Housing crisis solutions

Abraxaz1 · 2 Aug 2016 at 11:20

Just looking at some of the houses in my hopefully future area, I.e. Deepest darkest west wales and the prices are taking the ****.

No jobs in the area, poor commuting routes and no amenities but still priced as if in London.

No wonder there's so much hostility towards the baby boomers.

McPhee · 2 Aug 2016 at 11:51

Xordium said:
I rent. I keep my front garden tidy. I don't make it look nice. Why bother when I could get kicked out in a few months with no recourse. Why should I add to someone else's investment.

If I had protected residency for a period then things would be very different. But as it stands the weeds are out and the lawn are cut and the edges strimed down - no more.

Same here. Rented property = do the bare minimum. No more time or money invested than absolutely necessary. The landlord takes the same view anyway - we've got leaky guttering, a leak in the conservatory, mould, and the entire property needs a bit of a refurb.

Housey · 2 Aug 2016 at 12:14

Mr Jack said:
We are the most 'housey' nation in Europe

Do I have enough votes to beat Trump do you think then ?

scorza · 2 Aug 2016 at 12:21

Xordium said:
I rent. I keep my front garden tidy. I don't make it look nice. Why bother when I could get kicked out in a few months with no recourse. Why should I add to someone else's investment.

If I had protected residency for a period then things would be very different. But as it stands the weeds are out and the lawn are cut and the edges strimed down - no more.

Yeah I don't blame people for not doing so, but it does tend to detract from the neighbourhood. That's why I think encouraging owner-occupation is so important for society at general - these people tend to care about their area a lot more than tenants.

VincentHanna · 2 Aug 2016 at 12:29

Xordium said:
I rent. I keep my front garden tidy. I don't make it look nice. Why bother when I could get kicked out in a few months with no recourse. Why should I add to someone else's investment.

If I had protected residency for a period then things would be very different. But as it stands the weeds are out and the lawn are cut and the edges strimed down - no more.

Same here.

My own landlord can't be bothered to invest in the property, so why should I?

House is 8 years old. Bathroom needs re-doing as tiles are coming up and the screen-door occasionally leaks water over the floor. The toilet has to be fully flushed (short/long flush system) otherwise it runs constantly. Gutters are all blocked up etc etc.

To be fair our rent is significantly lower than the standard rates for the area, and they don't care if you have pets.

StriderX · 2 Aug 2016 at 12:59

d_brennen said:
Capitalists are all fine and dandy with eachother until the status quo swings too far one way. If what you suggest happens, I'm sure people higher up the food chain will turn the screw on the private B2L landlords

The economy is basically dependent on people's ability and willingness to buy houses at enormous amounts of money

Well it would really suck if people... just stopped, right? RIGHT?

/muhahhaha society. :mad:

UTmaniac · 2 Aug 2016 at 14:14

If only the government could put an instant freeze on buying and renting prices, then as wages increase, housing will gradually become more affordable. Eventually using private renting as an income then becomes inviable, landlords then sell properties, further reducing the UK housing pressure pot.

Scam · 2 Aug 2016 at 14:16

scorza said:
Yeah I don't blame people for not doing so, but it does tend to detract from the neighbourhood. That's why I think encouraging owner-occupation is so important for society at general - these people tend to care about their area a lot more than landlords.

I fixed it for you. (Seriously, why don't landlords get more blame for properties running into disrepair?)

Anyways, you got it wrong. We don't need to encourage home-ownership, we need to fixes tenant's rights. Once long-term tenancies and improved rights become the norm, the rest will sort itself out.

Dr Jack · 2 Aug 2016 at 15:35

Scam said:
Anyways, you got it wrong. We don't need to encourage home-ownership, we need to fixes tenant's rights. Once long-term tenancies and improved rights become the norm, the rest will sort itself out.

Yeah, this is probably the most important factor. There's no reason for renting to be as bad as it is in the UK.

Rroff · 2 Aug 2016 at 15:50

Rifte said:
I really hope I am wrong, but I believe it would be a really small minority.

I've always been surprised based on talking to colleagues at work how few (even those relatively well paid) have any kind of real savings or even significant credit ability. Many struggle if their wage isn't paid on time let alone if they were to lose their job.

StriderX · 2 Aug 2016 at 16:12

The Credit will dry up again when the banks realise what a monumental fart they have made giving everyone "free" money.

