Supply isn't the problem, we have a surplus of housing

cepheus

.....the major cause of the housing crisis?

Britain’s problem is not a shortage of housing. We have a surplus of housing – more per head than we have ever had before. But its distribution is terrible. Government figures released last year reveal that 5% of homes in England and Wales meet the official definition of overcrowded; but 69% meet the official definition of under-occupied (possessing at least one spare bedroom). Of these, half (8.1m) had two or more spare bedrooms.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/20/ryan-gigs-gary-neville-housing-crisis-property

:T

and so it will remain as long as any neo-liberal government remains in power, whatever they are called.

HappyMJ

cepheus wrote: »

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/20/ryan-gigs-gary-neville-housing-crisis-property

:T

and so it will remain as long as any neo-liberal government remains in power, whatever they are called.

Yes that's my house. It's under occupied. I rent a 2 bedroom flat and have one spare bedroom. Why? Because the 1 bedroom flats in this area are awful and for just £95 a month more the 2 bedroom flat I rent is affordable to me.

What can we do about that? Build more tiny 1 bedroom flats? No thanks.

CLAPTON

cepheus wrote: »

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/20/ryan-gigs-gary-neville-housing-crisis-property

:T

and so it will remain as long as any neo-liberal government remains in power, whatever they are called.

indeed so

a decent government would stop the under occupation of state owned property immediately

but we can agree that Monbiot is one the biggest idiots on the planet

SailorSam

I've got a couple of spare bedrooms and it does cross my mind from time-to-time how much easier a small 1 bedroom flat would be to look after. But i like it here, so for the moment i'll stay and just shut the doors on the empty rooms.

MARTYM8`

Its the supply of money to buy housing as much as the supply of housing which drives up prices.

Spain and Ireland built loads of houses in the early to mid 2000s - loads of estates for which there was no real demand at all. But the prices still went up and up despite this excess supply.

And then the banks collapsed and they stopped lending in 2008 - and the prices collapsed.

Even in London this occurred - London's population still rose markedly from 2007 to 2010 (i.e. plenty of 'new' demand) but prices fell as the banks weren't lending. Since FLS/QE/more lending the prices have gone up again as they have in Dublin etc

If a bank will lend you £700,000 to buy a house in Walthamstow -someone will pay £750,000 for a house in Walthamstow.

cells

How does grandma selling her nice big house and moving into a 2 bed flat, outbidding a first time buyer with her 40 years of equity, help first time buyers?

cells

MARTYM8` wrote: »

Its the supply of money to buy housing as much as the supply of housing which drives up prices.

Spain and Ireland built loads of houses in the early to mid 2000s - loads of estates for which there was no real demand at all. But the prices still went up and up despite this excess supply.

And then the banks collapsed and they stopped lending in 2008 - and the prices collapsed.

Even in London this occurred - London's population still rose markedly from 2007 to 2010 (i.e. plenty of 'new' demand) but prices fell as the banks weren't lending. Since FLS/QE/more lending the prices have gone up again as they have in Dublin etc

If a bank will lend you £700,000 to buy a house in Walthamstow -someone will pay £750,000 for a house in Walthamstow.

But the banks will only lend about 4-5x income max and the BTL crew are limited by rental cover.

In expensive places like walthamstow and much of London the BTL crew are driving prices and whats driving their ability to bid more are increasing rents

Carl31

We know theres enough houses, as there isnt families sat in the street up and down the country, and there is at least 500,000 (nearer 750k?) that stand empty

Its how, and why those houses are owned thats the problem

cells

Carl31 wrote: »

We know theres enough houses, as there isnt families sat in the street up and down the country, and there is at least 500,000 (nearer 750k?) that stand empty

Its how, and why those houses are owned thats the problem

That is BS

The reason there are few homeless is because price rations demand and supply.

You have 30 year olds 40 year olds living in their childhood bedrooms.

You have grown adults living like students in shared homes 5-10 to a house.

You have the growth of the HMO sector

You have sheds in beds

---

If you knock down 150,000 homes over the course of a year rather than build 150,000 a year. The result would not be homelessness. The result would be higher rents and higher prices so people cram in more. You could keep knocking down 150,000 homes every year for 10 years and there would be little homelessness

mwpt

cells wrote: »

But the banks will only lend about 4-5x income max and the BTL crew are limited by rental cover.

In expensive places like walthamstow and much of London the BTL crew are driving prices and whats driving their ability to bid more are increasing rents

Got a graph or some verifiable stats on rent increases? Anecdotally the rate of rent increases doesn't seem to justify the rate of price increases on its own.

PasturesNew

You have to have spare bedrooms in a lot of cases..... the difference in cost between 1-2 beds, or 2-3 beds - and the shortage of 1-bed and 2-bed houses - means that, in a lot of cases, it just makes sense to buy a 3-bed house.

You want smaller, don't need those extra rooms, but feel royally shafted on the price.

When I bought my 2-bed house, for example, I suspect there were 250-300 2-3 bed houses for sale and just 1-2 1-bed houses (which were just a couple of ££000 cheaper than the ones double the size). As I could afford the extra £30k it cost me to buy a bigger 2-bed house with a larger garden and better parking, rather than the sole 1-bed pokey house tucked up an alley beside a pub, I did.

It's like baked beans: why pay 70p/can when you can get four cans for £1.

Just checked Rightmove. Where I live right now there are:
1-bed houses: none
2-bed houses: 24, starting at £220k, £225k, £240k
3-bed houses: 71, starting at £200k, £218k, £245k
4-bed houses: 41, starting at £235k, £360k, £370k

There are also no 1-bed houses within 3 miles .... none within 5 miles... two within 10 miles (£205k and £280k)