Generation Rent. Thousands more young stuck in rental sink hole. No hope on horizon

CKhalvashi

chewmylegoff wrote: »

Most of our canteen staff at work seem to be graduates from Eastern Europe. There is even one who used to be a lawyer overseas who now serves coffee for a living. I'm sure they all have a better work ethic than the British people who might be prepared to work for the same wage, but I'm not sure they have a better work ethic than the people they are serving coffee to who earn about ten times what they do.

I am!

There was a post re a moneysaver that's now living in Latvia, who stated that after one job, they go onto the next without problem.

I'm sure there are exceptions, but this seems to be the case in many Eastern European countries.

CK

CLAPTON

Cornucopia wrote: »

Even then, I've seen Shared Equity schemes that are aimed at people who live or work in central London boroughs that specify a salary range of say £28-45K. That is by no means excessive and would potentially suit someone 2-3 years into a graduate entry career.

I would have loved something like that when I was that age, but they didn't exist then.

which schemes are these?

Loughton_Monkey

Cornucopia wrote: »

When someone can define "housing crisis" in un-emotive, factual terms, then we can have a proper discussion about it.

In the meantime, I still contend that London and certain other hotspots are a special case and that housing in most of the rest of the country remains affordable.

My flippant definition of "housing crisis" was partly a reflection of my own dislike of the 'low level' of the usual debate on this topic, and a belief that really there is no such thing.

I have been quite successful in business and personal life, not least by distinguishing between symptoms and causes. If my car refuses to start 3 days out of 5, I do not have a "frequently late for work crisis" [symptom]. I have a "car reliability crisis" [cause]. I can easily solve the former by dealing with the latter (repair it, buy a new one, decide to use train and get up in time....).

You are right (in my opinion) that affordability is not a problem in many areas, but I think we are in the minority. But that's because the cause [perhaps inability to save, or too high an aspiration of what a starter home should be....] is not generally admitted.

Rented accommodation might be scarce. I wonder if the cause could be anything to do with the startling and unexpected huge rise in UK population over the last few years? Surely this might produce a symptom of too many people chasing too few available rental properties - which then (itself) turns into another cause producing the symptom of higher rents....

Yes, symptoms of (say) inability to save, or price increases do indeed become causes and produce further symptoms of a housing shortage. But I don't label that a 'crisis'. And I'm not saying that this scenario is good or desirable.

I would just prefer personally to believe that if there is a crisis at all, it is further back than housing itself. Even then, though, I wonder if the word crisis is an exaggeration.

Some symptoms can be temporarily alleviated while the root cause is treated. In the case of housing, I cannot see that any effective 'aspirin' is available or practical.

jamesd

ruggedtoast wrote: »

Nothing but more rental misery for those who have given up on the modest dream of owning a small house in which to have a family and grow old

What is your proposed solution? Maybe these measures:

1. Compulsory purchase of all rental properties for the market price prior to the announcement.
2. Ban on charging rent for residential property.
3. Sale of all of these properties on the open market, perhaps with a lottery to decide who gets the first chance to buy each one?
4. Government loans to people who can't get a loan anywhere else.
5. Should charging for hotel rooms be banned as a loophole that some people might exploit to avoid buying a place to live? What would be the definition for a legal hotel room vs an illegal one?
6. Should shared ownership be legal and on what conditions?
7. Should holiday homes be legal and on what conditions?
8. Should it only be houses allowed, if so, what to do about the existing flats? Maybe demolish them? Or would converting them into houses or house-like properties be acceptable?
9. Should single floor dwellings be permitted or is the definition of a house intended to include only places with at least two floors?
10. If people buy together, must they be related?

Cornucopia

CLAPTON wrote: »

which schemes are these?

New build part buy-part rent schemes in Bermondsey Spa.

For those that don't know the area, that's about 15 mins walk to the City. Riverside bars & restaurants less than 10 mins walk.

CLAPTON

Cornucopia wrote: »

New build part buy-part rent schemes in Bermondsey Spa.

For those that don't know the area, that's about 15 mins walk to the City. Riverside bars & restaurants less than 10 mins walk.

interesting

they seem be largely restricted to council nominated owners and at £310k for one bed flat (541sq ft) not cheap but everything is relative to the area.

but the point is valid that the price of properties in many parts of the country are affordable to most

Cornucopia

I suspect that many people will buy on the shared equity scheme with no intention to ever raise their stake in the property.

Going back to the "housing crisis" I wonder if one feature of it is that central London rental rates are actually quite low relative to purchase prices? That means that many, many (young) people may be renting in areas that they cannot afford to buy in.

Loughton_Monkey

Cornucopia wrote: »

New build part buy-part rent schemes in Bermondsey Spa...

Love the name.

But I would have thought 'South Chelsea Spa' would have been even better.

chewmylegoff

Loughton_Monkey wrote: »

Love the name.

But I would have thought 'South Chelsea Spa' would have been even better.

That's "Battersea" in shorthand.

tweetipie21

I rent - I pay my monthly rental which is higher than what the mortgage payment would be should I have bought the house right - unfortunately due to my earnings the banks appear to tell me I cant afford the mortgage - how come i can afford to rent for the past 7 years paying a higher payment than someone who would have had a mortgage on the same property? It doesnt make sense and is certainly not fair!!!!