Wont be long now either, i give it two years max before say citibank collapses or something.

VincentHanna · 2 Aug 2016 at 16:19

It's weird, my Dad had a mortgage that was paying him interest at one point!

Scam · 2 Aug 2016 at 17:13

Here's a rage-inducing article from a NIMBY baby boomer at the Independent :rolleyes:

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices...ve-your-entitlement-at-the-door-a7167961.html

do_ron_ron · 2 Aug 2016 at 17:33

Scam said:
Here's a rage-inducing article from a NIMBY baby boomer at the Independent

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices...ve-your-entitlement-at-the-door-a7167961.html

That article was aimed at people like you. Nothing in that piece that is not common sense.

dalehitchy1 · 2 Aug 2016 at 17:43

Doesn't one of the Scandinavian countries have a one purchase limit rule or something like that?

Scam · 2 Aug 2016 at 17:54

do_ron_ron said:
That article was aimed at people like you. Nothing in that piece that is not common sense.

There's so much wrong with his attitude I haven't got the time to pick it apart.

Even the opening salvo misses the blindingly obvious.

In other countries, notably Germany, the fetish of home ownership is nowhere near as developed as it is in this country, and they hardly suffer as a result.

The "fetish" of home-ownership is only due to the poor tenant's rights that we endure in this country. Thinking that tenants only want to buy a home for some sort of "fetish" (or profit, showing-off etc.) is just wrong. He should know that.

Get real. Forget about owning property as of right. Look around you. Get some perspective. Before the last war it was the norm in many families that newlyweds in their twenties would actually live with their parents or in-laws so they could save money and build up a deposit. They would open a building society account to show that they were capable of making sacrifices and could keep up the repayments in good times and bad.

He says this like "young" people are off spunking their hard-earned up against the wall with beer and hookers. There are plenty of stats showing more than ever people are being forced to move back in with their parents because they cannot afford to rent, let alone be able to save for a deposit. Why doesn't he mention that saving is relatively futile when house prices are rising faster than wages? In some areas, bricks and mortar are earning more than the average salary. The idea of saving to keep up with that is laughable.

It's just written in such a way to get an angry response, that much is obvious.

Rroff · 2 Aug 2016 at 18:00

Scam said:
Here's a rage-inducing article from a NIMBY baby boomer at the Independent

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices...ve-your-entitlement-at-the-door-a7167961.html

Funny how they assume anyone complaining = entitlement and while sure there are some people who will feel they should be handed a house on a plate there are plenty of people who are willing to put some effort and sacrifices in and still struggling.

Scam said:
Why doesn't he mention that saving is relatively futile when house prices are rising faster than wages? In some areas, bricks and mortar are earning more than the average salary. The idea of saving to keep up with that is laughable.

I moved back to my parents 10 years ago now partly with the intention of saving towards a house and if I'd been taking it seriously (and for some of my friends it was) the first few years I was basically watching my savings towards a deposit treading water - in the long run I've done alright but I feel for those who really needed to get on the ladder while trying to make ends meet with ever increasing rent, etc. as well.

UTmaniac · 2 Aug 2016 at 18:06

Would be interesting to see the average rent in countries where a majority of houses are rented, compared to the average wage.

£600+pcm rents in Southampton are now very common at the low end of the market (second most uneconomical university town for students in recent article IIRC), anyone living alone on minimum wage doing less than a 30-hour week has very little left for anything else after rent; basic utilities; food.

Scam · 2 Aug 2016 at 18:07

Rroff said:
Funny how they assume anyone complaining = entitlement and while sure there are some people who will feel they should be handed a house on a plate there are plenty of people who are willing to put some effort and sacrifices in and still struggling.

Yep. The baby boomers are the most entitled group in this argument.

Entitled to free further education
Entitled to council houses
Entitled to buy a house in their early twenties
Entitled to jobs for life
Entitled to final salary pensions
Entitled to a second home nest-egg
Entitled to rising house prices

That's just off the top of my head.

Rroff · 2 Aug 2016 at 18:16

Hmm looking at my old flat in London - which I paid around £600 deposit and IIRC started at £690/m or something and went upto around £800/m by the time I left - you now need a deposit of £1731 and the flats in the complex are £1250-1500/m. Meanwhile the kind of jobs I moved to that area for are paying around £5000 less than they used to :S

Feel sorry for anyone born there trying to get their own place without a really good job.