Rant About House Prices!

dtsazza

sinbad182 wrote: »

Yeah, tbh that sounds rubbish and isnt really 'living'.

Well, there you are then.

If you don't enjoy spending time with your friends unless you're also spending hundreds of pounds a month on activities, then you're going to have a harder time financially than someone who can agree that the best things in life are free.

And from such a person's perspective, this does seem a lot like an issue of entitlement ("but I have to go the cinema twice a week else I may as well be dead...!"). Adopting a stoic/non-consumer attitude would be a financial goldmine in this case.

sinbad182

Meh.

I'm not knocking the people who can save large amounts on a modest wage by living frugally. In fact, as I said earlier, credit to them.

I just couldn't do it myself, as that lifestyle sounds shit to me, but that's just me. I like to go out with my friends, have a nice car, and go on holidays. I can't imagine having to knock that on the head, and luckily in my case I didn't have to or I'd be renting forever, but full credit to those that do.

J_i_m

Yeah, I'm very much of the view that the definition of socialising needn't be spending upwards of £££ a night bashing your ear drums and posioning your liver in a night club.

As much fun can be had by going to a park with good friends and a packed lunch!

Although admittedly I'm just about the most unsociable person I know of and I'd imagine if you'd view my life through a window you would describe it as "!!!!". But each to there own and all that.

As for saving money.. It is all about sacrifices and managing your life style effectively. It takes making some sensible decisions on whether you really need something or if the money would be better spent on the essentials. For the few small luxuries you can always look for better value alternatives. For example a holiday need not be two weeks jetting away to a 5 star all inclusive hotel in the sun, it could as easily be visiting an friend or going on a group outing with friends to spread cost.

There are always ways of saving money, it just takes an analytical mind. So maybe you need a car or public transport to commute to work... But are you able to walk part way? Can you walk to town to do the shopping.. That soon saves you fuel and helps you stay fitter as well.

You can save and yet still not live like a total hermit, those who insist that unless you live with the heating off all year and live on cold beans on toast then you don't know what saving is about are slightly missing the point.

Blue22

CharllieSays wrote: »

My partner and I would love to have a home of our own.

After todays budget, could that happen sooner than you thought? I really do hope it will make a difference for all those in your generation that wish to have a home.

CharllieSays

I wanted to come back and say thank you to everyone for the advice (I have taken it all on board)! I did go back and look at what I was spending and made some cutbacks, and since then we have managed to save around £11k. We also sat and went through all of the statements and it turned out my partner was spending a lot more than I thought on various things (bit of a shock, but in hindsight I'm glad it was brought to light now rather than later). We have decided to wait until after the housing bubble to buy a home and instead save up a larger deposit in the meantime.

On a related note, I graduate next summer (non-finance degree) and I'm hoping to train in some sort of financial role in the future. I've worked mostly in low-level finance/accounts jobs for a few years, but always saw it as purely a way to fund my degree to work as a teacher or something similar. However, I feel a lot more confident in pursuing a career in finance now (this forum has been a huge help) and advising other people with budgeting/saving/investment in the future - either individuals or business. So a double thank you to everyone here! Really appreciate it!

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

CharllieSays wrote: »

We have decided to wait until after the housing bubble to buy a home and instead save up a larger deposit in the meantime.

There is no housing bubble.

Professor John Kay is the latest credible voice to enter the debate on whether Britain's housing market is becoming overheated.

He takes the view that there is not yet evidence of a bubble, thus siding with Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, among others.

An expert on investor behaviour and markets, Professor Kay last year presented a major report to the Government looking at the way companies fail their shareholders by being too focused on short-term outcomes.

Asked in an interview at the weekend about the housing market, he was critical of government policies such as Help to Buy – see the links below for more on that subject – but said:

"Talk of another property bubble is wrong.

My concept of a bubble is when people are buying things not for their intrinsic value but because they believe they will shortly be able to sell them at a higher price.

"That was true in parts of the US property market and it was true in Spain.

I don't think it was ever really true in the UK."

https://www.telegraph.co.uk%2Ffinance%2Fpersonalfinance%2Fhouseprices%2F10312983%2FNo-house-price-bubble-in-UK-says-top-economist.html

UK prices are high because of a severe imbalance between supply and demand.

Not because of a speculative bubble.

They've been held down for the last few years by artificial mortgage rationing as a result of the global credit crunch, but that is ending, and prices are already rising even though lending has nowhere near returned to normal.

The lowest house building in a century is about to meet the biggest generational bulge of FTB age people in history.

Leading to the likeliest outcome by far being a near doubling in house prices in real terms over the next cycle....



The best way to minimise lifetime housing costs has always been to buy as early as you can and avoid as many years as possible of buying a house for your landlord.

This remains true today.

ging84

outside of london i would agree a bubble is unlikely
inside of london however i am not so sure

freeisgood

Cornucopia wrote: »

Have you looked into shared ownership? That might give you a bridge from renting into buying.

No, you will be trapped forever!

pinkteapot

To the OP - congrats on your accelerated saving. My hubby is really good with money - he hardly spends anything. I will fritter cash more than him (not horrendously so, but more than I'd like), so I keep detailed accounts of every transaction in our account and on my credit cards. Unless I write down what I'm spending, I'm not aware enough of it. This way we can stick to a budget and save the amount we want to each month.

To Hamish - seriously, I love you. Do you have some sort of forum alert set up for whenever someone uses words like "bubble", "crash", "impending economic collapse of civilisation"? You pop up on these threads within half an hour.

urbanmyth

pinkteapot wrote: »

To Hamish - seriously, I love you. Do you have some sort of forum alert set up for whenever someone uses words like "bubble", "crash", "impending economic collapse of civilisation"? You pop up on these threads within half an hour.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: