Would you buy a house in London today?

mobfant

Lots of discussion in various forums so I thought I'd put it to the test (partly because I'm halfway through buying and debating whether to pull out!)

For those who would want to live in London - If you had the money, you could afford a base rate jump of 3-4%, and found somewhere you wanted to live in for 4-5 years (but not longer unless you had to), would you buy now? Yes or no?

The alternative is to keep renting at £700 a month, and hope house prices fall in the next 1-5 years by more than you'd have paid in rent.

theEnd

Rent is equivalent to the interest on the mortgage. If you fix for 5 years at the moment, the interest should be less than the rent, but not by a massive amount.

I suspect prices will fall, but they might not. We still might see much bigger inflation, so value of your savings (and debt) will drop.

Carl31

No

but then i have no reason to live in london

If you do, and can afford it, and want to or need to, then do it

N1AK

mobfant wrote: »

If you had the money, you could afford a base rate jump of 3-4%, and found somewhere you wanted to live in for 4-5 years (but not longer unless you had to), would you buy now? Yes or no?

If I was buying to live there for 4-5+ years then yes. I wouldn't otherwise.

Bantex_2

I would buy rather than rent, but may think twice for investment purposes.

observingthedebate

Not at the current prices. About 20% overvalued.

SailorSam

I wouldn't buy 'cos i don't want to live there.
But you, if you're going to live there i think buying if you can afford it will always be better than renting.
People seem to have been saying for years that prices can't continue to rise, but it seems they do.

chewmylegoff

A house, yes, if I could afford one somewhere decent. I'd think twice before buying a 2 bed flat or something like that though..

As it is I have just exchanged on a house where I could afford to buy, which was outside London.

mobfant

Thanks all. I've clarified the question - it's for those who would want to live in London anyway, or to consider a hypothetical where you would want to live there so what would you do- buy or rent.

I'm looking at buying a 2 bed flat. Nervousness is around the size relative to how long I might have to live there if the market tanks!

wymondham

no, I'd by a 7 bedroom house with swimming pool 'up north' for the same price a one bedroom hole.... quality of life and all that!


ok, so you'd have the whippets and flat caps and 'mizzle' weather, but the beer would be nicer!

AndyGuil

The answer depends very much on whether you live there or whether you want/need to live there.

Oh and the beer is awesome now and no the market isn't going to tank.