Housing in South West now 11.6x average salary

Idiophreak

MrRee wrote: »

Plenty of FTB house in the SW for around £100,000 .....

If the average wage of a FTB there is, say, £25,000 each ...

You're thinking about things like a normal person, though. In Graham's great communist vision, these "average wage" earners you're referring to should be buying "average" houses, not cheap houses. In buying the cheap houses, they're depriving the poor of their right to buy. It all fits together nicely, because under his wage reform scheme, people would uniformly be a "low" "average" or "high" earner depending on the phase of their life - and this would be rewarded with the corresponding property.

This, of course, is to prevent FTBs from getting their filthy mitts on "average" properties at all. These should be reserved strictly for those who've already "served" their 10 years living in a "cheap" house.

Or something like that, I'm not an expert in crazy.

Niv

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Hamish & Co would have you believe that actually, it's never been cheaper to buy a house and actually, house prices are only 4x average wage.

But they are not, not in the South West anyway, where the average house is now 11.6x the average wage for the south west.

90% of 18-30 year olds are now locked out of the market in the South West, not helped by those who are already wealthy coming in and buying up second properties.

The solution? Government homebuy schemes.

Theres also a family and friends advantage scheme been set up. Not by BT, but by Taylor Whimpey. This is an arrangement where you can scrounge of your parents, grandparents, friends....well anyone really, in order to get the go ahead to buy your own house.

Even better are these homes are affordable. A one bedroom apartment ranges from £150-155k. But you can sign up to an easy start scheme, which rips you off, but means you only have to pay 5% deposit. The developers will top up your deposit with an interest free loan (for x years) and then you only need a mortgage for 80%.

What a nonsense. £150k for a one bed flat? And this is the "affordable housing" that's being built? It's still approximately 8-9x average wage. Yet councillors and builders all congratulate themselves on their miraculous wizardry.

Graham, you speak sence in a number of threads you contribute to on this forum. Unfortuneatly posts like this make you look like a fool.

I live in Somerset and have done a very quick search and find plenty of flats for sale under £50k. Even if I look in the county town (Taunton) there are flats available for £70k. I know wages in the SW are poor but I can assure you £50-70k does not represent 11.6x very many (full time employed) peoples salary.

Niv

Idiophreak

Niv wrote: »

I know wages in the SW are poor but I can assure you £50-70k does not represent 11.6x very many (full time employed) peoples salary.

No, but then a £50-70k one-bed flat is nothing like the approximation of an "average" home, either...

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

So let me guess how this thread went.....

- Graham made a "spurious assertion" about house prices "round his way"

- A lot of people pointed out he was talking nonsense

- Graham disappeared from the thread to start another one about debt/the young of today/won't somebody please think of the children

Niv

Idiophreak wrote: »

No, but then a £50-70k one-bed flat is nothing like the approximation of an "average" home, either...

I used 1 bed flat as that was used in the OP. However for 3 bed semi there are a reasonalble number available for ~ £75k and lots and lots of 3 bed houses under £100k. The average wage would need to be ~£10k to make these 'average' homes to be 11.6x salary.

Niv

Graham_Devon

Niv wrote: »

Graham, you speak sence in a number of threads you contribute to on this forum. Unfortuneatly posts like this make you look like a fool.

I live in Somerset and have done a very quick search and find plenty of flats for sale under £50k. Even if I look in the county town (Taunton) there are flats available for £70k. I know wages in the SW are poor but I can assure you £50-70k does not represent 11.6x very many (full time employed) peoples salary.

Niv

All this report is, is a simple calculation between the average house price and the average wage.

It's been pointed out that you can get houses for less than the average. No one has argued otherwise, and I'm not sure what the point is in highlighting these homes. Those homes are included in the average figures used. Hence why it's an average.

I am only highlighting what the report stated as it's headline.

The report goes into much detail, including the need to buy suitable housing. People highlighting a single house is all well and good, but if it's 80 miles from work and you have to give up your job to move to it, therefore can't pay the mortgage because you have no job, it's all a bit futile really.

I've noticed the "well move then" line has also come out. Again, people have roots and jobs, including family in certain areas. It's nice to be able to think you can move, but if it means leaving your family, and giving up both of your jobs, how are you going to pay the mortgage on the next property thats cheaper? Ok, sure, people can find jobs before moving, but then the bank is likely to turn you down at the moment due to not being in the new jobs very long, and you'd also have to be pretty lucky to both find jobs, at the same time, and move, and get a mortgage AND have a deposit. Unfortunately most don't sit in that life is so easy boat.

For the south west as a whole, the average median income is, according to this report, £19,713.

Everyone seems to automatically assume these reports are only talking about FTB's, those without children. Trouble is, those with children, and those relocating, maybe without equity DO exist. There will be many for whom a 2 bed house would not be suitable (and remember, this report looks at suitability in its opening statement).

I feel all we do on here is ignore suitability, ignore everyone else, ignore jobs, ignore life patterns and highlight the cheapest house we can find to suggest things are actually ok.

While everyone is VERY keen to point out that the average house will not be bought by the average FTB, everyone seems to ignore that the average FTB is also unlikely to be earning the average wage. We seem compelled to suggest that they are not average, but want to suggest they are when it comes to incomes.

Yes, of course there are houses priced under the average. But then there are also people earning under the average...

lostinrates

Niv wrote: »

Graham, you speak sence in a number of threads you contribute to on this forum. Unfortuneatly posts like this make you look like a fool.

I live in Somerset and have done a very quick search and find plenty of flats for sale under £50k. Even if I look in the county town (Taunton) there are flats available for £70k. I know wages in the SW are poor but I can assure you £50-70k does not represent 11.6x very many (full time employed) peoples salary.

Niv

I would have thought especially there would be affordable housing in the county town, same as here in Wiltshire, there is a lot of affordability around the countil town of Trowbridge. It seems to be a bit of a feature of county towns in fact...that they have a large number of services and often provision for service users....including lots of housing in comparison to much of the rest of the county.


Are there stats about this and also incomes in smaller breakdown than county? Like in Somerset, can you compare Sedgemoor to Medip and south for example? (what are the other bits called?) It could be interesting. My guess is, for example, Taunton is better provision for lower cost housing than Bath and North east somerset, with more commutabilty potential up there might have higher average income?

doire_2

Idiophreak wrote: »

I'm no expert, but the BBC is the first link when you search for "average age ftb" on google:
"the average age of first-time buyers has stayed at around 31 over the last few years"

I've no particular reason to assume that they're making it up and you know better...

I could link an article which states its 38 but why bother eh? The good old BBC are always right

Cleaver

Graham_Devon wrote: »

I feel all we do on here is ignore suitability, ignore everyone else, ignore jobs, ignore life patterns and highlight the cheapest house we can find to suggest things are actually ok.

While everyone is VERY keen to point out that the average house will not be bought by the average FTB, everyone seems to ignore that the average FTB is also unlikely to be earning the average wage. We seem compelled to suggest that they are not average, but want to suggest they are when it comes to incomes.

Yes, of course there are houses priced under the average. But then there are also people earning under the average...

Good post. I'd like to think my example was quite realistic though.

Niv

Well I have looked at various areas accross Somerset (part of the southwest but I agree is not the whole of the SW) and found 3 bed houses all over the county. So it would not matter where I worked I would be able to find an 'average' home well within 80miles.

I did not see a link to your report in the OP, care to link so I can have a read myself?

Niv