The younger generation and the future cost of housing?

N1AK

ILW wrote: »

Give at few years and all the boomers will be dead. The "young" people can then vote in a government that will give them cheap housing.

It's quite a bit more than 'a few years' and if we're left with a giant deficit from paying the pensions before that happens then the fact they're gone doesn't get rid of it.

Probably one of the biggest issues with the balance of wealth at the moment is that people generally don't mind increasing taxation etc when things are good to assist those less fortunate. If I earn £4,000 more than I did last year I doubt I'd care about giving away an extra £400. When many wages are frozen then people can only give more by decreasing their quality of life and few people want things to get worse for themselves (hardly unreasonable).

We've 'solved' this problem by increasing our debt on the basis that we'll see good growth again to pay for it. Personally I think that's unfair on the younger members of society who will be stuck paying off that debt if we don't.

CLAPTON

ILW wrote: »

Give at few years and all the boomers will be dead. The "young" people can then vote in a government that will give them cheap housing.

boomers are the age group 46 to 66

it will be some time before they are all dead

The_J

Percy1983 wrote: »

As mentioned the biggest problem right now is if renting you are at the mercy of a landlord, by all means the prefernce would always be owning, but if there was better rights for tenants it wouldn't be as bad.

Currently I wouldn't consider starting a family in rented accomodation as you be fine for years, you r children get settle in schools etc, then bang you have to be out in 2 months because a stranger feels like it.

For the size of the BTL market right now it needs some serious regulation.

What regulation do you suggest? That the tenants are free to live in a property for as long as they like?

What if the landlord wants to sell the property? Put it on the market for homeowners. If the family that live there can't afford to buy it shouldn't another family, who lived in a !!!! area for a bit of time to save up, have the opportunity to get themselves on the ladder, have a shot at a good education for their kids?

What you are suggesting sounds an awful lot like communism. You probably don't know much about history so let me educate you, it doesn't work.

Carl31

Percy1983 wrote: »

As mentioned the biggest problem right now is if renting you are at the mercy of a landlord, by all means the prefernce would always be owning, but if there was better rights for tenants it wouldn't be as bad.

Currently I wouldn't consider starting a family in rented accomodation as you be fine for years, you r children get settle in schools etc, then bang you have to be out in 2 months because a stranger feels like it.

For the size of the BTL market right now it needs some serious regulation.

er...what if you owned a house, had kids, then couldnt pay your mortgage due to losing your job, ill health etc..?

bang, youre out striaght away too

putting your life on hold, just to buy a house is plain sad, before you know it, you will have missed the best part of your life, just to own some bricks

CLAPTON

N1AK wrote: »

It's quite a bit more than 'a few years' and if we're left with a giant deficit from paying the pensions before that happens then the fact they're gone doesn't get rid of it.

what giant deficit from paying which pensions is this?

Graham_Devon

The_J wrote: »

What regulation do you suggest? That the tenants are free to live in a property for as long as they like?

What if the landlord wants to sell the property? Put it on the market for homeowners. If the family that live there can't afford to buy it shouldn't another family, who lived in a !!!! area for a bit of time to save up, have the opportunity to get themselves on the ladder, have a shot at a good education for their kids?

What you are suggesting sounds an awful lot like communism. You probably don't know much about history so let me educate you, it doesn't work.

Germany has a lot of rental regulation. If the investor wants to sell, he/she sells with the tenants in the property.

The tenants can refuse anyone to come in to have a look at the property. The landlords can not increase the rents past a certain percentage each year. The tenants have (life long?) tenancies. The tenants can decorate as they wish.

Works well.

Percy1983

The_J wrote: »

What regulation do you suggest? That the tenants are free to live in a property for as long as they like?

What if the landlord wants to sell the property? Put it on the market for homeowners. If the family that live there can't afford to buy it shouldn't another family, who lived in a !!!! area for a bit of time to save up, have the opportunity to get themselves on the ladder, have a shot at a good education for their kids?

What you are suggesting sounds an awful lot like communism. You probably don't know much about history so let me educate you, it doesn't work.

Maybe you shouldn't buy a BTL property then, we need security for tenants otherwise people will have to keep there lives on hold.

Carl31 wrote: »

er...what if you owned a house, had kids, then couldnt pay your mortgage due to losing your job, ill health etc..?

bang, youre out striaght away too

This may seem an odd idea on many, but saving money for rainy days as such.

I am only 2 months into home ownership and we could deal with 6 months unemployment, that number will grow once we have finished decorating etc.

But yet again you are still incharge of your own destiny, its up to you to save and its upto you to find another job.

Where if I was renting I could do everything perfectly and still end up on the streets.

angrypirate

Question is, with Spain looking like they'll need a bailout and time ticking on the Greece situation, what economic damage will this do to the UK?

The pound is almost certain to get stronger against the Euro due to this. With the Eurozone approaching another recession surely the cost of UK exports in the Eurozone will go up and we will have no one in Europe buying UK goods. In turn this could easily tip us back into a recession considering we are teetering on the edge now.

I know people in the city and you ask them what will happen and their honest answer is simply "I dont know". They all have their professional opinions for work, but they admit they are simply clueless - even more so than usual. This recession is like nothing seen before due to the complexities of the Euro and how intricately linked the economies within Europe are.

All this will take its toll on housing in the UK and will significantly change affordability one way or another. Despite being bearish, it could easily go the wrong way, with rich people coming from other countries to invest in the UK market just like they have been doing for the past couple of years

The_J

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Germany has a lot of rental regulation. If the investor wants to sell, he/she sells with the tenants in the property.

The tenants can refuse anyone to come in to have a look at the property. The landlords can not increase the rents past a certain percentage each year. The tenants have (life long?) tenancies. The tenants can decorate as they wish.

Works well.

It works ok.

The German ethos towards renting is completely different. The rental market is far far larger there (90% of properties in Berlin are rented; the highest proportion of renters in the EU are in Germany). They need the regulation. Over here the same regulations would kill people looking to buy (as it has done in Germany) and force most people into rented accomodation.

Personally, I am all for that (renting is a perfectly acceptable way to live your life) but it would take a monumental shift in the populations thinking to accept it and I believe this also goes against your normal opinion?

Please consider the bigger picture, although I am amused that on one hand Percy pushes home ownership as a right but then suggests policies which limit it.

Percy1983

The_J wrote: »

It works ok.

The German ethos towards renting is completely different. The rental market is far far larger there (90% of properties in Berlin are rented; the highest proportion of renters in the EU are in Germany). They need the regulation. Over here the same regulations would kill people looking to buy (as it has done in Germany) and force most people into rented accomodation.

Personally, I am all for that (renting is a perfectly acceptable way to live your life) but it would take a monumental shift in the populations thinking to accept it and I believe this also goes against your normal opinion?

Please consider the bigger picture, although I am amused that on one hand Percy pushes home ownership as a right but then suggests policies which limit it.

Dare I say the point is, if renting was regulated in a similar way to germany many more would find it acceptable.

As for you saying it will block out properties because landlord can't sell, yes that is true, but on the flip side there will be less people buying BTL's as they don't like such regulation and at a guess it may cause sales before regulation came in (if such regulation was going to be put into place).

I don't believe ownership is a right but I do believe security of a place to call home is, right now ownership is the only way to secure it. Yes I guess ownership may always be the first preference but it shouldn't be the only choice.