Housing crisis solutions

[Nevakonaza]

You may be interested to know it's not just that age bracket that is having problems getting on the property ladder. I know plenty of people my age who have no chance of getting on the property ladder where they live and have resigned themselves to that fact. Saying just up sticks and move is kind of a retarded answer when people have kids in schools, elderly relatives that need help, jobs which are not available elsewhere, etc.

Let's not pretend this is a problem just giving the young problems.

I agree,Its not only that age bracket i mentioned,Its a huge problem everywhere,Im 27 atm and im actually quite scared of the future because i can see myself renting forever unless i get lucky and land myself in a job that pays something bloody decent...im talking £10+ an hour.

Btw it wasn't me who said "Up sticks & move" it was on the first page i quoted it from someone else.

 

[mid_gen]

Of course it is a gauge of the countries economy. The UK building trade involves millions of people.

What you propose is those millions building housing at a zero return for ten years , but bailed out by the government ?

Where does the government get this money > the taxpayer > everyone has less money > the economy slumps.

Flat prices doesn't mean house builders don't make any money. It means they have a stable market to operate in and can invest long term without fear of another inevitable bubble bursting cycle which the UK seems incapable of avoiding.

The property market here actually functions to provide housing for people. It's relatively tightly regulated, has good tenant rights, market growth is stable which leads to good supply. It's start the visible difference in the amount of property being built versus the UK. There's also none of this ridiculous 'property ladder' nonsense here, you just rent until you buy your one home (often build it), and that's it. It quite demonstrably works where the UK fails to provide affordable housing for it' citizens.

 

[Kingdom34]

Ok my 2ps worth...my own story mixed in with the OP situation (correct me if im wrong).

So 6 years ago i bought a house worth 180k (similar to you)...me and my mate earnt less than you and your missus's around about 45k combined...We saved £10k each.

He was at home and i was renting but i was working extra hours and weekends....Sacrifice number one.

This post will be emphasising the fact you need to sacrifice.

Now if you both earn combined 50k thats £3500 take home min....if your paying rent £900 and say all other bills are £1k which includes going out etc...you have £1500 left...where is this going?

My point here is, no one is owed a house or should expect one...you have to sacrifice and you have to be grateful you earn enough to even be able to have the opportunity to obtain a mortgage for £200k.

Funny enough i moved 15 miles away from where i was brought up. I also sacrificed a few weekends going out and worked extra on those weekends...No one owes you anything mate and £200k youre lucky, where im originally from the 3 beds are 500k.

My point is, i was late 20's when i bought my first house, if youre mid 30's what have you been doing for the last 10 years?

I work with a guy in his late 30s who seems to be in a similar position to you, he always occassionally becomes negative towards the housing market, but its a dog eat dog world and he could have saved for a deposit by now in the last 15 years, but i suspect and partially know that hes been "enjoying his life"....you cant do both matey....its tough sometimes but sometimes the truth needs to be told. Suck it up and do the right thing, move, get on the ladder and believe me, building up equity makes the next move oh so much better.

In the last 6 years ive now moved up to a 3 bed semi, im engaged and have a baby on the way...ive never been flash with the cash but ive always worked my n&ts off for everything.

Good luck and keep focused you will succeed

 

[Brizzles]

Could maybe not waste billions on nuclear weapons, how many houses could be built for £200 billion?

Pointless remark, you are just picking out figures to justify your situation.

If Trident, which i assume you are referring to , was scrapped then i would rather the money was spent on healthcare for the countries good, as oppose to making first time buyers life a little easier.

You continue to clutch at straws, to justify your position.

Whilst not ideal, millions make it on the property ladder each year - you just seem to want it on a plate.

 

[ChroniC]

It's a very sad state of affairs when the people of this country are happy to just buckle down and be trodden on rather than question the reason why they are so.
Stating things are going to be hard is a fact obviously, undeniable, but to the hyper inflated state it's in atm due to errors in government policy and a certain minority making it so, is not something that should be pushed under the carpet.
I feel sorry for those that have stuggled hard to get where they are, they have done a very great thing, but should have had too.
Thats the topic for debate, because if the trend continues in the way they are mentioning, how does it every end.
When will enough be enough? Never. Will people be paid 50k in the future but need 500k to get on the ladder because nothing was done?

