Lucky baby boomers

[iandriver]

Mentioning Zoopla etc, I looked up our first home we bought.
90, Woodbank Gardens Alexandria. Two bedroom shoebox.
Bought in Jan 1983 for £19,500 and sold in May 1985 for £22,000
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@55.99489 ... 312!8i6656

Nearby homes going for £90odd grand now. If we'd kept it on for the past 35 years, we wouldn't exactly be rich enough to buy a similar house here in the SW of England now.

That looks like some of the cheapest property in the country, and probably what homes should cost. Around here, houses start at about 250k, so you'd need about 50k of salary and a 50k deposit. https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/house ... west_price move 7 miles up the road to Cambridge and it goes through the roof. Totally out of hand.

[al_yrpal]

Our first house in Sandhurst. Purchased for £4250 in 1968 with a borrowed deposit of £250 from the bank and the rest a mortgage. https://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-price ... ry=england I think I earned about £1100 pa and the Mrs earned about £250 pa as a part time staff nurse. It was very hard to make the repayments. If I tried to buy it now with a 10% deposit we would have to be bringing in £80 grand pa. When our son was born and the Mrs stopped working we had to get a second mortgage to make ends meet.
Nice little house with a nice garden backing onto the railway. People who were born just a couple of years earlier afforded much bigger houses so nothings new. Penalty of living in the South East.

Al

[iandriver]

What we are seeing round here is an explosion of extension building because the cost of moving is so high. Effectively people are being trapped in their own homes by property prices and driving further and further as jobs change. You'd have to be insane to spend 30k moving to be near to work in 2019 with the job sucurity today. I really don't know who these high prices are supposed to benefit, apart from second home owners.

[al_yrpal]

Higher prices forced by housing shortage caused by population growth. Main reason I voted leave. But, virtually unrestricted immigration from outside the EU needs the most action, it's a scandal. Employers need to pay decent wages instead of relying on impoverished EU immigrants. I am prepared to pay a fiver for a chicken, not half that, more for fruit and veg too.

That's enough

Al

[horizon]

Higher prices forced by housing shortage caused by population growth.
Al

Higher house prices are a result of greater ability to pay for a commodity that is always in short supply due to its nature (non-elastic supply). Greater ability to pay is partly due to the increased availability of credit and the loosening of lending limits, partly due to rising salaries and partly due to parental capital. House prices mainly reflect local earnings: when they don't, prices fall. Nobody on average local earnings can be "forced out of the housing market" - they are in effect creating it. Population growth and immigration cannot of themselves increase prices - people need the requisite salary/earnings to pay the higher price.

Anyway here are some houses for people worried about house prices:

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/house ... rce=refine

[pwa]

Higher prices forced by housing shortage caused by population growth.
Al

Higher house prices are a result of greater ability to pay for a commodity that is always in short supply due to its nature (non-elastic supply). Greater ability to pay is partly due to the increased availability of credit and the loosening of lending limits, partly due to rising salaries and partly due to parental capital. House prices mainly reflect local earnings: when they don't, prices fall. Nobody on average local earnings can be "forced out of the housing market" - they are in effect creating it. Population growth and immigration cannot of themselves increase prices - people need the requisite salary/earnings to pay the higher price.

Anyway here are some houses for people worried about house prices:

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/house ... rce=refine

The old Adam Smith analysis always holds true, but the huge increase in the number of private homes bought to let has reduced the number of homes available to buy. People are now having to rent homes that at one time they would have bought. When I moved to my current house there were no rented homes nearby except for a few council houses. Now, the house next door is rented. The house behind ours is rented. Both owned by retired people and no longer available to buy for people wanting their own house. The housing stock is in fewer and fewer hands.

[Oldjohnw]

No doubt immigration has some impact on housing but the sheer numbers of homes taken out of use (Air bmb, second homes, holiday let's) plus a lack of social housing with a rising population is the main reason for shortage of housing

Too much money chasing too few houses and too easy loans causes prices to rise, especially when accompanied by daft government policies and a London-centric economy.

[kwackers]

No doubt immigration has some impact on housing but the sheer numbers of homes taken out of use (Air bmb, second homes, holiday let's) plus a lack of social housing with a rising population is the main reason for shortage of housing

Too much money chasing too few houses and too easy loans causes prices to rise, especially when accompanied by daft government policies and a London-centric economy.

I think one of the biggest changes since when I wer a lad is women working.
Whilst they worked back then mostly they did part time, low paid work to earn a few shekels whilst looking after the kids.
House prices were mainly set around that scenario.

Now jobs are far more evenly split, it's far from uncommon for a household to have two well paying jobs and consequently more money for houses.
This also adds inflationary pressure on house prices.
Overall it's a huge pot of ingredients that all add to the inflationary pressure of houses.

Then lets not forget expectation.
In my last house (modern 4 bed detached, double garage) a friend from work called round who was currently looking for a house. He was aghast at how I could afford such a house when he was 'forced' to be looking at 3 bed semi's and even then reckoned it was a struggle.
Trouble was he was over 20 years younger than me, 20 years prior to that I didn't own a house and my first house was a 3 bed semi that I struggled to pay the mortgage on too.
I told him this but I don't think it helped, I think logically he could see the sense but morally he saw himself as having a similar job to mine (albeit a jnr) so felt he should have the same benefits.

