Cornwall's broken housing market

Werewolf said:
It's 45 minutes each way after a 12 hour shift. That's probably going to work out at closer to 14 hours a day away from the house.
Two young children (under 5)
It's 45 minutes away from the support network for the family, so no more ability to have the grandparents/uncles etc to easily pick the older kid up from school if there is a doctors appointment, no easy ability to have baby sitters etc*.
It's an entirely new school for the older child who already has issues and has just started settling into his current school (the new place is small enough it looks like they only have one small middle school, same for primary and no upper).
It's an entirely new GP's practice for his partner who has spent several years starting to find out what some medical issues she has are, and potential treatments (I can't actually see any GP's within several miles of where they'll be).

45 minutes isn't a terrible commute if it's something you've chosen and taken into account when you've looked for your job.
When the move also removes you from every element of support you've got, and at the same time massively increases the load on your partner that's an issue.

As I think I said, it's also going to require them to get a second car as the local services are pretty poor, and with 2 under fives getting on the few busses is going to problematic.

He's grateful for the chance, but at the same time it's going to be a very difficult change for them to make and it's going to make their lives more difficult in many regards, but it's the only option they've got and he's probably going to have to look for a new job if they do move as he'll probably need to be at home more to assist in childcare.

In short, yeah 45 minute commutes aren't too uncommon, but it's definitely not something you can just shrug off. He specifically quit his old job a few years back to get one closer to home when the first little one was on the way (and lucked out into a job that was actually better paid and has good bosses, most of the work around here is minimum wage).


*At the moment they live within 10-15 minutes walk of myself, my sister (his mum), his father and another uncle so if there is any problem they've litteraly got help minutes away
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Sounds like they perhaps should have considered the impact of having kids more thoroughly
 
I did a 45 minute + commute each way for a job which was on a 12 hour shift. I did it for 1 year on the premise that we would sell up and move there. Turned out the job was a stress kettle to the max. Whilst not nice you get through it. I take you don't work 5 days a week?

Getting a council house of any description is good. Especially with rental prices of today. I wouldn't let it go tbh. You can find a new job closer whilst you commute.
 
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JonRGV250 said:
We've done this to death on another thread, but go on.
When my EPC comes into affect in 2027 I'm going to have to sell because it's impossible to meet the criteria, and I haven't put up the rent, nor will I ever as long as my tenant looks after the place (as she has for the last few years).
So, please tell me how I'm entitled or I'm entrapping someone, especially as I'm charging way way less rent than I could command?
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The spending for the EPC will be capped at 10k worst case scenario. Surely that's better than selling and getting hit with capital gains tax.

There are reasons why you're charging less rent and it's not because you're charitable. Demanding more rent comes with property improvements, taking on a new tenant which brings risk etc.
 
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keyser van someone said:
My parents got a mortgage in 1980 in Shirley, Solihull, then struggled when interest rates went up in the 80s. During the mid 90s when my Mum sold up (parents divorced and my Dad didn't ask for his half of the money so we could stay living there) and moved out of the area that's when the housing market was at its lowest in 'recent' years. I don't know what she sold it for but probably less than £200K.

Those houses were built during the 1930s, decent quality, solid internal walls etc, most have now been extended over the garage and out the back turning them from normal size 3 bed to huge 4+ bed houses, now worth ~£500K.

There is another long thread about this but yeah if boomers are struggling to pay bills today what's the next 2 generations gonna be like with far worse pensions, less/no savings etc? Sounds like a time bomb to me. Sounds the housing market needs to colipase as it's been living in a dream world. That means the 'haves' have less and the 'have nots' have a chance of having something again. But it won't happen coz supply and demand and there aren't enough houses.
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Its going to be a disaster.
Pensions are going to be worse.
Assets are going to be lower.
NHS may be dead.

UK will simply get poorer. And people will die earlier.

How else can it go?

I look at what my parents have with final salary pension, a house that's worth a ridiculous amount and gained a ridiculous amount.

And we won't have that.

The next generation, even less across the board.

I don't see the state of the UK getting better. If anyone has an argument as to why/how the UK can actually get better I'd love to hear it. I don't see anything else but slow decline.
 
My dad's place in Ilfracombe was bought in 1974 for £2900 - Worth today around £250k
My mum's place in Woolacombe was bought in 1979 for £50k ish. Was developed in to 8 luxury flats in 2008. The last one to sell sold for £400k a couple of years ago.

The thing to note though is not the prices, but the percentage of income.

When my dad bought his place it was around 2.5x his salary as a recently qualified teacher
Today, his place is 10x the salary of a recently qualified teacher
 
NZXT30 said:
There are reasons why you're charging less rent and it's not because you're charitable. Demanding more rent comes with property improvements, taking on a new tenant which brings risk etc.
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Whut?
Where did I mention being charitable?
I could charge way more without improving anything, not that anything needs improving as anything that needs doing on the yearly inspection gets immediately done.
In fact, what the heck are you going on about???
 
JonRGV250 said:
Whut?
Where did I mention being charitable?
I could charge way more without improving anything, not that anything needs improving as anything that needs doing on the yearly inspection gets immediately done.
In fact, what the heck are you going on about???
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Because there is absolutely no reason not to charge the market rate if you can.
 
