London madness

ruggedtoast

Some of my friends are on the verge of exchanging in E17, and holding their breaths that they dont get gazumped in a 2 bed flat that is going for £100k more than the vendors bought it for three years ago.

I just find it incredible that people on decent salaries are now desperate to move into a cesspit like Walthamstow.

Not for me. I am out.

makeyourdaddyproud

Come to Thanet. Rest assured knowing your living room will fit 5 sofas.

wymondham

I thought home working (where its possible) was the future and hence it does not matter where you live ... maybe this will eventually impact on prices??

mobfant

CLAPTON wrote: »

no, it isn't madness, if the number of people living there is constantly increasing and there is not enough building then prices will rise in reasonably desirable parts.

100k for a couple isn't a particularly high income for London

It's not astronomical but it is nonetheless high. The median gross salary for London is £34,000, and they're earning 50% more than that.

If people earning 50% more than the median income of London are struggling to buy a home within a reasonable commute of work, it is madness.

makeyourdaddyproud

It only takes a handful of twenty-somethings to be able to buy their first home outright in London where there are few houses in decent areas, for prices to rise to insane levels.


Early Baby Boomer inheritances are now feeding through, I think...

cells

ruggedtoast wrote: »

Some of my friends are on the verge of exchanging in E17, and holding their breaths that they dont get gazumped in a 2 bed flat that is going for £100k more than the vendors bought it for three years ago.

I just find it incredible that people on decent salaries are now desperate to move into a cesspit like Walthamstow.

Not for me. I am out.

I grew up in walthamstow and went to secondary school and college there and yes it is a dump.

The primary reason people are buying there is becuase they believe that prices will not fall and in fact they will go up and that is probably true.
If someone believed...prices will be flat, not go up a penny or fall a penny in the whole country for the next 20 years, i suspect many in london would opt out and decide to live elsewhere

cells

With Land Reg of +4% for london last month.

London Housing Stock Price increase Last month = about £70B

London GDP last month = about £30B

House prices in London are increasing at more than twice the level of the sum of all value added in the city! And that is crazy


But it is justified, the current residents like the OP need to be forced out to make room for richer folk and the only way that is going to happen is with higher and higher prices

mobfant

TrixA wrote: »

Walthamstow is where we've been looking. We both work in North London so would like to stay this side of the river if possible. My partner is older than me so we're restricted in the length of mortgage we can take out, but even it were otherwise I would never contemplate borrowing £500k on a £100k salary. What happens when interest rates rise? What happens if we have a child and have to go down to one income for a while? If borrowing 5x joint salary is considered normal these days, no wonder we're being out bid.

Like I said, I know we have options, one is that we're both citizens of other countries with relatively saner housing markets. I'm also acutely conscious that there are heaps of people worse off than us. It just feels nasty to be priced out of an area in such a short space of time. I think in the past there were always affordable pockets in London, even in the inner boroughs, but now it feels like you need to move to zone 4 and beyond to get anything even vaguely affordable.

Fair points, and I was probably overstating the joint multiple level anyway.

I'm either going to walk away and rent for a bit, hoping prices fall, or ask for the same price as the valuer went for. Might be kicking myself in two years time though....

CLAPTON

walthamstow has excellent rail and underground links into London

it is very close to the lea valley recreational area and other wonderlands

TrixA

ruggedtoast wrote: »

Some of my friends are on the verge of exchanging in E17, and holding their breaths that they dont get gazumped in a 2 bed flat that is going for £100k more than the vendors bought it for three years ago.

I just find it incredible that people on decent salaries are now desperate to move into a cesspit like Walthamstow.

Not for me. I am out.

One man's trash....

Seriously, while not my dream area, Walthamstow is a lot of the things I love about London. Multicultural, tolerant, liberal, vibrant, good access to lovely green spaces and a few tube stops from almost unlimited things to do.

I'd welcome alternative suggestions about where to move, but not if they're areas where everyone looks the same, votes UKIP, and there's nothing to do in the evenings but sit around watching telly.