i live in the suburbs of London. How do people afford houses?

Prothet_of_Doom

You could move. a 3 bed semi in the rest of the country ranges from £100K to £300K unless it's in beruit, or Wilmslow or similar.

setmefree2

i live in the suburbs of London. How do people afford houses?

• People earn more ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_in_the_United_Kingdom )

• They don't run cars (London ‘Least Car-Dependent City’ http://londonist.com/2012/08/london-least-car-dependent-city.php)

• They don't have an expensive commute.

• Most people use state schools

• We don't do fashion ( Link )

• We spend less on alcoholic drinks, tobacco & narcotics & going out http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/HTMLDocs/images/Family%20Spending%20Regional_tcm97-109491.pdf

Prothet_of_Doom

Fella wrote: »

Yes, clearly if anyone has a better car than you they must be a criminal, it's the only possible explanation. We should instruct the police to immediately arrest anyone driving something better than a 7-year-old Nissan, the tax-dodging scum.

Is my 9 year old Honda better than a 7 year old nissan? I think so, and there must expect the HMRC to check my next self assessment more vigorously, than previous.

setmefree2

vivatifosi wrote: »

When I was younger (late 1980s) my best friend and I bought our first homes for a similar price. Hers was a new one bedroom flat conversion in Crouch End, London; mine was a new one bedroom house in Hertfordshire. Both have gone up in price substantially since. If we both still owned our first homes, hers would now be worth double that of mine.

That tells you everything you need to know about what has happened to London house prices, they are mad. .

No it doesn't. Her London flat might have had a loft conversion and it might now have 2 additional bedrooms and an extra bathroom. If it was a ground floor flat it might have had a massive extension. Is that likely to have happened to your old flat in Hertfordshire?

Londoners are adding to the value of their properties by making massive improvements to them. In turn, this makes London an even more desirable place to live, which in turn leads to price rises.

thescouselander

Relax everyone - the prices in London are completely normal and the locals can easily afford them. There's no sign of an unsustainable bubble - none whatsoever.

setmefree2

TruckerT wrote: »

I live close to the Grand Union Canal north of London, and I spend a lot of time walking and biking the towpath (sad git?).

Lucky git...

Conrad

thescouselander wrote: »

Relax everyone - the prices in London are completely normal and the locals can easily afford them. There's no sign of an unsustainable bubble - none whatsoever.

The top of this cycle is years away, and no an interest rate rise won't crash the market, unless it went up rapidly sky high.

B2L in London in my own case produces a rental sum 3 times higher than the 70 / 75% mortgage interest yet people still invested even when rent barely covered the mortgage.

thescouselander

Conrad wrote: »

The top of this cycle is years away, and no an interest rate rise won't crash the market, unless it went up rapidly sky high.

B2L in London in my own case produces a rental sum 3 times higher than the 70 / 75% mortgage interest yet people still invested even when rent barely covered the mortgage.

I agree interest rates aren't relevant here. Whatever pops the bubble will be external factors that cause foreign investors to lose interest and invest in something else. Who knows what or when that will be but the longer all this goes on the bigger the repercusions will be.

Conrad

thescouselander wrote: »

I agree interest rates aren't relevant here. Whatever pops the bubble will be external factors that cause foreign investors to lose interest and invest in something else. Who knows what or when that will be but the longer all this goes on the bigger the repercusions will be.

See I don't perceive a naturally cyclical market as something to fear, but rather just part and parcel of any market participation. I cannot expect there never to be a market decline, that would be an infantile expectation.

But so what?

Once again the big picture; The vast bulk of people the last 50 years have gained from the property journey, the fact some years see a decline is to be expected.
We aren't children somehow entitled to an ever lasting one way bet.

Sure they'll be the odd decline but who cares?

I promise you in the 1970's here 5 bed detached houses were changing hands around £5k and are now worth 100 times that. Who cares if some years there was a retraction?

40 years from now I fully expect a £500k house near me to be priced at £5m, if not much, much more..

Many of us enjoy the fact we can fall back on this asset and downsize should the need arise.

The_White_Horse

setmefree2 wrote: »

• People earn more ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_in_the_United_Kingdom )

• They don't run cars (London ‘Least Car-Dependent City’ http://londonist.com/2012/08/london-least-car-dependent-city.php)

• They don't have an expensive commute.

• Most people use state schools

• We don't do fashion ( Link )

• We spend less on alcoholic drinks, tobacco & narcotics & going out http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/HTMLDocs/images/Family%20Spending%20Regional_tcm97-109491.pdf

Do you live in London? I have massively expensive commutes AND i have to run a car as well.