Housing in South West now 11.6x average salary

FTBFun

doire wrote: »

1 bed, 2 bed. And if you have kids what happens?

Put them in the 2nd bedroom?

Or don't have kids.

Or move to the 3 bed that is £30k more.

Idiophreak

*yawn* how don't you get bored, Graham. Another day, another thread with some random nonsense statistics. Do you really see it as another body blow landed on the beast that is house prices?

The average person should not be able to afford the average home. As long as the wealthy can buy multiple homes for BTL, investment or leisure, the average house price is going to be significantly higher than the average earner can afford. You can !!!!! and moan about it all you want, but a thousand threads on MSE aren't really going to change the nature of capitalism.

the_flying_pig

Conrad wrote: »

Values seem pretty reasonable to me - incidentaly I have 4 young cousins down there none of whom had any issue buying a home...

Just in case there was any doubt:

1. The point of this thread wasn't, of course, that there is no affordable housing in the SW that's affordable to anyone [or whatever other rubbish you & the usual suspects are implying, the use of such risible straw men does make me a little cross], just that, as a matter of fact and public record, it's unusually unaffordable there, on both a time-series basis [i.e. compared to what it used to be] and also a cross-sectional basis [i.e. compared with other parts of the country and elsewhere].
2. This isn't a travesty on a par with [say] apartheid or the holocaust but it's something that matters a great deal to those affected, hence this thread, media attention, etc.

Really2

lostinrates wrote: »

Its true, there are a lot pof God's waiting rooms in the SW, but its also home to Bristol which is a very ''young'' vibrant city, with pockets of wealth and deprivation both, and Bath, another pretty vibrant place. Plus of course, all the other cities and Uni towns. The south coast uni towns are extremely vibrant and have both rich retirees and student life: including some of the most expensive areas to live in because they are on the sea, with the ''shopping/dining/cultural'' needs met for the wealthy and still very vibrant.

You also get a lot of weekend commuters (like dh). The less extreme sw changed in my adult life time as the Cotswolds got just too expensive for would be weekenders and places in Dorset and parts of somerset just exploded in popularity. You get fair numbers of daily to London commuters from these places, by car and by rail. There is a heavy concentration of public independant schools with boarding traditions that also take day pupils down here too which appeal to this type of SW occupant...whether full time or weekenders.


So, yes, there are old towns and villages, but its not accurate to describe the whole region as mainly retired I don't think. But I do agree with the statement there are cheaper less desirable places, happily they are fewer in number as they have been subject to regeneration projects or overspill from other desirable areas, sadly, this pushes the price up in the region more for the young locals.


Its also a pretty diverse region.....I'm at the opposite tip of it from Pastures New...and thatfeels further from me than anywhere else in the south, or places like Birmingham, because up at this end we have excellent communications and the potential that brings for ''vibrancy'' to put it pretty near to the optimal postion for communications to the south east and northwards: its a good place for businesses and sevice providers.

I was not saying the whole area was old people, but they have more than their fair share in the most expensive areas.;)

Of course there will be young areas, but like here the young area are perhaps areas a little cheaper than in the picture perfect retirement villages?
My point was that people now seem unwilling to move to such areas if borne in said retirement village.

Where as years ago people moved to where jobs were etc there seems to be some sort of expectation that house prices should move to them rather than the idea of years ago you moved to where you could work and start a family etc.

If you don't have a good job in a good area and want to own a house you have few choices.

1. Get a better Job
2. Move
3. Both of the above.

There are many examples of towns like my old town in the SW and are in reality most probably in a higher concentration than perhaps the rest of the UK in a fair few areas. (due to natural beauty etc).
Thus giving the impression it is a place to retire to.

In reality if wages are as low as quoted house prices have to be supported by something other than just local wages. My bet would be on people retiring there and second homers.

I don't think it is great people have to move towns to find better jobs and cheaper housing, but it is not a new phenomena or indeed one restricted to the SW.
I am in a generation where apron strings seem to be short yet travel is easier than a generation or so ago.

lostinrates

Really2 wrote: »

I was not saying the whole area was old people, but they have more than their fair share in the most expensive areas.;)

Of course there will be young areas, but like here the young area are perhaps areas a little cheaper than in the picture perfect retirement villages?
My point was that people now seem unwilling to move to such areas if borne in said retirement village.

