House prices in the north

Cakeguts

It depends where up north. If it is an area where there is no shortage of land house prices will be cheaper. Houses cost less and you earn less but you will have more disposable income. The difference in levels of salaries don't make up the difference between disposable incomes north to south. In the north you will almost always have more money left over at the end of the month after bills than you will in the south.

MyOnlyPost

Cakeguts wrote: »

In the north you will almost always have more money left over at the end of the month after bills than you will in the south.

Just going to pick you up on that, you may have a higher percentage of your income left but this doesn't necessarily equate to more disposable income. Whilst people in "ordinary" jobs will earn more than their northern counterparts yet be worse off after housing costs there are far more high and very high income jobs in the south, particulalrly in London and this skews the figures somewhat.

Cakeguts wrote: »

It depends where up north. If it is an area where there is no shortage of land house prices will be cheaper. Houses cost less and you earn less but you will have more disposable income. The difference in levels of salaries don't make up the difference between disposable incomes north to south.

You can look at it as current wealth vs future wealth to some degree. Northern people on average salaries may be better off at present than southern counterparts but will have far less equity if choosing to downsize to help fund retirement. Therefore whilst northeners may have higher disposable income they should really be putting more in to retirement provision than southerners.

Cakeguts

Don't forget the national minimum wage not the regional minimum wage. People on the minimum wage in the north do better.

MyOnlyPost

People on minimum wage are less likely to be buying houses and this thread is about house price differential. I wasn't saying you are wrong, simply adding a caveat. High earners (of which there are statistically more in the south) may pay 60% of their income for housing and still have a larger disposable income than someone on lower wages who only pays 40% of their income for housing

jeanzbeanz

It's definitely not as simple as north/south.
We're in a very nice suburb in north Leeds and it's far more expensive here than where my cousins live in a "posh" part of Northampton 1.5 hours south. Likewise Doncaster, Hull, south Leeds, etc are far cheaper than north Leeds despite being further south. And Harrogate to our north is more expensive than Leeds but also seriously nice

Doshwaster

I'm originally from the NE but have lived at worked in the South since leaving to go to Uinversity when I was 18.

I've just had my tiny 2-bed semi valued at £215,000. My brother who still lives in the NE has just bought a brand new 5-bed detatched house for £180,000 having sold their 4 bed for £160,000.

My current retirement plan is to build up a lot of equity in my house, sell it and then buy a small place back in the NE so releasing a lot of cash so I can enjoy my later years.

The reason I haven't moved back is mainly due to work. The NE is a fantastic part of the country if you are in a stable job and have a decent income but the career opportunities are far more limited. I know (from personal experience) that if I lost my job down here I would find something else within a few weeks. I don't know anyone who is long-term unemployed and those who do find themselves out of work just take it as an excuse to go on holiday as they know they will easily find something when they get back.

MyOnlyPost

Doshwaster wrote: »

I'm originally from the NE but have lived at worked in the South since leaving to go to Uinversity when I was 18.

Traitor

Doshwaster wrote: »

I've just had my tiny 2-bed semi valued at £215,000. My brother who still lives in the NE has just bought a brand new 5-bed detatched house for £180,000 having sold their 4 bed for £160,000.

MyOnlyPost wrote: »

House prices in the North are already the same as the South, it's just that here you get a Castle for what you pay for a bedsit in the south

Doshwaster wrote: »

My current retirement plan is to build up a lot of equity in my house, sell it and then buy a small place back in the NE so releasing a lot of cash so I can enjoy my later years.

After such a long absence you will have to sit the entrance exam, and discard any coats you may own

Doshwaster wrote: »

The reason I haven't moved back is mainly due to work. The NE is a fantastic part of the country if you are in a stable job and have a decent income but the career opportunities are far more limited. I know (from personal experience) that if I lost my job down here I would find something else within a few weeks. I don't know anyone who is long-term unemployed and those who do find themselves out of work just take it as an excuse to go on holiday as they know they will easily find something when they get back.

This is the real difference between the regions. There are huge swathes of the North that have high unemployment and very poor job prospects. We switched from a manufacturing to service economy and the Northern powerhouse was effectively killed off. Whilst there has been some investment it hasn't been nearly enough to regenerate the regions. More needed/needs to be done to persuade business to locate in the north, be it government backed skills training or tax breaks for investment. The whole debate after Brexit about the disenfranchised north centers on this one issue and is why UKIP does rather well up here

Red-Squirrel_2

Planet_Switzerland wrote: »

I went to uni up north. I now live in London but have 2 friends from my course who still live up there.


Both did better in their degree than me. One of them got a graduate job straight away and studied a masters then a phd on the job. However his pay rises have been quite minuscule, partly because there is little alternative up there. It took me some time to get on the career ladder, but despite this I now earn a fair bit more than him despite him being much better qualified than me.


My other friend never did manage to get on the career ladder, he ended up doing a basic admin job then got made redundant in 2009 and has been temping in basic admin jobs since then.


With regards to house prices up there, my friend sold his property last year for 4 grand less than what he paid for it. I bought a property in London with a bigger deposit than what he sold his property for. My London property is smaller as well.

This did make me smile wryly, sorry!

You say 'up there' like the whole of the north of the country is one big mill town or something!

Go on Rightmove, have a look at house prices in say, Alderly Edge vs Blackley, or Formby vs Knowsley, or Grasmere vs Workington to see how much variety there actually is.

It might also be a good idea to venture beyond the M25 every now and then, there are some lovely places a few hundred miles away! ;)

Doshwaster

MyOnlyPost wrote: »

This is the real difference between the regions. There are huge swathes of the North that have high unemployment and very poor job prospects. We switched from a manufacturing to service economy and the Northern powerhouse was effectively killed off. Whilst there has been some investment it hasn't been nearly enough to regenerate the regions. More needed/needs to be done to persuade business to locate in the north, be it government backed skills training or tax breaks for investment. The whole debate after Brexit about the disenfranchised north centers on this one issue and is why UKIP does rather well up here

I see very little evidence that UKIP have a credible plan for struggling northern areas.

There are many good reasons why businesses might want to locate in the North. Land is cheap and employment costs are lower. If you need a lot of space such as Nissan or Hitatchi then you aren't going to open a site in Guildford.

Many London/SE based companies are transferring back office functions to branch offices in the North as it is cheaper for them to do the work there and less hassle than managing a remote office in Poland, Romania or India - a phenomenon called "Northshoring".

oystercatcher

MyOnlyPost wrote: »

To go to Newcastle you also have to burn your coat, no Geordie is so soft as to own a coat.


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Many years ago I went to Leeds Uni, having grown up a soft Southerner I took a thick fleece lined coat as I knew it would be cold 'up north' .

I was allocated to share accomodation with a girl from Newcastle. I was amazed when I discovered that her coat was just a thin raincoat. Apparently she got 'too hot' in anything else !

We are still friends and still amazed at the difference in house prices at our respective ends of the country .