Pointless remark, you are just picking out figures to justify your situation.

If Trident, which i assume you are referring to , was scrapped then i would rather the money was spent on healthcare for the countries good, as oppose to making first time buyers life a little easier.

You continue to clutch at straws, to justify your position.

Whilst not ideal, millions make it on the property ladder each year - you just seem to want it on a plate.

Maybe I am but regardless where it gets spent, there is money being wasted in unecessary sectors, which was my point. The money exists out their to be used with a more justifable results.
I'm not justifying my position, I am justifying the position of a whole generation. Forget me. I don't care, but it's not fair on others as well.

 

[Rifte]

You may be interested to know it's not just that age bracket that is having problems getting on the property ladder. I know plenty of people my age who have no chance of getting on the property ladder where they live and have resigned themselves to that fact. Saying just up sticks and move is kind of a retarded answer when people have kids in schools, elderly relatives that need help, jobs which are not available elsewhere, etc.

Let's not pretend this is a problem just giving the young problems.

Suppose it depends on how important house ownership is for an individual, how badly they want to get on the property ladder.

It is not always possible if you have sick or elderly relatives that need your help, but in respect of children my son and daughter have moved three times in the past 5 years. Twice within the UK and a third time to another continent. Of course they hated leaving their friends etc, but I am comforted by two facts :

1)They have both excelled in their new environments
2)I will be in a position to offer them a significant property inheritance when they get older.

A benefit worth the sacrifice IMO. So retarded?

IMO No.

 

[wildman]

Stop trolling.

I am sorry mate, but thats how you come across, you say that older generations had it easy, when someone pointed out that on 50K combined you could still save and use the government ISA where you get 25% on top you dismissed it saying its worthless. Like flowrider said you just want it all and easy and now and anything that sounds like hard work is clearly off the table.

Get a grip sunshine.

 

[ChroniC]

How is that anything other than trolling when you aren't addressing the issue at hand, instead your assuming I want it easy when in actual fact you haven't read the posts of what I'doing, or have any facts about why the amount I and this generation have to save is disproportionate to the average wage. Instead you have chosen to just troll me, and as such I have reported your post.

 

[Xordium]

I agree,Its not only that age bracket i mentioned,Its a huge problem everywhere,Im 27 atm and im actually quite scared of the future because i can see myself renting forever unless i get lucky and land myself in a job that pays something bloody decent...im talking £10+ an hour.

Btw it wasn't me who said "Up sticks & move" it was on the first page i quoted it from someone else.

I know it wasn't you but I've been here long enough to preempt the replies by certain posters.

You can make it work renting though. We sold a good 5 years ago and use the money to get a plot of land and start a build from scratch. Now I am not saying you would be in the position to do that but in the meantime we have more than "coped" renting. But I do believe that is down to the area and the type of landlords it will attract.

One thing I've learned in life is that if you want to make it work you generally can. Life is about sorting out priorities - you then usually need to focus on those priorities to the exclusion of all else. It also take a whole load of effort at times but if you reach what you want to then that in itself is worthwhile.

 

[Deleted member 651465]

Play nice guys. Different opinions are fine but watch the personal insults.

 

[McPhee]

Ok my 2ps worth...my own story mixed in with the OP situation (correct me if im wrong).

So 6 years ago i bought a house worth 180k (similar to you)...me and my mate earnt less than you and your missus's around about 45k combined...We saved £10k each.

He was at home and i was renting but i was working extra hours and weekends....Sacrifice number one.

This post will be emphasising the fact you need to sacrifice.

Now if you both earn combined 50k thats £3500 take home min....if your paying rent £900 and say all other bills are £1k which includes going out etc...you have £1500 left...where is this going?

My point here is, no one is owed a house or should expect one...you have to sacrifice and you have to be grateful you earn enough to even be able to have the opportunity to obtain a mortgage for £200k.

Funny enough i moved 15 miles away from where i was brought up. I also sacrificed a few weekends going out and worked extra on those weekends...No one owes you anything mate and £200k youre lucky, where im originally from the 3 beds are 500k.

My point is, i was late 20's when i bought my first house, if youre mid 30's what have you been doing for the last 10 years?

