Are earnings too low / living costs getting too high??

Boycey0211 · 20 Mar 2017 at 00:36

daz87uk said:
Well what I can save with what little money I have is just how I manage it. but housing pricing are far out of reach. The government subsidise water bills here as they are so damn high. I admit I got lucky with this house as was in a flat for ages and living with parents mostly. 50k for a 3 bedroom house in 1996 and I live on the same estate now in the newer homes but those older homes are now 250 /300k.... wayyyy out of my reach and they are basic starter homes. Would love a 20k job down ere

It was more the point that you're quite happy to spend what £600 on a graphics card? And I'm not sure how much Ryzen is but say £150 to be safe. You're spending £600 on rent which is unavoidable admittedly but even a mortgage would be less than that. I know the response will be 'but I haven't got the deposit for a mortgage!' Well no, but you've got lots of shiney pc bits instead...

The housing market isn't going to come back down to 50k to meet you so you need to think about the future now. That 1080ti will be worth naff all in 3-4 years..

StriderX · 20 Mar 2017 at 00:51

We should think like the Japanese do and be purely concerned about keeping the buildings up to liveable standards rather than the difficult to heat/damp ridden holes we have.

daz87uk · 20 Mar 2017 at 00:53

Boycey0211 said:
It was more the point that you're quite happy to spend what £600 on a graphics card? And I'm not sure how much Ryzen is but say £150 to be safe. You're spending £600 on rent which is unavoidable admittedly but even a mortgage would be less than that. I know the response will be 'but I haven't got the deposit for a mortgage!' Well no, but you've got lots of shiney pc bits instead...

The housing market isn't going to come back down to 50k to meet you so you need to think about the future now. That 1080ti will be worth naff all in 3-4 years..

daz87uk · 20 Mar 2017 at 01:45

Id prefer to have some comforts and live in a home not save everything to just exist. Yeah it's dead money but by no means am I not saving for a deposit. I have managed to furnish the place and get buy, I save money in loads of other ways. I do all maintence on my car, I've repaired the tv circuit board to cut £100 repair bill, carpeted and put flooring down myself So yup getting myself a gaming pc but regardless of recent spend binge that will end now and go back to just saving. It's going to take a awhile. I know many others who are far worse off down here.

Vonhelmet · 20 Mar 2017 at 06:54

Meridian said:
Is it me, or has this turned into a game of "look how much money I get paid"? The only people in this thread who state their wage are all paid well above the median.

I wouldn't normally discuss my earnings, but it's the only way I can convey the disparity between earnings and house purchasing power as I'm aware of it. And part of my point is that if I have poor purchasing power then those earning closer to the median or below it have no chance.

moon man · 20 Mar 2017 at 08:08

daz87uk said:
Well what I can save with what little money I have is just how I manage it. but housing pricing are far out of reach. The government subsidise water bills here as they are so damn high. I admit I got lucky with this house as was in a flat for ages and living with parents mostly. 50k for a 3 bedroom house in 1996 and I live on the same estate now in the newer homes but those older homes are now 250 /300k.... wayyyy out of my reach and they are basic starter homes. Would love a 20k job down ere

yes wages are terrible down here but having moved down 3 years ago from yorkshire finding bills a lot cheaper £18 mnth water rates oil heating cheaper council tax.
also found houses amazingly cheap if you really looked out of the populated areas ,so much so that i paid cash for the house (always had rubbish jobs and on under 15k now) 200ft plot outbuildings virtually traffic free. on the other hand low end jobs are easy to get and i have an alternating 4day 3day weekend ,no expensive hobbies i.e walking cycling bodyboarding (although did spend £125 on sunglasses last week so have the odd treat)

gitbags · 20 Mar 2017 at 09:01

moon man said:
yes wages are terrible down here but having moved down 3 years ago from yorkshire finding bills a lot cheaper £18 mnth water rates oil heating cheaper council tax.
also found houses amazingly cheap if you really looked out of the populated areas ,so much so that i paid cash for the house (always had rubbish jobs and on under 15k now) 200ft plot outbuildings virtually traffic free. on the other hand low end jobs are easy to get and i have an alternating 4day 3day weekend ,no expensive hobbies i.e walking cycling bodyboarding (although did spend £125 on sunglasses last week so have the odd treat)

