Home Buying has Peaked.

Emy1501

Deleted_User wrote: »

Well done Sherlock....it seems you might have spotted a flaw in the logic of the article posted by the OP.

If they can't afford to buy then how can they afford to rent? I can't see rental being subsidised when the country is in so much debt - especially if large numbers of people are likely to sell their houses to take advantage of cheap rent.

But the the above is Hamish's great argument? 30% home ownership? Only the rich will be able to buy in the future and the rest will have to rent? If you don't believe that then his argument falls down straight away?

Emy1501

Deleted_User wrote: »

They're being overlooked now! I would consider life on a state pension to be acceptable - even if it did stay at today's levels.

And assuming it does stay at today's levels who pays for it? That's an even bigger burden for future generations - on top of the massive debts that they already have to a pay off. One might argue that anyone that is in a position to secure their own home, pension and savings is duty bound to do so. Then maybe those that genuinely can't will have a hope of a half-decent old age.

Its highly likely there will be no state pension in 30 years time when I retire. People who are relying on a state pension in the future will be really living like paupers

bernard_shaw

Deleted_User wrote: »

Perhaps being a rich landlord cashing in on all those people desparate to rent homes in a country where demand outstrips supply?

Does demand outstrip supply? I see no reporting of a homelessness crisis; where are the flophouses? Where are the Hoovervilles? Were are the reports of multiple families living in one property?

Your owner-occupier bias is causing you to confuse 'effective demand' (driven by liquidity) with 'need', and to confuse 'supply' with 'supply of houses for sale'. The unbiased.co.uk press release and the article in the guardian is reporting that real people are increasingly choosing to form households outwith the owner-occupier housing market.

There is no housing shortage.

bernard_shaw

Deleted_User wrote: »

I would feel VERY nervous about approaching retirement without a pension, savings AND the safety cushion that owning a home provides.

Why?

Once you have retired, you may eventually come to regard owning a home on the debit side of that equation, as a liability rather than an asset.

I suggest you diversify.

treliac

Emy1501 wrote: »

Its highly likely there will be no state pension in 30 years time when I retire. People who are relying on a state pension in the future will be really living like paupers

There may not be a state pension but there will always be means-tested benefits for the elderly or we would be striking at the very fabric of civilisation.

I'd agree that life may not be affordable at the level it has been and that people may have to adjust their expectations. It would be good to encourage people to provide for their own future but there will always be those who are unable to do so for whatever reason.

ukcarper

treliac wrote: »

If you don't have a good level of equity/capital at retirement, it's better to have next to/nothing. Benefits will keep the latter in their rented homes.

As people on here keep saying equity/capital are nit the same thing and equity will not prevent you from getting benifits

carolt

julieq wrote: »

So who is going to buy all of these houses so that other people can rent them back?

Well, the houses are not going to just sit there empty indefinitely. Not many homeowners can afford that or would countenance that.

If no landlords want to buy them, and no homeowners want to buy them, their price will fall until they are attractive to one or the other or both.

wolvoman

treliac wrote: »

It would be good to encourage people to provide for their own future but there will always be those who are unable to do so for whatever reason.

How do you differentiate between unable and unwilling though?

carolt

You can't.

ukcarper

Emy1501 wrote: »

Its highly likely there will be no state pension in 30 years time when I retire. People who are relying on a state pension in the future will be really living like paupers

There probably will be a state pension but you will be to young to get it and have to wait another 10 years before you can retire.