Why are property prices so different in the north?

DigitalSheppard

I moved up north to Manchester quite recently mainly because I couldn't afford the property prices 'down south'. Now I've moved up here, I've got a range of new opportunities and I'm getting a lot more value for money on the property front.

Thing is, anybody, know why property prices are so different in the north? It completely boggles my mind.

westernpromise

Earnings and demand are lower.

PasturesNew

Opportunities for much, much, higher earnings.

If 90% of people in the North have a job paying £20-25k, 8% have a job paying £50k and 2% have a job paying £100k, then prices are lower.

In the South it's possible that 20% of people have a job £20-25k, 40% have a job paying £50k, 20% of people have jobs paying £80k and 8% earn more than £100k and 2% are just billionaires.

All figures here have been invented, but that's the way it works. How many people have access to jobs that pay a LOT more.

mirko

I work in software development.

Houses are lower up north, but then again, so are wages.

Also, if I lose my job here there are other jobs to go to, not always the case in the north. (I moved from East Anglia to the Thames Valley for this very reason when I was made redundant years ago).

lisyloo

supply and demand bascially.
There are a LOT of well paid and very well paid jobs in London and the SE.

movilogo

Basic rules of economy - supply and demand.

Remember that there are lots of foreign buyers who buy properties around London. The North of UK does not see that trend.

Lifestyle in North is better though, not the typical rat race around M25.

westernpromise

movilogo wrote: »

Basic rules of economy - supply and demand.

Remember that there are lots of foreign buyers who buy properties around London. The North of UK does not see that trend.

Lifestyle in North is better though, not the typical rat race around M25.

If the first bolded bit is true the second cannot be,

lisyloo

westernpromise wrote: »

If the first bolded bit is true the second cannot be,

I don’t agree.
I and many others choose to live where the lifestyle is worse (for a period of time) because the streets are paved with gold.
Unfortunately most of us don’t have the luxury of going where the lifestyle is nicest (although as someone that feels the cold I’m sure it’s north).

GreatApe

Erm the reason is actually because very few people are willing to move to cheaper parts of the country

Its not all about work
Plenty of households do not work. Retired folk, those on benefits

But they wont sell their £500,000 property down south and buy a £200k property up north and bank the difference

It would not take many people to do this for prices to convert much closer than is today

I have said before, the only way to make London cheaper is to shrink the London social stock from ~24% towards ~10% by selling it off as they become vacant and limiting housing benefits

Move 500,000 social households out of London (~1.2 million people) into rUK over a period of a decade and you will find the differential between London and rUK falls

Likelihood of it happening .... 0%

mirko

Thing is, the longer I live in the SE the more it becomes home. I've lived in my current house for longer than any other in my lifetime, so it's home. It's where my children are growing up and where my friends live.

Not sure how easy it is to shift people out of London, other than moving government organisations (or quasi-govt orgs) like DVLA to Swansea and BBC to Salford.

Perhaps Houses of Parliament should move....

As for lifestyle, I enjoy my lifestyle in the SE. It's not all high rises and M25..

lisyloo

GreatApe wrote: »

Erm the reason is actually because very few people are willing to move to cheaper parts of the country
Its not all about work

For people that do work, it’s usually a major factor.
If you have transferable skills e.g. driver, plumber it may be easy.
But if you don’t - let’s say you work in airport software, or central government, barrister, hedge fund manager, then your choices are much more limited.

Plenty of households do not work. Retired folk, those on benefits

Family is the other biggy.
This might be grandchildren (possibly care), maybe elderly parents (again maybe care) or possibly receiving care from children and granchildren.

But they wont sell their £500,000 property down south and buy a £200k property up north and bank the difference

You make it sound so simply.
If that means ditching the career, being unemployed and never seeing the grandchildren then it’s hardly surprising is it?

Move 500,000 social households out of London (~1.2 million people) into rUK over a period of a decade and you will find the differential between London and rUK falls

Likelihood of it happening .... 0%

Some people might call this ethnic cleansing.
Personally I wouldn’t object to a carrot approach I,e. Give people an incentive to move.
You do need to be careful moving people who currently provide or receive free or low cost care from family.

where do you think there’s free housing for 1/2 million households.
When I’ve said this before people from the north have said (quite rightly) they don’t want all of London’s problems dumped on their doorstep.

I’d like to see more gradual moves with incentives but I agree you approach is 0% likely.