Tell me your secrets, how are you managing £18pm water rates in Cornwall? My rates were over £200 per quarter, so i moved to a meter.

moon man · 20 Mar 2017 at 09:08

gitbags said:
Tell me your secrets, how are you managing £18pm water rates in Cornwall? My rates were over £200 per quarter, so i moved to a meter.

ha yes the secret is the few of us who share the hillside have a cess pit somewhere maybe the odd £15 to empty per year so we dont pay that aspect of the bill

dr_volki · 20 Mar 2017 at 10:57

just checked out my postcode. we are currently renting, been in this house since 2009. we started off paying £650/m and currently pay £800/m.
similar house to mine was sold last year in may for £200k, only difference is, it doesn't have a private garden. http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-pr...l?prop=29661634&sale=68670231&country=england

this is where people will probably disagree with me, but i don't see the point in buying something small to get on the ladder first and work you way up (maybe i'm wrong. somebody can happily do the numbers for me).
i'd rather buy at least a 2-bed house / flat as my first property than a 1bed property, reasoning i'm married and the wife wants a kid in a couple of years.

however looking a this house at £200k last year, we'd need £20k just a deposit (10%), which by the time i would have saved this up will most likely be a lot higher (% based not £££).
just did a quick scan on the newbury building society website and the mortgage is coming out at around £834 a month (not too bad). little info the house i linked above is currently on the market for £850/m to rent.

due to me thinking i'd need to buy bigger i checked my postcode again for what's currently on the market. only specification i gave was more than 1 bedroom.
well i got 1 property. 2-bed house at £310k :eek:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-65122874.html

note: my wife earns low 20k region, while i earn mid £30k.

sorry for the rambling

antijoke · 20 Mar 2017 at 11:06

A three bedroom house in this area sold for £275,000 in 2011, on the 4th Jan 2017 it sold for £401,000.

:eek:

Another 2 bedroom house in the area sold for £94,000 in 2002, in 2016 that same house sold for £187,500.

House prices are out of control.

Rightmove report:

In the past year house prices in Stratford-Upon-Avon were 7% up on the year before and 15% up on 2014 when they averaged at £298,819.

grudas · 20 Mar 2017 at 11:15

antijoke said:
A three bedroom house in this area sold for £275,000 in 2011, on the 4th Jan 2017 it sold for £401,000.

Another 2 bedroom house in the area sold for £94,000 in 2002, in 2016 that same house sold for £187,500.

House prices are out of control.

try the house next door to me..

2014 feb - 265k
2016 dec - 370k

antijoke · 20 Mar 2017 at 11:22

Holy ****, that's not bad for under two years.

Madwelsh · 20 Mar 2017 at 12:51

I totally agree that house prices are totally out of control, my folks waded in with some of their savings so me and the missus could by our first house to the tune of £30k to top up our deposit. Our house was bought for 225k nov 2011, according to zoopla it's gone to near 300k in 5 years. This is also without the improvements we've made to the garden, summerhouse etc. So I'd be fully expecting to be looking for a 100k increase, could I be managing to save for a deposit to keep track with how much the price has risen? No way, our household income is maybe 50k ish a year with 2 kids, even with help from my folks and saving what we were in our old place, I'd be looking at maybe 240k max.

It is fine saying move to a better paid job etc, but when you have kids at school etc it's an enormous undertaking. We are currently not saving at all, well we use all savings to come off the mortgage as overpayment (it's a flexi), it's getting us the best no risk bang for buck at the minute.

Scam · 20 Mar 2017 at 13:27

antijoke said:
Holy ****, that's not bad for under two years.

I always wheel this example out, but there's a house around the corner from me that has earned on average £60k for the last 19 years. Utter lunacy and the sad thing is it probably goes for most houses in my area (zone 3, west London). That's more than a salary. For 19 years. Madness.