NZXT30 said:
The spending for the EPC will be capped at 10k worst case scenario. Surely that's better than selling and getting hit with capital gains tax.

There are reasons why you're charging less rent and it's not because you're charitable. Demanding more rent comes with property improvements, taking on a new tenant which brings risk etc.
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What are those reasons, Mr Mindreader?
 
JonRGV250 said:
Are you drunk?
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:D

My last (private, or "hobbyist" as people like to say on OcUK) landlord barely increased my rent in the 6 years I was there; I kept the house in good order, gave him zero hassle, so it was in his interest to keep the relationship commercially viable for both of us.

When I moved out to emigrate, he increased the rent - significantly.
 
Rilot said:
My dad's place in Ilfracombe was bought in 1974 for £2900 - Worth today around £250k
My mum's place in Woolacombe was bought in 1979 for £50k ish. Was developed in to 8 luxury flats in 2008. The last one to sell sold for £400k a couple of years ago.

The thing to note though is not the prices, but the percentage of income.

When my dad bought his place it was around 2.5x his salary as a recently qualified teacher
Today, his place is 10x the salary of a recently qualified teacher
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12x to 15x down here is fairly common. But that's wages as well as prices. New builds (near me) are mostly up near £300k*. Not sure who can afford them.

*Where I am is about as far away from the coast as you can be, in Cornwall.
 
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Lopéz said:
My last (private, or "hobbyist" as people like to say on OcUK) landlord barely increased my rent in the 6 years I was there; I kept the house in good order, gave him zero hassle, so it was in his interest to keep the relationship commercially viable for both of us.
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@NZXT30 this is precisely why I keep the rent at the rate it’s at and don’t increase it.
I’ve no idea why something that is mutually beneficial for two people is so terribly hard for you to understand?
Why would I risk losing my perfect tenant for an extra couple of hundred quid a month?
Money really isn’t everything.
 
JonRGV250 said:
@NZXT30 this is precisely why I keep the rent at the rate it’s at and don’t increase it.
I’ve no idea why something that is mutually beneficial for two people is so terribly hard for you to understand?
Why would I risk losing my perfect tenant for an extra couple of hundred quid a month?
Money really isn’t everything.
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Hard to have a conversation with you when you get so emotional so I won't continue. Relax, it's just chit-chat.
 
There's a big political aspect to all this (everything is) but we just seem to be voting for the same party while slowly watching the train crash / 'this is fine'.

Maybe things will actually change when the boomers aren't around anymore but don't count on it.
 
413x said:
I look at what my parents have with final salary pension, a house that's worth a ridiculous amount and gained a ridiculous amount.

And we won't have that.
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Unless they're donating it to the dog's trust or something you'll have the house presumably? There are quite a lot of millennials out there who will eventually inherit large assets, in this country the government shields a large chunk of those from being used to fund care too + provides a special allowance for family homes so you can inherit up to a million basically pre-IHT.

Hopefully, a future government will overhaul planning and simply build more housing (and transportation infrastructure, we're still way behind on high-speed rail and it seems like a total farce when they to try and build it too, likely requires some legislation to prevent constant legal challenges and delays.)

Final salary pensions aren't really sustainable and it's probably a good thing they've been phased out.
 
dowie said:
Unless they're donating it to the dog's trust or something you'll have the house presumably? There are quite a lot of millennials out there who will eventually inherit large assets, in this country the government shields a large chunk of those from being used to fund care too + provides a special allowance for family homes so you can inherit up to a million basically pre-IHT.

Hopefully, a future government will overhaul planning and simply build more housing (and transportation infrastructure, we're still way behind on high-speed rail and it seems like a total farce when they to try and build it too, likely requires some legislation to prevent constant legal challenges and delays.)

Final salary pensions aren't really sustainable and it's probably a good thing they've been phased out.
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Yeah it'll be split 5 ways. (my 2 sisters and my two step siblings).

My partner would also inherit a similar (probably more) amount as there are only 2 of them.

Ive actually thought of this of late and it's made me question if it's any point saving anymore.
Ive saved up 2-3 years of being able to not need job and still pay the mortgage. And as much as I hate relying on others (I never have before, no help with deposit), it does seem a waste to be saving at cost of enjoying now.

Obviously, you never know if your parents are going to have to cash that in. But I doubt it with my step dad's pension!
 
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adam cool dude said:
I did a 45 minute + commute each way for a job which was on a 12 hour shift. I did it for 1 year on the premise that we would sell up and move there. Turned out the job was a stress kettle to the max. Whilst not nice you get through it. I take you don't work 5 days a week?

Getting a council house of any description is good. Especially with rental prices of today. I wouldn't let it go tbh. You can find a new job closer whilst you commute.
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Didn't realise 45 minutes was considered a long commute until this thread.
 
Dyson said:
Didn't realise 45 minutes was considered a long commute until this thread.
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7.5 hours a week is a significant amount of time when you can't do anything else if you're driving.

It's not too bad if it's on a train, and some sensible employers will include it in your working hours if you can do some work on a laptop during that time.
 
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