House price increases. Is everyone absolutely loaded?

lookstraightahead

Getting_greyer said:

Scenario: 
You're a London based firm with a high skilled worker of 3 years service currently WFH in Grantham.  Salary is 100k. Wishes to WFH permanently minus the odd F2F meeting.

Do you decide to drop their salary to 80k as they no longer work in the office permanent potentially losing the efficiency they have built over 3 years if they look elsewhere?  Or sack them, and be willing to pay upto 100k to someone who's willing to be office based.

There are so many scenarios, but it is the employers choice, and I would want to ensure I had flexibility in the way I expect my employees to work, and to always be office based if required.

Some employers might of course change their office location as well, meaning unemployment for some.

getmore4less

newsgroupmonkey_ said:

I think many of us office drones have realised we don't need to have our bums tied to the office chair.

As such, those who live in expensive areas of the country are looking to move out to the country. This will have an impact of driving up prices (whilst at the same time, there appears to be a glut of London flats, for instance).

What you may consider expensive may well be cheap to others.

If you were to move to the East Midlands coast, £500k would buy you a rather fancy property.

In some areas of London, perhaps a 1 bedroom flat.

People on that East Coast would think that's rather expensive.

We moved 10 miles north in Buckinghamshire which I reckon has saved us 10% (and got us out of a town into a village).

As an example, many people moved from North London into areas like Watford and Hemel Hempstead. Those in South Hertfordshire are now moving into Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire as those areas have become too expensive. In turn, those in Beds and Bucks are moving into Northants and those in Northants are moving into Lincolnshire and North Cambridgeshire.

And so on.

Bucks covers Beaconsfield the most expensive place outside London.

5-6 miles gets you into high Wycombe 40%-50% cheaper but no where near as nice.

Then the other end is MK and around Buckingham quite a long way north.

BikingBud

1. HPI is great!
2. It can go on ad-infinitum!
3. There is no such thing as unaffordable housing just people that squander their money on frivolous things!
4. People can move anywhere to buy property!
5. We don't need people to live locally to deliver the lower paid jobs, shop workers, bus drivers, catering staff, NHS support staff etc! (see 3 above)
6. If you have a lower paid job just work harder!!

Just a few of the wonderful comment types you will get on here if you ever dare blaspheme and object to the state of housing prices.

lookstraightahead

BikingBud said:

1. HPI is great!
2. It can go on ad-infinitum!
3. There is no such thing as unaffordable housing just people that squander their money on frivolous things!
4. People can move anywhere to buy property!
5. We don't need people to live locally to deliver the lower paid jobs, shop workers, bus drivers, catering staff, NHS support staff etc! (see 3 above)
6. If you have a lower paid job just work harder!!

Just a few of the wonderful comment types you will get on here if you ever dare blaspheme and object to the state of housing prices.

Most people who buy at extortionate prices will be justifying their actions, those who don't buy justify theirs.

At present though, people are generally just bonkers. Panic buying. Home ownership has become so very overstated which is extremely sad. 

None of us own anything in life long term. It's good to have security if one form or another, but that doesn't have to be a house. It could be family, community, different types of investment, education etc.

I own but I did rent for a long time and it gave me lots of freedom. 

I would hate to think I had overpaid, have to stay somewhere, and be tied to the same walls in the same town for ever and ever.

MobileSaver

BikingBud said:

1. HPI is great!

It is for many people, I made £200k on the last property I sold.

BikingBud said:

     2. It can go on ad-infinitum!

The only people I've heard say that are the HPC crowd using it as a straw man argument; normal rational people knows that house prices can go up or down depending on supply and demand.

BikingBud said:

     3. There is no such thing as unaffordable housing just people that squander their money on frivolous things!

Of course there is unaffordable housing but there is also loads of affordable housing too.

BikingBud said:

     4. People can move anywhere to buy property!

They can't necessarily move anywhere but many people can certainly move to cheaper areas if the area they are currently in is too expensive.

BikingBud said:

     5. We don't need people to live locally to deliver the lower paid jobs, shop workers, bus drivers, catering staff, NHS support staff etc! (see 3 above)

Have you ever heard of "commuting"? It's what millions of people do every day and have done for decades, it seems to work well for most people.

You do not have to be Einstein to work out that it is physically impossible for everyone who wants to live in a certain area to actually be able to do so. We live in a market economy which means prices are determined by supply and demand and this in turn acts as a balance for who can live where, it's really not rocket science.

BikingBud said:

    6. If you have a lower paid job just work harder!!

What is your alternative?!?!

Do you think people in low paid jobs should just carry on stacking shelves at Tesco and somehow be entitled to buy that four bed house with big garden in that nice area? I'm sure you will be the first in the queue to offer some of your own money to help them fulfil their dreams, won't you?

MobileSaver

lookstraightahead said:

I own but I did rent for a long time and it gave me lots of freedom.

