First Time Buyers - Enough is Enough!

slater14

Doug,

As meanmachine pointed out, you will be talking about the whole country then?

Historically, London has always been the barometer, it starts there first and ripples out. London prices rose furthest and fastest so its no great surpirse that they're "stalling" "peaking" "correcting" or my personal favourite...starting to crash first.

See these threads for a booming happy market, in fact, check out quite a few of these threads as they all seem to say the same thing (and these people dont believe there will be a crash!)

http://community.channel4.com/eve/ubb.x/a/tpc/f/6026044741/m/9680064302

http://community.channel4.com/eve/ubb.x/a/tpc/f/6026044741/m/2880070202

History does have a nasty habit of repeating itself just after everyone has forgotten how painful it was "last time".

dougk_2

Pal,

I guess the timetables have changed. I notice there are no longer "express" trains as there used to be. I can remember travelling on the trains that took only about 1 1/2 hours.

I guess the actual journey time depends on which part of London you work in and the time you arrive/leave at. As well as the cost of the train itself from Reading to London , the car parks charges are horendous and the times I have made the trip from 4 mile outside Reading to the centre of london have taken about 1hr 50 mins by train and tube. Each to their own I say.

As for London setting the trend - I think you are right slater14.... where you are wrong (I beleive) is that in many areas of London (and some areas in the south) prices have been flat for two years or so and have levelled to a large degree already, which is why you are hearing people say certain areas of london are now increasing in value.

meanmachine_2

dougk wrote:

Pal,

I guess the timetables have changed. I notice there are no longer "express" trains as there used to be. I can remember travelling on the trains that took only about 1 1/2 hours.
.

No they haven't "changed the timetable".

You can still get the Anglia Express, but commuting from Norwich would take FOUR HOURS a day, minimum.

Even then, you'd have to live near the train station, and work in Liverpool Street.

To be honest, I'd rather rub cow manure in my eyes than do that. I knew someone who used to do that commute. She got up at 5am and wasn't home till 10pm. She didn't last long.

Please tell me how I can get from Lincolnshire to London, and how long that would take.

I used to commute from Essex each day and that took me a minimum of three hours. From Lincolnsire?!!!! Forget it.

dougk_2

Is a two hour commute to and from work rare? It used to take me 1hr15mins to do 20 miles (no alternatives as no Public Transport).

I don't think it is that rare. I know of several people doing it and its just part of the routine. Depends hour many hours at the office you do (38 is a fair average for an office job). So leaving at 7am and returning at 7pm? Sales reps, delivery drivers etc do these sorts of hours.

Anyway thats off topic. But reading an artical just earlier it seems there are a number of commuters going to London from Manchester, Bristol and Birmingham.

zag2me

I changed my job because of the comute, it used to take me about 1:15hr to get into work each day and 1hr on the way home. Completly destroyed me. So I got a job closer to home.

meanmachine_2

zag2me wrote:

I changed my job because of the comute, it used to take me about 1:15hr to get into work each day and 1hr on the way home. Completly destroyed me. So I got a job closer to home.

According to Doug, you should try commuting from Norwich. Two hours there, two hours back. Luvely jubbly.

Oh, and on that Eastern line, ok so it's not as bad as some, but you can be sure of delays at least once during the week, so best add another hour to that, which makes up the grand total of 21 hours commuting a week. Well worth the cost of a supersized mortgage.

Then, don't forget there's the £4K+ season ticket.

dougk_2

I have done both of the following in the past.

* Moved house to be nearer work
* Changed jobs to be nearer home

Up to an hour each way isn't too bad in my view. Occassional trips up to 2 hours I can live with.

Like most things, people have different views and different physical limits on commuting.

meanmachine_2

dougk wrote:

I have done both of the following in the past.

* Moved house to be nearer work
* Changed jobs to be nearer home

Up to an hour each way isn't too bad in my view. Occassional trips up to 2 hours I can live with.

Like most things, people have different views and different physical limits on commuting.

Fair enough. And there are downsides to living on the doorstep of the office. You always end up working longer hours than if you're commuting.

Having to get a certain train is a very good motivator to leave at a fixed time each night.

dougk_2

MeanMachine - did I ever say someone should do it????
All I said was it was one of the reasons for the price rises in Norfolk and Linconshire - commuting. i.e. demand.

But if you want to know why people do it think:

Salary in London can be 2x or 3x that in Norwich. Average earnings in Norwich are likely to be around £15k (don't know exact figures but know what jobs are advertised at). Average earnings in City of London are well above £35k. So the 4k suddenly seems very very small.

Houses are about 1/2 the price or less in Norwich i.e. 4 bedroom place in London circa £350k+ - Norwich £170k+

Now maybe this is why some people are prepared to travel 4 hours a day. Plus Norwich is a friendly and relaxed place to live .. that I can not say of London

meanmachine_2

No, that's a fair point.

But really all this is is a ripple effect. Just as you pointed out that Derbyshire doesn't have the economy to sustain huge house prices, so places like Lincolnshire are also very vulnerable in any "correction".

They were very low to start with and, by comparison have become even more unaffordable than London, if you compare the average house price to the average wage in that particular county.

There *is* a reason why Lincolnshire is one of the cheapest counties is England. There *isn't* any logical reason why prices should have shot up by 150%. None that I can see anyway.