Where as years ago people moved to where jobs were etc there seems to be some sort of expectation that house prices should move to them rather than the idea of years ago you moved to where you could work and start a family etc.



If you don't have a good job in a good area and want to own a house you have few choices.

1. Get a better Job
2. Move
3. Both of the above.

There are many examples of towns like my old town in the SW and are in reality in a higher concentration than perhaps the rest of the UK.
Thus giving the impression it is a place to retire too.

In reality if wages are as low as quoted house prices have to be supported by something other than just local wages. My bet would be on people retiring there and second homers.

depends when in the past we're talking about. e.g. there is a fair bit of sixties and seventies...pre planning restriction, building in many of the newer streets of the picturesque villages....people used to build a home in the garden/on the farm when the first house was built up. People share less (in bigger homes), and also, people commute further...e.g. the point about the london commuters is it lifts the prices out of local born and bred with low career aspiration or abilty people (who are not the majority).

I agree with everything you have said, but it really only forms a PART of the picture which is complicated by a fairly large percentage of ''imported'' income. edit; this is alos complicated further as the imported income in many areas also provides local income and employment.

Conrad

the_flying_pig wrote: »

Just in case there was any doubt:

1. The point of this thread wasn't, of course, that there is no affordable housing in the SW that's affordable to anyone [or whatever other rubbish you & the usual suspects are implying, the use of such risible straw men does make me a little cross], just that, as a matter of fact and public record, it's unusually unaffordable there, on both a time-series basis [i.e. compared to what it used to be] and also a cross-sectional basis [i.e. compared with other parts of the country and elsewhere].
2. This isn't a travesty on a par with [say] apartheid or the holocaust but it's something that matters a great deal to those affected, hence this thread, media attention, etc.

Nope it's a council of dispair that the press loves to feed. Anyone with a jot of common sense on a modest wage with a working partner can find places all over the SW to buy, period.

In fact one of my Brothers was a lorry driver on £25k (recently became self employed though) and had to support his wife and 2 children and £140k mortgage. Sure it was tight but they have a happy life, albiet a very modest lifestyle.

Sometimes I think you Guys are so steeped in misery and gloom that you cant see common sense and logic all around you.

Really2

lostinrates wrote: »

I agree with everything you have said, but it really only forms a PART of the picture which is complicated by a fairly large percentage of ''imported'' income. edit; this is alos complicated further as the imported income in many areas also provides local income and employment.

Indeed, it would be far more complicated, every little market town here is different yet similar.
It is a complex affair, I am sure everyone on here could give examples of every county in the UK being affordable and unaffordable based on averages at the same time.

The truth is in the diverse world we live in where people live to older ages and the population is ever expanding we will have strains.
In housing those strains are shown in the most desirable areas or the most affluent for Jobs.

I am sure Someone borne and bread working in a cafe in a SW postcard town would love to own a house in the town.
But in reality, with the money and the population size we have nothing is going to change for that person any time soon.

But as you state, commuting is very much an option for some there, so perhaps that is why the "local" wages are not as relevent to some of the tows when looking at house prices.

Conrad

doire wrote: »

1 bed, 2 bed. And if you have kids what happens?

Blimey you got me stumped there Gov........... jump off a bridge?

Funny you know, my generation of ftbs in the 90's always went for studios or 1 / 2 beds. We must have been nuts I suppose.......

Wish someone had told us we were entitled to expect a 3 bed and jolly well not put up with anything less.

doire_2

FTBFun wrote: »

Put them in the 2nd bedroom?

Or don't have kids.

Or move to the 3 bed that is £30k more.

Dont have kids because you want to buy a home? Is that how bad its become now?!!! :rotfl:

doire_2

Really2 wrote: »

1. Get a better Job
2. Move
3. Both of the above.

.

Do you say the same of those under threat from repossession? Or are the above only trotted out when talking about house purchases?