Sold prices;
£1,465,000 26 Mar 2014 4 bedrooms
£875,000 05 Oct 2007
£310,000 23 Oct 1996

I'm sure there's some flats that have made a tidy profit in the last few years. I know our landlords bought our flat in 2007 for probably £270k, I'd say it's now worth over £700k. Makes me sick.

SpeedFreak · 20 Mar 2017 at 13:27

Boycey0211 said:
It was more the point that you're quite happy to spend what £600 on a graphics card? And I'm not sure how much Ryzen is but say £150 to be safe. You're spending £600 on rent which is unavoidable admittedly but even a mortgage would be less than that. I know the response will be 'but I haven't got the deposit for a mortgage!' Well no, but you've got lots of shiney pc bits instead...

The housing market isn't going to come back down to 50k to meet you so you need to think about the future now. That 1080ti will be worth naff all in 3-4 years..

Unless he has spent 50k on PC components I think it's a bit unfair to criticise.

We bought in 2012 for 250k and similar houses are selling for 410k. It is crazy. Yes I could afford to buy my house now and people would argue that interest rates make it as affordable, but in 5 years time I highly doubt the rates will be where they are now and I would still have an extra 160k of a mortgage accruing interest.

krooton · 20 Mar 2017 at 13:53

1 bed new-build flat bought for £150k in 2010, sold for £300k in 2015.

Sure, it was nice and big as far as 1 bed new builds go, but it was ground floor in Zone 4 London, no way that it should have doubled in value.

dowie · 20 Mar 2017 at 18:01

krooton said:
1 bed new-build flat bought for £150k in 2010, sold for £300k in 2015.

Sure, it was nice and big as far as 1 bed new builds go, but it was ground floor in Zone 4 London, no way that it should have doubled in value.

Why not? Mine nearly doubled in value from 2012 to 2016

FoxEye · 20 Mar 2017 at 22:13

dowie said:
Why not? Mine nearly doubled in value from 2012 to 2016

Are you for real?

What happens when prices double but wages stagnate? Not hard to figure it out, is it.

You keep saying that if a person can't afford to buy a house it's because they haven't been smart enough or worked hard enough, and they don't deserve it. Over and over.

But currently the % of home owners is decreasing, and the % of renters is increasing. What will you be saying when 50% of people can no longer afford to buy? What will you be saying when 60% can't afford to buy? 75%?

Will you still be banging the drum of "only the deserving can buy houses", or will you acknowledge that we *are* screwing a significant minority of workers today, and that we will be screwing an increasingly large minority in the future?

norm · 20 Mar 2017 at 22:23

Prices aren't sustainable.

Either cheap credit will have to stay around indefinitely. Or wages will have to increase significantly. And neither look likely.

Once the first time buyers are priced out of the market there will be little movement up the chain, and those wishing to upsize will be stuck and those selling at the top will inevitably have to drop price and it'll cascade down from there.

That's why the gov gave ridiculous 40% equity loans in London to sustain the bubble.

Boycey0211 · 20 Mar 2017 at 22:24

FoxEye said:
Are you for real?

What happens when prices double but wages stagnate? Not hard to figure it out, is it.

You keep saying that if a person can't afford to buy a house it's because they haven't been smart enough or worked hard enough, and they don't deserve it. Over and over.

But currently the % of home owners is decreasing, and the % of renters is increasing. What will you be saying when 50% of people can no longer afford to buy? What will you be saying when 60% can't afford to buy? 75%?

Will you still be banging the drum of "only the deserving can buy houses", or will you acknowledge that we *are* screwing a significant minority of workers today, and that we will be screwing an increasingly large minority in the future?

I get where you're coming from, but on the flipside what is the requirement to make houses available to buy for people who are happy working for minimum wage?

Thats not aimed at you or any other poster btw, but it is a fact that some people are happy living hand to mouth. Why are they more entitled to affordable housing than those who have made an effort to get ahead?