Help to buy scheme

DRiddle

I was just reading an article from September 2013 saying how the new help to buy scheme could see house prices rise as much as 11%.

6 months ago I was looking to buy a house, the only problem was the lender was waiting on a letter from my employer confirming my upcoming pay rise, what I got instead was made redundant so had to pull out of the sale.

Now I've been in my new job long enough to have at least 3 months of payslips to try and start the process again - however in the last 6 months the asking prices in Leicester have increased by 20%. Surely this greed of agents and vendors defeats the whole point in the help to buy scheme and puts first time buyers back where they were before the scheme was suggested as it was the large deposits that people in this position were struggling with.

Has anyone else noticed this in other parts of the country or is it just here in Leicester, where I'm seeing an increase of a general attitude from citizens that they believe they are A-List and greed and possessions means more than anything!

Would anyone else pay £120000 for a 2 bedroom ex-council house in need of full modernisation in the Midlands?

much obliged!

princeofpounds

Surely this greed of agents and vendors defeats the whole point in the help to buy scheme and puts first time buyers back where they were before the scheme was suggested as it was the large deposits that people in this position were struggling with.

If you think the real purpose of the help to buy scheme is to help first time buyers you are in for a rude awakening.

Chucking more subsidised money at buyers never solves an affordability problem anyway - house prices in the short to medium term are driven not by physical supply and demand but my the amount and cost of available finance. More money in, cheaper money in, and prices go up as you are now experiencing.

What solves affordability problems is more supply or less demand.

So go and ask the NIMBY generation why it is so hard to build new houses in this country.

donfanatico

DRiddle wrote: »

I was just reading an article from September 2013 saying how the new help to buy scheme could see house prices rise as much as 11%.

6 months ago I was looking to buy a house, the only problem was the lender was waiting on a letter from my employer confirming my upcoming pay rise, what I got instead was made redundant so had to pull out of the sale.

Now I've been in my new job long enough to have at least 3 months of payslips to try and start the process again - however in the last 6 months the asking prices in Leicester have increased by 20%. Surely this greed of agents and vendors defeats the whole point in the help to buy scheme and puts first time buyers back where they were before the scheme was suggested as it was the large deposits that people in this position were struggling with.

Has anyone else noticed this in other parts of the country or is it just here in Leicester, where I'm seeing an increase of a general attitude from citizens that they believe they are A-List and greed and possessions means more than anything!

Would anyone else pay £120000 for a 2 bedroom ex-council house in need of full modernisation in the Midlands?

much obliged!

yep, it's a scheme designed on purpose to keep the bubble going.

However, what other choice do you have? Move abroad or get on the ladder asap if you want to buy

DRiddle

Thanks for the responses. But now I literally cannot afford it any more. A mortgage based on my salary as a sole applicant even with the help to buy scheme at the now increased house prices means I can only borrow about £55k.

Obviously the increase in sale prices has had a knock on effect in rental costs - I moved into rented accommodation in October. I will need to move again as the landlord wants to sell his house. This is the second time in a year this has happened to me and in the last 4 years I have had to move 7 times! Every time I do it cost's me time off work, money for moving costs, more money for deposits which used to be one month's worth and are now 6-8 weeks worth sometimes with an extra £100 on top - agents rip off fees for "admin" all of which are decreasing my savings. So yes I think the solution for me is to leave the country!

cattie

House prices have increased by £50k in my area since about last November & everything seems to be flying off of the shelves. One of my local ea's only has 2 houses currently without offers on their books.

donfanatico

cattie wrote: »

House prices have increased by £50k in my area since about last November & everything seems to be flying off of the shelves. One of my local ea's only has 2 houses currently without offers on their books.

it's crazy, how is this happening? where do people make so much money to afford for instance in my area bog standard 2/3 bed mid terraces with tiny gardens and on street parking go for starting at 650-700 with lots of work on them needed

Dan-Dan

A 3 bed terraced in a popular estate in LU7 where i am , summer last year - £170k , 175k tops as an AP , now they are 200k , no joke

I am interested (and am trying to keep an eye) on , how many of these agreed prices fail at valuation stage

I feel were lucky , the house we completed on in autumn last year , would now be on the market at 210k/215k AP , but of course this doesnt really mean anything to anyone because it applies all the way up the chain anyhow

donfanatico

This is on an estate:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-43303856.html

this is the cheapest terraced currently in the grid:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-43833464.html

crazy:)

princeofpounds

So yes I think the solution for me is to leave the country!

Seriously, write to your MP, get involved, make a noise about it.


The current younger generations are having to wait until well into their thirties before they can access secure housing, which is damaging the ability to raise families, community spirit and probably society as a whole.

High property and rental values also act as as huge dead weight on the competitiveness of the British economy.

You might want to push for longer minimum terms for renters, or loosened planning restrictions, or anything you think might help sort out this situation.

http://www.pricedout.org.uk/
https://www.shelter.org.uk/

But nothing is going to chance whilst those on the wrong end of current policies suffer in silence. The landlord generation get old and fat by extracting the value generated by young workers. The underclass and socialists take what's left in taxes to fund benefits, pensions and subsidised social housing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent-seeking

MaxTheCat

Help to buy is really about keeping the value of properties up because if they fall the banks loan books start to look dodgy as the underlying asset no longer covers the debt that the bank owes in securing you the householder the money. Put simply it's another bank bale out that relies on people's greed and desperation to work and so far it seems to be working.

leveller2911

MaxTheCat wrote: »

Help to buy is really about keeping the value of properties up because if they fall the banks loan books start to look dodgy as the underlying asset no longer covers the debt that the bank owes in securing you the householder the money. Put simply it's another bank bale out that relies on people's greed and desperation to work and so far it seems to be working.

Government are just kicking the can down the road sooner or later it will come to a head.