[al_yrpal]

Higher prices forced by housing shortage caused by population growth.
Al

Higher house prices are a result of greater ability to pay for a commodity that is always in short supply due to its nature (non-elastic supply). Greater ability to pay is partly due to the increased availability of credit and the loosening of lending limits, partly due to rising salaries and partly due to parental capital. House prices mainly reflect local earnings: when they don't, prices fall. Nobody on average local earnings can be "forced out of the housing market" - they are in effect creating it. Population growth and immigration cannot of themselves increase prices - people need the requisite salary/earnings to pay the higher price.

Anyway here are some houses for people worried about house prices:

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/house ... rce=refine

Few people want to abandon where they live, their friends and family to relocate to somewhere where there is little work just to own a house.

Shortages of a desirable commodity regardless of reason leads to higher prices, basic economic truth... At least the government is making things tougher for private landlords and a few are starting to pack it in and toying with investing. The Sheeple will eventually catch on.

Al

[PDQ Mobile]

Higher prices forced by housing shortage caused by population growth. Main reason I voted leave. But, virtually unrestricted immigration from outside the EU needs the most action, it's a scandal. Employers need to pay decent wages instead of relying on impoverished EU immigrants. I am prepared to pay a fiver for a chicken, not half that, more for fruit and veg too.

That's enough

Al

It is simplistic to blame the price of homes on EU migration.
There are many factors as others have pointed out.
The availability of cheap loans and morgages combined with interest rates at sustained historically rock bottom levels have driven many British people to invest in housing.
Multiple home ownership is bound to push up prices and it's (mostly) a home grown problem.

Actually I believe at one time (still do?) you personally owned more than one home.
What was your solution to being part of the problem?
For it is a dilemma for some "baby boomers".

[iandriver]

Extremely low interest rates have had a big impact. It stopped the repossessions that happened in the 80s property crash, but it also stopped the prices realigning. It also made a second property very attractive at a time when savings couldn't be made to even keep up with inflation.

In Cambridge in particular, you are seeing new blocks of flats built and they are never coming onto the market. The whole development will be bought by a property investment company and they go straight to rent. Same problem London has. The money comes from all over the world, Russia, China, it goes on and on. Individuals can't compete with that. There seems the be very little will politically by successive UK governments to control it.

[francovendee]

Lucky, yes lucky in some ways but nothing was given to me apart from opportunity, sadly lacking for some.
House prices today at unaffordable levels for average wage earners.
I, like many others, I saved hard to get a deposit together and didn't have much in the way of possessions when we moved in. The thought of finding the repayments each month for 25 years was quite scary.

Al blames immigration for the pressure on housing but I think this is just part of the problem.
During the 50's West Indians were encouraged to move to the UK and do the jobs nobody wanted to do.
We then had Kenya and Uganda's Asian population told to leave and many ended up in the UK.
Asian populations in the UK have brought family members over quite legally for many years.
More recently we've had a large influx of people from eastern Europe.
The point is the Government made no provision for these people or the effect their arrival would have on the people already living in the area.
No wonder people have been angry with immigration but their anger should be with successive Governments not foreseeing this and making efforts to provide the housing, schools, hospitals etc.
When Maggie sold off the council houses without building more to replace them just added to the pressure/cost of housing and it aint got any better.
With job security, pensions and education we Baby Boomers are lucky.

[merseymouth]

Hi Kwackers, Spot on! I was always the lesser wage earner in our marriage, back to leaving school with only swimming certificates, whilst my wife was a teacher with a "Salary"!
No rush for children, after 5+ years had the girl child. Wife only had short maternity leave after the birth. When nursery antics seemed to be reaching a crisis point the firm I worked for went down the pan, so we switched my name to dominant one of Child Benefit Book, transferred my tax allowance over to SWMBO, something that is no longer possible? So I was that "Male Housewife", variation on "I Was a Male War Bride" with Cary Grant.
That action gave me protected status with regards to pension rights. Later when girl child left school I took up part-time work, paying my own N.I. stamp. Daughter went to Poly/Uni, before too long I was of pensionable age, so I became a "Professional Cyclist", well HMG paid for my leisure time cycling.
The current position of housing shortage in general has numerous factors, but "Buy To Let" pension pots have a serious effect!
Immigration has a part to play in social housing need, where Owner Occupancy is less dominant, but the buy to let has powered rent rises by "Private Developers", so getting a roof over one's head is hard enough, getting a foot on the property ladder is way beyond resources!
Of course the Corbyinista Policy of wide scale "Council House Building" may entice many to opt for it, but unless they un-stitch the Tha*c*er "Right To Buy" Laws it will all be in vain! That Tha*c*er policy is still causing serious problems.
So don't let us fall into the trap of blaming a single generation or group, politics has brought about pain as well as gain.
My quick fix? Bring Back The Pre-Fab! IGICB MM

[bigjim]

Interesting on the buy to let being a problem. I wonder how much effect it does have on the situation. When I was a youngster there were terraced streets of houses that were often on the hands of one person and the Rentman coming knocking was a regular feature on a Friday night.

[francovendee]

Interesting on the buy to let being a problem. I wonder how much effect it does have on the situation. When I was a youngster there were terraced streets of houses that were often on the hands of one person and the Rentman coming knocking was a regular feature on a Friday night.

Same here, our landlord owned 50+ houses in the same street, all terraced, two families per house. He employed a chap full time to collect the rents and carry out repairs.
All long gone, knocked down as part of slum clearance.