Help to Buy is nothing but an election ploy....

Graham_Devon

I kind of feel sorry for the girl to be honest. Her last twitter post before making her twitter account invisible to all but those she approved of was "I have done nothing wrong!".

And she hasn't. Nothing at all.

The problem was the setup she found herself in on the beeb. Cameron and the girl who couldn't have bought a house without help to buy drinking tea in her new home, bought due to HTB, all is lovely, Cameron is just great.

But in reality, it seems she could have done this off her own back. She wasn't struggling that much if she can afford such a company car. Will cost a pretty penny to have that as a company car!

And thats the problem for Cameron here. His big PR stunt to help sell help to buy is completely undermined and now hitting the papers. You simply shouldn't paint a picture of a "struggling aspiring homeowner" who it appears can't be struggling that much if they are paying those sums towards a company car. Theres just too much that didn't add up. Decorating the rooms before the house was even hers. Marketing and selling the house to herself (guess this is how she could have been decorating the rooms befor eactually buying it....who knows).

I've deletd some of my text that I wrote earlier as it appears a legal case may be taken against a blogger who looked at her twitter account and started the blog. Not sure what they aim to achieve, as she made herself and her own twitter account, including all previous contradictory posts very much public tweeting love and hugs to Dave!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10552225/Camerons-help-to-buy-poster-girl-bought-flat-through-her-own-firm.html

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Graham_Devon wrote: »

But in reality, it seems she could have done this off her own back. She wasn't struggling that much if she can afford such a company car. Will cost a pretty penny to have that as a company car!

Hang on.....

The average income of homebuyers helped through HTB is around 45K.

People on incomes of around 40K to 45K are exactly the target market for 30K BMW company cars.

A sales manager/director for local or regional EA would be in that sort of income bracket.

A single mum going through a divorce, even on an income of 40K, would struggle to save a 20% or 25% deposit for a 135K flat in any reasonable length of time while renting privately.

This type of buyer is exactly the sort of person HTB is designed to help.

Working professionals on decent incomes that would struggle to save exorbitantly high deposits, but can easily afford the mortgage payments.

This storm in a teacup is coming across as very nasty party political bickering, with a young family that have done nothing wrong being caught in the crossfire.

It's all a bit distasteful really.

wotsthat

Graham_Devon wrote: »

But in reality, it seems she could have done this off her own back. She wasn't struggling that much if she can afford such a company car. Will cost a pretty penny to have that as a company car!

She just didn't have the deposit. Anyone 'struggling' won't be getting a house through HTB so you need to get used to people better off than you using the scheme.

I hope in the next thrilling installment we find out she had the deposit all along but offset the difference.

Graham_Devon

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

It's all a bit distasteful really.

I don't disagree for a second, hence my initial post suggesting I felt sorry for the girl and she has done nothing wrong.

How and ever...

This was put across by the media as someone who was "struggling". If this person is on a wage of 40-45k and pays the company car tax etc on a 33k BMW, I think "most" people would come to the conclusion that this isn't really what can be seen as someone struggling.

BUT....If you are correct, and it's difficult for someone on a 45k wage to buy a 135k flat and this is exactly the type of person HTB is aimed at, then surely to god you can see the problem with prices where they are at the moment?

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Graham_Devon wrote: »

This was put across by the media as someone who was "struggling". If this person is on a wage of 40-45k and pays the company car tax etc on a 33k BMW, I think "most" people would come to the conclusion that this isn't really what can be seen as someone struggling.

BUT....If you are correct, and it's difficult for someone on a 45k wage to buy a 135k flat and this is exactly the type of person HTB is aimed at, then surely to god you can see the problem with prices where they are at the moment?

Graham, do you have the foggiest idea of how company car tax works?

I order a company car of a very similar cost to that featured BMW every 3 years.

I pay nothing up front, nothing for the car, the company pays for all the running costs and maintenance, and it costs me about 2.5K a year in tax as a taxable benefit. It would take 15 years of that tax cost to save a 20% or 25% deposit for that flat, and in reality her running costs to buy her own car would probably be higher if she turned down the company car.

She's buying a flat at what is likely around 3-4 times her salary.

And using the HTB scheme to pay the historically normal, prudent and sensible 5% to 10% deposit.

HTB is NOT aimed at people "who are struggling". It's aimed at young professionals who can easily afford the mortgage repayments or to save a traditional 5% deposit, but can not easily save the abnormally high 20% or 25% deposits.

So what on earth are you wittering on about?

Graham_Devon

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Graham, do you have the foggiest idea of how company car tax works?

I order a company car of a very similar cost to that featured BMW every 3 years.

I pay nothing up front, the company pays for all the running costs and maintenance, and it costs me about 2.5K a year in tax as a taxable benefit.

She's buying a flat at what is likely around 3-4 times her salary.

And using the HTB scheme to pay the historically normal, prudent and sensible 5% to 10% deposit.

What on earth are you wittering on about?

Hamish.

You are trying to make it about her, which I've already said I feel sorry for her.

However, anyone "struggling" (how the press put it and what the PR stunt was about) wouldn't take on such a company car. That's just common sense.

I won't get into this argument where you paint me as against the women, because quite simply I'm not.

I'm against Cameron using such PR stunts to go about selling help to buy on the TV. It seems the Telegraph get it and it's now out in the media, so whether you get it or not is of no relevance and simply not worth arguing with you over.

Help to buy is getting a slating from all angles. Even the PR stunt get's bad press. You won't have a word of it though as the whole system relies on increasing property prices in order to minimise the risk of the scheme.

Put simply, if I said I was struggling to raise a deposit, and then stated I'd just taken on a company car costing me 2.5k a year, I doubt you'd keep quiet about that expense considering there are so many cheaper options. Blimey, you are vocal enough about renters having iphones. Your hypocrisy is simply staggering.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Hamish.

You are trying to make it about her, which I've already said I feel sorry for her.

However, anyone "struggling" (how the press put it and what the PR stunt was about) wouldn't take on such a company car. That's just common sense.

Really?

Can you show me the press release which claimed she was "struggling" financially?

Or was she just "struggling" to save an exorbitantly high deposit while working and raising a child as a single mother?

And again, when you can drive a company car like that for just 2.5K a year in benefit in kind tax, or choose to take on all the costs of running your own, which would you do?

Thrugelmir

Graham_Devon wrote: »

This was put across by the media as someone who was "struggling". If this person is on a wage of 40-45k and pays the company car tax etc on a 33k BMW, I think "most" people would come to the conclusion that this isn't really what can be seen as someone struggling.

Struggling to raise the deposit perhaps. You are assuming what her income is.

Graham_Devon

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Struggling to raise the deposit perhaps. You are assuming what her income is.

I was following up on Hamish's assumption of her income and following up on what he stated.

I havem't assumed anything.

Loughton_Monkey

Graham_Devon wrote: »

I havem't assumed anything.

No Graham.

Assumption 1:

Graham_Devon wrote: »

But in reality, it seems she could have done this off her own back. She wasn't struggling that much if she can afford such a company car.

Assumption 2:

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Marketing and selling the house to herself (guess this is how she could have been decorating the rooms befor eactually buying it....who knows).

Assumption 3:

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Put simply, if I said I was struggling to raise a deposit, and then stated I'd just taken on a company car costing me 2.5k a year, I doubt you'd keep quiet about that expense considering there are so many cheaper options.

I suppose they were not assumptions, but just speculations, postulations, or conjectures.