. With the fall in the £ buyers would be paying no more than 6 months ago if taxed at 15% but it'd bring in many millions to build lower cost housing. Won't happen of course even though most other developed nations tax more heavily than the UK.
For those who think this doesn't affect them - the housing benefit bill is now about £26 billion a year due to increasing rents and short supply. That's a huge sum that could be spent on the NHS etc and/or cut taxes for people. And it really benefit landlords and housing developers (big doners to the Tories) who are getting huge amounts of taxpayers cash.
Also look at help to buy. A 20% loan from govt (taxpayers) to first time buyers for a deposit which pushed up prices by more than 30% within 2 years. First time buyers still paying more but developers can sell for far more and their margins have grown massively.
Comments
I know how it's set up because I've been in there. It's shocking that they're charging that. I couldn't believe it when they said £1k a month having been in there
I think you are missing a bit of the point that a lot of properties are being left empty and many sites bought off plan by domestic and global speculators who thus control and manipulate the market and set price and rental levels way above reality.
It's almost at cartel level in some cases.
People should be able to afford to rent a home in their own home town and still have some pocket money for some of the good things in life instead of being permanently skint as all of their expendable income goes on just having a roof over their head.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38605479
Similarly it is not realistic to get on the property ladder now in central London. More and more people will need to move slightly further out and hope it's the next place to boom.
To be honest I love having my place in Kent. I've got green spaces for the kids to play in - I'm an hour from the coast, 35-40 minutes to The Valley and a fraction more to central London. 10 minute drive to Ebbsfleet and 10 minute drive to the middle of nowhere and tranquility.
Sometimes I'd like to live in London - but there is just no value for a normal person with a family.
My job relies on residential developments such as the one mentioned on here and we provide a service to the construction industry but their profits are becoming more and more obscene, their treatment of their supply chain worsens and the quality of the "product" goes down every year.
I'm not sure what the answer is really. Or rather I'd prefer not to think about it....
For those who think this doesn't affect them - the housing benefit bill is now about £26 billion a year due to increasing rents and short supply. That's a huge sum that could be spent on the NHS etc and/or cut taxes for people. And it really benefit landlords and housing developers (big doners to the Tories) who are getting huge amounts of taxpayers cash.
Also look at help to buy. A 20% loan from govt (taxpayers) to first time buyers for a deposit which pushed up prices by more than 30% within 2 years. First time buyers still paying more but developers can sell for far more and their margins have grown massively.