It's just that you appeared not to conceive of a reason someone else might need to borrow money to buy a house. I can assure you that 99% of people do need to borrow, I'm afraid.
Also, in many (most?) parts of the country, house prices are such that building an extension puts on far more money than the cost, meaning that it is eminently sensible to buy a house with a view to extension.
Christian.
Indeed. A first time buyer without a large inheritance would need to earn close on 50K to buy it.
Christian.
I am not in the SE. I would probably earn more money if I were.
A basic 3 bed Victorian
A basic 3 bed Victorian terrance round here would cost almost that! (
180K)I got some nice 1960's wall paper in my home too when I bought it five years ago. I changed it recently for some I bought in a local DIY bagain basement for 89p a roll. It is clean and does the job. In fact its quite nice.
I still have my 1960's bathroom suite and an even older outside loo. They still work , so why change them?
The average house now costs £151,467.
This is 5.2 times the average salary.
House prices are rising by 18.5 per cent a year
Pay levels are rising by 3.6 per cent.
Britain's current mortgage debt is running at £783,000,000,000.
Source: The Independent
Nick Brooks
I never said I couldnt understand the need to borrow. I was told I was rich and that was my problem. I pointed out I was not rich. I had bought a house within my mean and no more.
I still think this has more to do with TV programmes like trading up, Relocation Relocation ( prices in my area have certainly suffered for that one - and another variation on this , buying a house with a largish garden for cheap and then sticking two other houses in the garden and selling all three to make money ..... and leaving the people who buy and those who live next to it with a bloody slum sat in the middle of them! All fueled by the idea a house is a money making machine, not a home What is required in this country is a change of mental attitude.
Its not a house, its a home. Dont throw it out because its six months old and not Lawrence whats his called latest colour etc.
All these grand designs, property ladder, selling houses, house doctor etc. are fuelling the notion its about never staying anywhere five minutes. That also destroys communities by the way. People move to the country to live in a village because they want to live in a "community" and then build extensions, do it up and move out in three years having destroyed the community they claim to have been looking for! Communities are not built by dormitory dwellers who live in houses and show cases and DIY to add value and then sell . They are built by people who live in homes and stay there and know who their neighbours are ( even if they are not always in each others houses).
All part of the same problem.
rant over.
No house prices are fueled by having x million people and x/4 million houses. They will continue to rise until there is enough to actually house everyone. TV programmes aren't to blame. It is pure supply and demand, coupled with low interest rates making ridiculous multiples possible.
Christian.
Who assumed you were young? Wealth hasn't got anything to do with age. I'm not saying you don't deserve to own your house outright. You've lived frugally, you probably do.
Nevertheless the fact remains that if you own outright a property of at least £100,000 (my estimate) then it is true to say that you are considerably richer than me.
Nick Brooks (In the middle of cenverting two cottages into one as it's the only way I can afford to live in a house large enough for my family)
Swings and roundabouts. Many decades ago, far more children were routined physically and sexually abused, with no hope of being believed. Denied divorce, many women were condemned to a life of spousal violence and rape with no recourse to law.
Christian.
House prices are fuled by people who have forgoten how to live together and so divorce and move out and want places of their "own" to live in. Hence not enough houses to go round. I call it a waste of space but then I was born into a generation where folk talked to each other and lived with each other and shared dinner round the dining table .
Todays bunch are under socialised, alcohol guzzling lifestylers but thats another story too.
I bought my house five years ago. It cost me every penny I had. It was not a state of the art, show case. It needed a lot doing to it. I cleaned it. I papered it,painted it dug the garden, worked hard on it. I still havent finished. I doubt if I will before I retire. I have a "project" each year - one outside. One inside. This years are , the sitting room to be re decorated ( not a carpet though, cant afford that, just the paint and wallpaper) . My outdoor project is to do the back portion of the garden and get a small greenhouse there ( greenhouse might have to wait until next year too - but I will clear the area and landscape it ready).
The house cost me 75K. Its a two bedroom bungalow. That represented my life savings and the inheritance from grandparents and my partners parents.
So where are you going to live when you have to sell your house because your pension doesn't pay enough? Booming property prices are only a benfit to those who have more than one.
If houses were treated as a commodity rather than investment (which is what they are to 90+% of people) , and house prices were included in the inflation figures, you'd soon see some action by the government to reign them in.
Bob
I suspect when Labour get a 3rd term. They will have to bankrupt the country to pay for their agenda. They won't do anything nasty this side of the election, but look out for being stiffed on the other side.
PoP
Nearly as suspect as the Guardian then.....
.andy
To email, substitute .nospam with .gl
Eh? If you mean "were they notified?", then were who notified? Nat
" All these grand designs, property ladder, selling houses, house doctor etc. are fuelling the notion its about never staying anywhere five minutes "
A large number of people in grand designs state that they plan to stay there for the rest of their lives?
Lots of people state they are going to stay there. There is a big difference between statements and actions. No one ver checks actions on Grand designs. Give 'um three years I reckon they will be sold up and moved on.
Not to contradict you, but we're being stiffed already.
The Economist thinks there's a housing bubble too, you know.
Not that a number of them will actually be able to sell their £450K one-bedroomed houses.
In article , snipped-for-privacy@ntlworld.com wrote
My house was purchased at £26,000 in 1984 it is now valued at £195,000 and with a small mortgage of only £30,000 I stand to make a killing if I sell and downsize or alter my lifestyle. The big question is how to do that. I recently saw [on the net] a brand new bungalow in Dumfries for £140,000. So If I move to North of the Border I can easily purchase outright, kill the mortgage and have enough cash left to finance all the little things that go along with this type of move. But this is the big problem isn't it? Deciding. Or I could buy a narrowboat or Park Home for less than £100,000 all in and have a nice little pot left over.
But of course unless I am willing to move to a cheaper area and semi retire, accept a lower income and a lesser facillity in terms of home - I am buggered.
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