Cornwall's broken housing market

[Sythe79]

No, it wouldn't, you can't just replace financial services like that. No one is stopping anyone from opening up offices in Manchester, Birmingham etc.. it would be far cheaper to both rent the space and employ people for the start in reality financial service orgs tend to just stick IT and back office stuff in second-tier cities, the talent is in London. Likewise, the EU was hoping for a far bigger slice of the pie split across Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam etc..

up until the 70s, the average wage was higher in Birmingham than London. it was a conscious decision to pump up London and the south-east at the expense of the rest of the country, look up where the banking centres of the country actually were, 2 of the big 4 were Birmingham based..

You have it the wrong way around the talent isn't in London forcing companies to be there, the companies were encouraged to move their forcing the talent to move.

 

[Mr Badger]

I know it's different. But if we've arbitrarily decided that nobody has the "divine right" to live in the county of their birth, then why do they have the "divine right" to live in the country of their birth?

Surely the same logic applies. And if everywhere in the UK is too expensive, then that same logic must say, "Move away from the UK, then!"

To me it's just a convenient way to ignore the broken system, to avoid also the consequences of fixing it. For the "haves" to continue having, and to be able to basically put all the blame on the door of the individual, in the case of the "have nots". And to say that an easy solution is just to go somewhere better.

Do you think the current trends in the UK will be good news long term? Do you think current trends are even slightly sustainable?

To be fair, the idea of relocating to a cheaper country might actually be something ordinary working people could do if we could persuade a block of our neighbouring countries to cooperate in some sort of union/single market that allowed the free movement of goods, capital, services and people.

 

[Voltar]

That’s a hot take. Your whole support network might be in that city or very close by. Friends, family, your employment.

That’s an obsolete ideal. So because everyone I know lives in Kensington I must live there too?

It should not be so different to grasp that you don’t get to live in an area that you cannot afford.
The attitude among so many is a bit like- I want to fly first class because my mate does all the time. Because there will be no first class for me, there will be no first class for anyone.

 

[413x]

I think pretty locations like Cornwall will be affected by the change in working pattern after COVID. For example I can work from any location in the country and still get my job done. I do work a hybrid pattern but several people at my company are fully remote and if I really needed to then I'm sure I could get agreement to work fully remote too. So people like myself can sell their houses in the South East, move to Cornwall, the Lake District, etc, etc, and still continue to work at their London based job. That must push rural prices up. I've wanted to do it for a while but we have other reasons to stay here (my wife can't work fully remote and my son has friends, girlfriend and school here).

Certainly for us our next move is going to be super rural.
Luckily house prices where I want to be are relatively low.. For now.

 

[moon man]

Certainly for us our next move is going to be super rural.
Luckily house prices where I want to be are relatively low.. For now.

Weirdly super rural was the cheapest option for me at the time but some can't hack it, we have no shops here at all and 1 pub but damn it's quiet, traffic free and 20 mins from amazing beaches but I've seen so many townies try it and move on

 

[413x]

Weirdly super rural was the cheapest option for me at the time but some can't hack it, we have no shops here at all and 1 pub but damn it's quiet, traffic free and 20 mins from amazing beaches but I've seen so many townies try it and move on

The coast here is out of reach financially, but luckily I prefer forest/hills. If you can't have a beach view, I don't want to live in a coastal town. Coast is great in summer, but can be a bit grim in winter.
Its still expensive here on coast, obviously, but you don't have to far in south Wales for prices to plummet.

I'm surprised south Wales isn't more expensive actually. It's a beautiful place with so much to do. More than Cornwall for variation. But I suppose most with money just want a beach view. And Cornwall has amazing coastline and lots of it.

 

[moon man]

The coast here is out of reach financially, but luckily I prefer forest/hills. If you can't have a beach view, I don't want to live in a coastal town. Coast is great in summer, but can be a bit grim in winter.
Its still expensive here on coast, obviously, but you don't have to far in south Wales for prices to plummet.

I'm surprised south Wales isn't more expensive actually. It's a beautiful place with so much to do. More than Cornwall for variation. But I suppose most with money just want a beach view. And Cornwall has amazing coastline and lots of it.

Yeah did some house hunting around south Wales when we thought Cornwall was impossible but it didn't work out, but agree,some amazing places there , we had made ourselves homeless by then so moved down to Devon then here with a lucky break

 

[ci_newman]

The coast here is out of reach financially, but luckily I prefer forest/hills. If you can't have a beach view, I don't want to live in a coastal town. Coast is great in summer, but can be a bit grim in winter.
Its still expensive here on coast, obviously, but you don't have to far in south Wales for prices to plummet.

I'm surprised south Wales isn't more expensive actually. It's a beautiful place with so much to do. More than Cornwall for variation. But I suppose most with money just want a beach view. And Cornwall has amazing coastline and lots of it.

The main reason is the road network to / from south Wales. In the last decade, Cornwall and Devon has had a significant investment in its road network the help make the journey faster - something large parts of south Wales is lacking.

The improved road network is probably having an equal impact on housing costs too as it becomes more accessible

 

[cheesyboy]

The real entitlement is thinking you are "owed" affordable housing where you want it. Well, tough, that's not how the world works (unfortunately - I do sympathise, to an extent), and unless you're planning on changing how the world works, then "just moving" seems like one of the very few realistic options.

Not so long ago, that was how the world worked. 40 years ago, one third of the UK lived in council houses, and everyone else had a housing market which was affordable.

Actual political choices were made, and continue to be made, to create the housing market conditions we now see.

You speak like it's inevitable, when it's actually by design.

Of course, for those of us living in it now, you do have to make your own way. But it's very sad that "just move" becomes the only option.

