Generation Rent pushed to breaking point as London prices double

ruggedtoast

If anyone read the article, rather than just getting angry about the pictures of the dwarves, it actually says that many millennial prefer to rent. Which I don't agree with. In Europe maybe but why would anyone want to rent in the UK with its multifarious malfeasance of fees, unfair charges and insecure tenancies?

CLAPTON

ruggedtoast wrote: »

If anyone read the article, rather than just getting angry about the pictures of the dwarves, it actually says that many millennial prefer to rent. Which I don't agree with. In Europe maybe but why would anyone want to rent in the UK with its multifarious malfeasance of fees, unfair charges and insecure tenancies?

so basically, you are saying the article is rubbish?

ruggedtoast

CLAPTON wrote: »

so basically, you are saying the article is rubbish?

I dont dispute the stats about the number of people who are renting, I dispute the assertion that they are happy to be doing so.

Unless you are renting one of Bruce Banner's landlord's properties then as a tenant you are probably paying more in rent than a mortgage would be.

Fella

ruggedtoast wrote: »

I dont dispute the stats about the number of people who are renting, I dispute the assertion that they are happy to be doing so.

Unless you are renting one of Bruce Banner's landlord's properties then as a tenant you are probably paying more in rent than a mortgage would be.

Why would someone who wants to buy and can afford the mortgage, choose to rent? With Help to buy the deposit will be far less of an issue.

I doubt there are many people who want to buy and can afford the mortgage who are renting. An awful lot of renters are on housing benefit.

JencParker

ruggedtoast wrote: »

Of course it is always easy to sit on the sidelines and cackle and mock like a vulture ready to swoop on those less fortunate than oneself isn't it?

Isn't that the purpose of this forum? Perhaps not the original purpose, but it does seem to attract those with this attitude who like to hear their own voices - they must have very boring lives if they need to sit on the internet all day and malign others. It does get boring after a while, so I suspect anyone with any sense will not bother to read the forum after a while.

ruggedtoast

Fella wrote: »

Why would someone who wants to buy and can afford the mortgage, choose to rent? With Help to buy the deposit will be far less of an issue.

I doubt there are many people who want to buy and can afford the mortgage who are renting. An awful lot of renters are on housing benefit.

Up to now because they dont have £20k or so lying around in the bank to use as a deposit. In British housing la la land twenty thousand pounds is mere small change, but if you are trying to live in the UK on what is actually a common British salary than this is a vast amount of money to have to save.

We have yet to see what effect help to buy will have. Its only available for new builds afaik, and builders are already reported to be refusing to offer any sort of standard discount to HTB buyers, often adding tens of thousands to the 'lowest' price as soon as they find out people are using the scheme.

This itself may well just put FTBs back to where they started.

Linton

ruggedtoast wrote: »

Up to now because they dont have £20k or so lying around in the bank to use as a deposit. In British housing la la land twenty thousand pounds is mere small change, but if you are trying to live in the UK on what is actually a common British salary than this is a vast amount of money to have to save.

We have yet to see what effect help to buy will have. Its only available for new builds afaik, and builders are already reported to be refusing to offer any sort of standard discount to HTB buyers, often adding tens of thousands to the 'lowest' price as soon as they find out people are using the scheme.

This itself may well just put FTBs back to where they started.

Saving £20K in 2 years should be perfectly possible for many couples if they see it as a major priority. Two people can live nearly as cheaply as one, so it just needs one to pay for both and the other to save most of their pay. Of course it would mean making sacrifices - perhaps many young couples dont want to do that.

In times gone by buying a property was what you did after getting married. Only the richer singles could afford it.

JencParker

Linton wrote: »

Saving £20K in 2 years should be perfectly possible for many couples if they see it as a major priority. Two people can live nearly as cheaply as one, so it just needs one to pay for both and the other to save most of their pay. Of course it would mean making sacrifices - perhaps many young couples dont want to do that.

In times gone by buying a property was what you did after getting married. Only the richer singles could afford it.

So the ability to buy a property should be limited to couples only? If you're single you're gonna have to rent?

In times gone by women gave up work to have children so it was still affordable on one salary.

Linton

JencParker wrote: »

So the ability to buy a property should be limited to couples only? If you're single you're gonna have to rent?

In times gone by women gave up work to have children so it was still affordable on one salary.

Basically yes - because a working couple can outbid all except the richest singles. In previous times most people lived with their parents until they married. Why should this generation be very different? There arent the houses available for everyone over 18 to live alone in their own house.

Women gave up work to have children AFTER they had somewhere to live. And in any case society and therefore prices were more biased towards a single bread-winner. Many women didnt have the option of earning more than pin-money.

Thrugelmir

ruggedtoast wrote: »

and builders are already reported to be refusing to offer any sort of standard discount to HTB buyers,

Why should a business discount it's selling prices? Developers themselves pay towards HTB. So not if it's a giveaway.