Is the Property ladder a dated myth from another time?

Running_Horse

Given buying costs these days, three years is no time at all in one house. Choose the right place and maybe move every five to ten years, when reduced mortgage and increased earnings will have taken care of the price differential. I know loads of people (including myself) who have progressed up the property ladder. But then, we don't live in that property madhouse called London.

thequant

emmet1 wrote: »

We bought a new build property off plan 3 years ago in London.
It took 1 year to build (delays etc).
Our kids have gotten bigger so we thought about trying to move, wanting to stay in same area but would like a bigger garden etc.
Had our property valued by 3 estate agents, the lowest valuation gave us a minimum equity of £200,000.
The problem is that even with this now supposed large deposit our incomes have only increased marginally so the amount we can borrow is still roughly the same as it was 3 years ago.
As all the property in our area has increased the only thing we can afford to buy is the place we already live in.
It seems to me a few rungs have fallen off the ladder.
We cant be the only ones in a situation like this and if this is the case wouldn't situations like this slow down the market?
Unless wages start rapidly increasing how do people afford to keep moving up?

The government has done everything it can to give you that equity, 0.5% base rate, Funding for lending scheme, help to buy. This has given you £200k equity in 3 years, yet you still moan! Jeez


No doubt if prices had remained depressed, you would be on front page of a Sunday broadsheet property supplement. looking sad with your urchins moaning about the "Negative Equity Trap"

Thrugelmir

bristol_pilot wrote: »

Plus, the London market is dominated by foreign cash buyers.

I couldn't afford to buy in either London or parts of Surrey decades ago. Times haven't really changed at all. Expectations have though and the presumption of right to be able to. I bought my first property where I could afford to buy, and moved up and onwards from there.

moneyistooshorttomention

"Expectations and the presumption of the right to buy" aren't that recent.

I would think the expectation/presumption for the majority of people came in at some point in the 1960s or thereabouts??? So, its been there for quite some time for most of us.

There are some perfectly ordinary families in the street that have had that expectation/presumption for rather longer than that. On one side of my family they have had that expectation/presumption for 100 years or more and every single one of them own their own houses (though it's true that, on the other side of my family, some are still in rented accommodation to this day on the other hand). I'm from my mothers' side of the family on this one...:rotfl:

ging84

Its called a property ladder not escalator, you have to climb it. By saving / paying off mortgage / advancing your careers.
What ever gave you the idea that anyone was ever able to trade up after 3 years simply because of house price inflation? In the days of 100%+ mortgage it made even less difference to what you could aford because you didn't even get increased affordability from a lower LTV

thequant

ging84 wrote: »

Its called a property ladder not escalator, you have to climb it. By saving / paying off mortgage / advancing your careers.
What ever gave you the idea that anyone was ever able to trade up after 3 years simply because of house price inflation? In the days of 100%+ mortgage it made even less difference to what you could aford because you didn't even get increased affordability from a lower LTV

Coz they own properdee, dat make em special

poggles

emmet1 wrote: »

We bought a new build property off plan 3 years ago in London.
It took 1 year to build (delays etc).
Our kids have gotten bigger so we thought about trying to move, wanting to stay in same area but would like a bigger garden etc.
Had our property valued by 3 estate agents, the lowest valuation gave us a minimum equity of £200,000.
The problem is that even with this now supposed large deposit our incomes have only increased marginally so the amount we can borrow is still roughly the same as it was 3 years ago.
As all the property in our area has increased the only thing we can afford to buy is the place we already live in.
It seems to me a few rungs have fallen off the ladder.
We cant be the only ones in a situation like this and if this is the case wouldn't situations like this slow down the market?
Unless wages start rapidly increasing how do people afford to keep moving up?

I think you are possibly confusing ladders with elevators.

You can't expect to just jump on and go up automatically; you have to climb it.

In relation to housing, you have to buy somewhere, add value to it (that costs less than the value it adds), then sell

SG27

There are two ways to move up the much fabled "ladder".

1. Borrow more.
2. Save more.

moneyistooshorttomention

Quizzical_Squirrel wrote: »

'Property Ladder' is a term invented by the property industry in order to induce status anxiety in the general public and thus keep the market moving.

It was designed to make people fret about whether their home accurately reflects their own self-assessed status to family, friends and vague acquaintances.

If the home doesn't apparently befit your exact current status then this concept encourages you to move. It keeps the market mobile and the estate agents' wallets lined. Plus a whole load of other ancillary industries who don't want you to be content with your lot because there's little profit in it.

It's not a coincidence that this term suddenly became popular when half the nation became status and designer label obsessed in the last couple of decades. Those people were its intended targets.

Don't be a mug and fall for it.

No "status" thoughts about it for many of us.:cool:

I can only speak for myself, but I grew up in a home where it was possible to have a standard reasonable lifestyle and not be prevented from doing so by the house not being up to it. That "standard reasonable lifestyle" (ie nothing special/nothing luxurious) includes:

- knowing you will have peace and quiet and privacy in your own home

- knowing you can spend time gardening/relaxing in the garden if you decide to do so.

- knowing your kitchen is adequate for all normal purposes (ie not just "cooking" of ready meals straight from freezer to microwave)

- not having to worry about antisocial neighbours (ie because the neighbours all "behaved themselves properly", without loud music/rubbish everywhere/neglecting their houses/etc).

So far...so perfectly ordinary:). Hardly Planet Rich Kid...I wish...

...and I do agree that every "standard, reasonable person" is entitled to exactly the same as The Norm that I am used to because, with many people, it does impact severely on their lives if their home isn't "up to scratch" to cope with all Normal Home Uses due to no fault/choice of their own. Been there/done that/got the teeshirt on that one (ie because I've had to put up with a home that wasn't "fit for purpose" for a normal/average lifestyle for many years...). I think many of us are very well aware just how "restricted" we can be from following our lifestyle because our home isn't up to basic requirements of A Home.

kevelesopnic

Quizzical_Squirrel wrote: »

'Property Ladder' is a term invented by the property industry in order to induce status anxiety in the general public and thus keep the market moving.

It was designed to make people fret about whether their home accurately reflects their own self-assessed status to family, friends and vague acquaintances.

If the home doesn't apparently befit your exact current status then this concept encourages you to move. It keeps the market mobile and the estate agents' wallets lined. Plus a whole load of other ancillary industries who don't want you to be content with your lot because there's little profit in it.

It's not a coincidence that this term suddenly became popular when half the nation became status and designer label obsessed in the last couple of decades. Those people were its intended targets.

Don't be a mug and fall for it.

Brilliant post.:T