 

[413x]

The main reason is the road network to / from south Wales. In the last decade, Cornwall and Devon has had a significant investment in its road network the help make the journey faster - something large parts of south Wales is lacking.

The improved road network is probably having an equal impact on housing costs too as it becomes more accessible

It was still not great when we went down in august. But there was a load of work being done near Perranporth.

I drove back from Rhossili last night thinking... Thank **** for the m4! Without it, south west Wales would be a weekend trip not a day trip.

 

[ci_newman]

Not so long ago, that was how the world worked. 40 years ago, one third of the UK lived in council houses, and everyone else had a housing market which was affordable.

Actual political choices were made, and continue to be made, to create the housing market conditions we now see.

You speak like it's inevitable, when it's actually by design.

Of course, for those of us living in it now, you do have to make your own way. But it's very sad that "just move" becomes the only option.

I think almost everyone is going to agree with you, but shouting at the sky isn't going to fix anything unfortunately.

All of the major Government parties are singing from the same hymn sheet, so you either play the game or you lose. There is no middle ground sadly (aside from investing yourself into a career in politics)

 

[nightwish]

Not so long ago, that was how the world worked. 40 years ago, one third of the UK lived in council houses, and everyone else had a housing market which was affordable.

Actual political choices were made, and continue to be made, to create the housing market conditions we now see.

You speak like it's inevitable, when it's actually by design.

Of course, for those of us living in it now, you do have to make your own way. But it's very sad that "just move" becomes the only option.

That's true, but why did, and do, political parties make those choices? Because it gets them votes. In a democracy, we, the people as a whole, are ultimately to blame for a great deal of the issues we find ourselves with.

shouting at the sky isn't going to fix anything unfortunately.

My previous point entirely. Lost on some it seems, who would rather shout at the sky.

 

[Freakbro]

Sat there meekly eating your **** sandwich doesn't seem like a preferable solution either.

I'd rather shout and moan about it whilst getting on playing the deck as it is.

 

[chrcoluk]

Should the title be "englands broken housing market"?

 

[nightwish]

Sat there meekly eating your **** sandwich doesn't seem like a preferable solution either.

I'd rather shout and moan about it whilst getting on playing the deck as it is.

Feel completely free to shout and moan about it! But the difference between shouting and moaning about it and meekly eating your sandwich is naff all in practice. Nothing will change either way. If you want something to change, you may have to be the change you want to see, or at least make the attempt.

 

[adam cool dude]

No, it wouldn't, you can't just replace financial services like that. No one is stopping anyone from opening up offices in Manchester, Birmingham etc.. it would be far cheaper to both rent the space and employ people for the start in reality financial service orgs tend to just stick IT and back office stuff in second-tier cities, the talent is in London. Likewise, the EU was hoping for a far bigger slice of the pie split across Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam etc..

It was a hypothetical alternate reality rather than an idea. You cannot change what has happened in the past 30-40 years but if you went back decades and decided to spread it out more we would have had a far more prosperous country than focusing all your eggs in one basket. They are starting to do it a little with Manchester to put some focus on the north and it is of no surprise to me that it is the biggest outside of London and the Southeast (Which is technically all linked to London anyway).

The problem you are going to have with London in the not too distant future will be social collapse as none of the working class people will be able to afford to live there and you will have a break down of essential services. You are already seeing glimpses of this. You wouldn't have that problem if everything was spread out evenly.

 

[HangTime]

I know it's different. But if we've arbitrarily decided that nobody has the "divine right" to live in the county of their birth, then why do they have the "divine right" to live in the country of their birth?

Because you have citizenship of a country, not a county.

Do you think current trends are even slightly sustainable?

Yes, in the sense that it's already been this way for some time, so is at least "slightly" sustainable. To me it's more sustainable to have a [moderately] free market than imposing some arbitrary constraints to keep prices low in popular parts of the country with limited supply, resulting in everyone living on top of each other in concentrated sections of our limited land space. What should happen is that equilibrium factors start to apply thus raising the desirability of other areas. London is sort of an advanced microcosm of this situation, central areas grew too expensive so people moved further out, driving big regeneration and gentrification schemes. Places that were once deemed cesspits are now places people are happy to live.

If we are talking sustainability, with a growing population, we have no option but to expand our pool of living spaces, not just sustain piling everyone into your childhood hamlet at rock-bottom prices.

 

[Quartz]

Not so long ago, that was how the world worked. 40 years ago, one third of the UK lived in council houses, and everyone else had a housing market which was affordable.

Don't forget that the UK's population has gone up by 10 million - largely immigration - since then. Plus people are increasingly living alone, so the need for houses has (ahem) gone through the roof.

But I suppose most with money just want a beach view. And Cornwall has amazing coastline and lots of it.

As long as you just want a view, you should try NE Scotland. Granted, I wouldn't try the water without a wetsuit!

 

[413x]

Don't forget that the UK's population has gone up by 10 million - largely immigration - since then. Plus people are increasingly living alone, so the need for houses has (ahem) gone through the roof.



As long as you just want a view, you should try NE Scotland. Granted, I wouldn't try the water without a wetsuit!

If climate change makes Scotland a bit drier (unlikely) I'd love to live there.


Better sea views
Better woodland views
Better mountain views
And better views on brexit

Also. Right to roam is a big appeal for myself.

 

[cheesyboy]

Don't forget that the UK's population has gone up by 10 million - largely immigration - since then. Plus people are increasingly living alone, so the need for houses has (ahem) gone through the roof.

Don't forget that the UK population grew slower over the past 40 years than it did the preceding 40.

And that house building was at half the annual rate for the past 40 compared to the previous 40.

It's policy.