As you now own, the benefits of ownership obviously outweighed the benefits of renting so the case for "freedom" can't have been all that compelling? (Much as it is for most people.)

lookstraightahead said:

I would hate to think I had overpaid, have to stay somewhere, and be tied to the same walls in the same town for ever and ever.

This is one of the recurring flaws in HPC thinking; they come up with an absolute worst case scenario that probably affects a miniscule (if any) number of homeowners and then fixate on that fear as a valid justification for why people should not buy their own home. It is of course one of the reasons why Crashy_Time has been paying off his landlord's mortgage instead of his own for the last ten or so years...

lookstraightahead

MobileSaver said:

lookstraightahead said:

I own but I did rent for a long time and it gave me lots of freedom.

As you now own, the benefits of ownership obviously outweighed the benefits of renting so the case for "freedom" can't have been all that compelling? (Much as it is for most people.)

lookstraightahead said:

I would hate to think I had overpaid, have to stay somewhere, and be tied to the same walls in the same town for ever and ever.

This is one of the recurring flaws in HPC thinking; they come up with an absolute worst case scenario that probably affects a miniscule (if any) number of homeowners and then fixate on that fear as a valid justification for why people should not buy their own home. It is of course one of the reasons why Crashy_Time has been paying off his landlord's mortgage instead of his own for the last ten or so years...

No I truly believe that buying can tie you down, whatever you say. Just a different perspective.  Everyone's priorities are different. Not everyone is comfortable with buying bricks and staying put.

Certainly if life throws you a curve ball, house ownership can be incredibly stressful. 

lookstraightahead

MobileSaver said:

BikingBud said:

1. HPI is great!

It is for many people, I made £200k on the last property I sold.

BikingBud said:

     2. It can go on ad-infinitum!

The only people I've heard say that are the HPC crowd using it as a straw man argument; normal rational people knows that house prices can go up or down depending on supply and demand.

BikingBud said:

     3. There is no such thing as unaffordable housing just people that squander their money on frivolous things!

Of course there is unaffordable housing but there is also loads of affordable housing too.

BikingBud said:

     4. People can move anywhere to buy property!

They can't necessarily move anywhere but many people can certainly move to cheaper areas if the area they are currently in is too expensive.

BikingBud said:

     5. We don't need people to live locally to deliver the lower paid jobs, shop workers, bus drivers, catering staff, NHS support staff etc! (see 3 above)

Have you ever heard of "commuting"? It's what millions of people do every day and have done for decades, it seems to work well for most people.

You do not have to be Einstein to work out that it is physically impossible for everyone who wants to live in a certain area to actually be able to do so. We live in a market economy which means prices are determined by supply and demand and this in turn acts as a balance for who can live where, it's really not rocket science.

BikingBud said:

    6. If you have a lower paid job just work harder!!

What is your alternative?!?!

Do you think people in low paid jobs should just carry on stacking shelves at Tesco and somehow be entitled to buy that four bed house with big garden in that nice area? I'm sure you will be the first in the queue to offer some of your own money to help them fulfil their dreams, won't you?

There are lots of people who stack shelves in Tesco who have 4 bed houses - quite a generalist statement really. The size of your house had nothing to do with your 'success' in a job. That's the crux here - house snobbery. 

MobileSaver

lookstraightahead said:

MobileSaver said:

lookstraightahead said:

I would hate to think I had overpaid, have to stay somewhere, and be tied to the same walls in the same town for ever and ever.

This is one of the recurring flaws in HPC thinking; they come up with an absolute worst case scenario that probably affects a miniscule (if any) number of homeowners ..

No I truly believe that buying can tie you down, whatever you say. Just a different perspective.

Certainly if life throws you a curve ball, house ownership can be incredibly stressful. 

Of course buying can tie you down, so can signing a 6 or 12 month rental agreement, as does any commitment, so I'm not really sure what point you are trying to make?

Yes life can throw you a curve ball but as I said the number of people who end up being "tied to the same walls in the same town for ever and ever" is practically zero. Yes it could conceivably happen but the risk is so tiny that to make a decision on that basis would be somewhat irrational.

MobileSaver

lookstraightahead said:

MobileSaver said:

BikingBud said:

    6. If you have a lower paid job just work harder!!

Do you think people in low paid jobs should just carry on stacking shelves at Tesco and somehow be entitled to buy that four bed house with big garden in that nice area?

There are lots of people who stack shelves in Tesco who have 4 bed houses

If that's the case then why is @BikingBud complaining about the state of house prices?

lookstraightahead said:

 That's the crux here - house snobbery. 

I agree with you and I've been telling the HPC crowd that for ages.

There is loads of affordable housing available but the problem is that many of the younger generation don't want a run down house in a run down area. They see the nice house in the nice area that their parents have and they want the same, conveniently forgetting that their parents had to work for decades to get to where they are now.