front page of Saturday's FT - re house prices

Graham_Devon

LydiaJ wrote: »

I'm not so sure that's unfortunate. That's just market forces at work - the housing market is unbalanced by so many people wanting to live in London rather than elsewhere, so London prices get ridiculous, so people move to other parts of the country, redistributing the demand. Maybe eventually some of the employers will work out that there are advantages to relocating some of the jobs to parts of the country where people can afford to live.

True - I guess it depends on which was you look at it. I was looking at it from a family / household level, for whom this could be traumatic. Kids in schools having to move to a new area etc. Not a side often seen when you look at rising prices.

If you look at it from an outsider / economic level and how it may benefit London in the future, then it could be seen as an opportunity. Currently however, I think that's a very long way off.

However, the same can be said about reposessions and how thats just market forces at work. That's seen very differently though.

cells

The_White_Horse wrote: »

according to Loughton Monkey it's easy to get on the ladder in London. You just have to build a time machine and buy your first property in 1973.

in the last two years prices have gone utterly mad. they were pretty mad before. however, now, houses that were around £400-500 are north of £650k.

A friend of mine lives in a crappy semi - house next door sold for £1.39m. Its beyond all hope for people on very good salaries. How people on £20-30k, with families, live is beyond me

There is a lot of social housing in London.

For instance in Hackney about 45% of all homes are social.

Prices need to be such that they force existing London residents to vacate to the other regions of England because London is building too few homes to meet demand

cells

LydiaJ wrote: »

I'm not so sure that's unfortunate. That's just market forces at work - the housing market is unbalanced by so many people wanting to live in London rather than elsewhere, so London prices get ridiculous, so people move to other parts of the country, redistributing the demand. Maybe eventually some of the employers will work out that there are advantages to relocating some of the jobs to parts of the country where people can afford to live.

It wouldn't be a problem if London built >70k homes a year

the price differential would be more sane

but with less than half of that build rate the proce differential can only go one way



as for employers moving jobs to town xyz it won't happen. Businesses want to be as close to as many customers as possible and in the uk that means London. Plus London does not have jobs to export its unemployment is higher than the national average.

mystic_trev

It's a sellers market, and it's also going nuts where I am in the SE.

A friend near me had their House on the Market at the beginning of last year for and accepted an offer for £340k The purchaser then messed them around and the took it off in June. Forward to last week , and Agent suggests re-marketing at £475k. They've already had several viewing and reckon they should get a quick sale at £450k. So an increase of a third in a year……crazy!

ukcarper

cells wrote: »

There is a lot of social housing in London.

For instance in Hackney about 45% of all homes are social.

Prices need to be such that they force existing London residents to vacate to the other regions of England because London is building too few homes to meet demand

Not really as simply as that is it London needs low paid workers and there are not enough jobs in other regions of England.

wotsthat

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Shows how these price rises trap even homeowners in London as they can no longer afford to move. This is due to the price difference between their exising flat or maisonette and the next "rung" up the ladder growing so wide. Unfortunately for some, they see the only way out of this is to give up their job and move elsewhere.

Yup - I can't think of anything worse than my main asset increasing in value by 40% in a year.

They could do what your family member did and sell up moving somewhere prices haven't moved for years (quite a big choice).

I wouldn't see it as being trapped - I'd see it as an escape route from London.

LydiaJ

Graham_Devon wrote: »

True - I guess it depends on which was you look at it. I was looking at it from a family / household level, for whom this could be traumatic. Kids in schools having to move to a new area etc. Not a side often seen when you look at rising prices.

If you look at it from an outsider / economic level and how it may benefit London in the future, then it could be seen as an opportunity. Currently however, I think that's a very long way off.

However, the same can be said about reposessions and how thats just market forces at work. That's seen very differently though.

Moving for work from one part of the country to another, or even from one country to another, is a perfectly normal part of life for me, my siblings and most of the people I'm friends with. This autumn we had two new people join our department at work who had both come from London because they wanted to be able to get more house for their money. Neither of them seems to have found it traumatic.

Moving in your own time, because you choose to, in order to take a job for which you have chosen to apply, can hardly be the same level of emotional trauma as losing a house against your will because you have been unable to pay for it.

cells wrote: »

as for employers moving jobs to town xyz it won't happen. Businesses want to be as close to as many customers as possible and in the uk that means London. Plus London does not have jobs to export its unemployment is higher than the national average.

Sure that applies to some employers, but not all of them. It depends on what kind of employer. OK, it's probably not going to happen to investment banks etc, but there's more to employment than the financial sector. And far from never happening, it is happening a little already, and has been for years. What about the civil service sending huge chunks of itself to Leeds in the 1990s? One of my brothers was working for the DSS at the time, and transferred to Health in order to be part of the move - jumped at the chance, in fact. There are small businesses doing it too - particularly internet-based ones. Think of is as a compromise between high overheads and London-weighted salaries in London, and outsourcing to India at the other extreme.

(Didn't know London unemployment was higher than national average - thanks for the info.)

BillJones

The_White_Horse wrote: »

A friend of mine lives in a crappy semi - house next door sold for £1.39m. Its beyond all hope for people on very good salaries. How people on £20-30k, with families, live is beyond me

What's confusing is why people on £20-30k in London have children before they have secured a decent home for them.

Yet still they do, then complain that it's expensive.

Chrysalis

house prices are ridiculously high everywhere.

Graham_Devon

LydiaJ wrote: »

Moving for work from one part of the country to another, or even from one country to another, is a perfectly normal part of life for me, my siblings and most of the people I'm friends with. This autumn we had two new people join our department at work who had both come from London because they wanted to be able to get more house for their money. Neither of them seems to have found it traumatic.

Moving in your own time, because you choose to, in order to take a job for which you have chosen to apply, can hardly be the same level of emotional trauma as losing a house against your will because you have been unable to pay for it.

Which again, is all true.

However, you are looking at people who wanted to, and chose to move, so I doubt they would find it traumatic.

This isn't what I am describing. The people on the other thread don't want to leave London, but find they have no other option.

Two different sets of people.