I work with a guy in his late 30s who seems to be in a similar position to you, he always occassionally becomes negative towards the housing market, but its a dog eat dog world and he could have saved for a deposit by now in the last 15 years, but i suspect and partially know that hes been "enjoying his life"....you cant do both matey....its tough sometimes but sometimes the truth needs to be told. Suck it up and do the right thing, move, get on the ladder and believe me, building up equity makes the next move oh so much better.

In the last 6 years ive now moved up to a 3 bed semi, im engaged and have a baby on the way...ive never been flash with the cash but ive always worked my n&ts off for everything.

Good luck and keep focused you will succeed

That's one side of the problem. The other side is that there's a very real trend toward housing becoming less affordable. Income multiples have increased considerably over time, and there's a general trend for people to be spending a larger chunk of their income on housing, trending toward 50% next decade.

The OP isn't wrong to point out that there is a problem that needs action. You, and many others in this thread, are discussing a short-term solution specific to the OP, while ignoring the long-term problem and general negative trends in housing market affordability. We aren't in the middle of a housing crisis here - we're at the very early stages.

 

[RaohNS]

Surely the only solution is to build more houses. What do we propose?

 

[ChroniC]

Well mine was that those who exceed a certain amount are made to sell them at current market prices and then they are sold to first time buyers with government subsidies.
Given that the speed at which new houses can be made cannot keep up with demand, prices never level out with wage rises.
Sadly there is frankly imo only 2 solutions, build a lot quickly and very cheaply available only to first time buyers, which is almost impossible or make more available that are being used as rental properties. At least those house exist already.

My way is very drastic and left wing mind.

There are undoubtly many other better ways.

 

[Maccapacca]

Surely the only solution is to build more houses. What do we propose?

As a construction professional I can confirm that turning the taps on housing will only increase costs, it's hard enough at the moment to find competent skilled trades and also it'll reduce quality.

We'll be building the next generation of poorly built slums to pull down in twenty years.

 

[Rifte]

or make more available that are being used as rental properties. At least those house exist already.

The changes to BTL rules regarding cost offset may very well achieve some of your wish.

 

[Xordium]

A benefit worth the sacrifice IMO. So retarded?

IMO No.

You may want to try reading my post it didn't say people who moved were retarded but the people who flippantly suggest it as a catch all option.

 

[McPhee]

Remove BTL tax relief to create an even playing field between owner-occupiers and landlords.
Bring net migration down to the tens of thousands.
Build a number of new garden cities across the country.

Though that last bit is a problem if net migration sits at tens of thousands of people per year. We don't really have the numbers in the trade any more to build the number of new houses that we need. Maybe large parts of those new garden cities could be comprised of pre-fab properties?

 

[Hiijinx]

Stop building "luxury" flats and selling them to people as holiday homes would be a good start.

They are building a mini city of 11 "breath taking waterside towers", nearby to me where I have heard that the first 2 are already all sold, 75% of them to foreign nationals as holiday flats which really annoys me when we have so many searching for a home in the country.

 

[RaohNS]

As a construction professional I can confirm that turning the taps on housing will only increase costs, it's hard enough at the moment to find competent skilled trades and also it'll reduce quality.

We'll be building the next generation of poorly built slums to pull down in twenty years.

Really?

That's pretty bad! So I take it you are in favour of reducing migration as that is the single biggest driving factor of the housing shortage yes? Correct me if am wrong

 

[Rroff]

How is that anything other than trolling when you aren't addressing the issue at hand, instead your assuming I want it easy when in actual fact you haven't read the posts of what I'doing, or have any facts about why the amount I and this generation have to save is disproportionate to the average wage. Instead you have chosen to just troll me, and as such I have reported your post.

I think part of the problem is - though the average is increasing it isn't an even effect over the whole country - some places are feeling the effects far sooner and far harder than others - I suspect some posters here are yet to feel the effects that others are having to deal with and hence think people are entitled, etc. where I live prices have increased at twice the rate of the national average so I have a bit more sympathy.

As a construction professional I can confirm that turning the taps on housing will only increase costs, it's hard enough at the moment to find competent skilled trades and also it'll reduce quality.

We'll be building the next generation of poorly built slums to pull down in twenty years.

Personally I think the way housing is done at the moment is potentially very short sighted (assuming for argument sake that global climate change is half as bad as they say) we should be looking at building dwellings that are more robust against potential changes and more eco friendly from the ground up.