High house prices rising in working class areas, is it fair and is there anything that can be done?

theartfullodger

RMiller95 said:

High house prices rising in working class areas, is it fair and is there anything that can be done?

Of course it's not fair....

As Proudhon said in 1840 

"""" "Property is theft!" (French: La propriété, c'est le vol!)  """" - see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Property_is_theft!

Jude57

If it were me, I'd leave it 6 - 12 months then see what's available on the sites you like. There's generally plenty of availability when original buyers of the brand new property decide to sell for whatever reason, often because of relationship breakdown, job loss or simply being overextended financially from being sucked into the thrill of everything being brand new. Or the nightmare that is snagging in some cases. Any new estate will have properties at good prices which have sometimes barely been lived in.

Section62

RMiller95 said:

It is excessive when you look at how much they actually make per property and how big the site is.

Then beat the developers at their own game.

Buy a building plot.  Buy your own materials.  Build your own house.

Then bank the excessive profit you think there is in housebuilding.

(Warning: You may be disappointed with the result)

Gavin83

How much are they making per property?

If they're so expensive is there any reason you can't just buy an existing property from a private seller?

Newnoel

user1977 said:

RMiller95 said:

Elliott.T123 said:

RMiller95 said:

Hi user1977,

Its not an affordable house that we are looking at and there is specific criteria for getting them so its just a 'normal' house we are looking to buy. Yes there is demand but I can't see how its justified when they are pricing people out of them or forcing people into a worse financial position especially given the current energy situation and increase in mortgage rates going forward. 

Unfortunately the housing developers don't care if they price some people out, they don't care if they put buyers into worse financial positions, they don't care if a price rise is justified or not.

All they care about is what is the highest figure we can price a house and it still sell to someone, as long as there are people willing to pay the price then they aren't bothered if that prices out others.

To be fair to them that isn't unique to house builders, if you owned a house and it went up in value 50% would you put it on the market at that new value or would you say, you know what that isn't justified and might price people out, I am only going to price it at a 10% increase to be fair to other people

I totally understand for a private seller, but for a national house builder, surely they have a duty to the local public to ensure they aren't going above and beyond. If not, there should be something in place so they can only make a certain percentage of profit per house or a house type in an area should be capped.

Like I said, that's a job for the planners to do. There's no general obligation on builders (or any other business) not to make too much profit.

Indeed

The obligation on any business is to maximise the long term value (and profit) of the company. They are not a charity.

wilfred30

The developers don't have to justify their house prices to you or anyone else for that matter.

The fact that you personally can't afford a 3% increase in the price of the house you want doesn't make it unfair, because plenty of other people can.

You either need to lower your sights, save more money or buy a 'second hand' house.

As usual though, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating.  If, after having increased the cost of the houses, the developers find that no-one can afford them (99.9% unlikely) then they will have no choice but to reduce the prices.

RMiller95

Deleted_User said:

Prices obviously arent too high for the area as they are still being sold.  They are just too high for you.   There is a clear difference. As you are being priced out of it then you clearly feel it is unfair.   Its not though,  if everything worked on that basis then I would be living in a 10acre property with a fishing lake.   Everyone has to buy a house at a level that is affordable to them.  Its simple supply and demand that dictates pricing for new builds.   Enough people have shown a willingness to buy at a higher price so therefore thats what they are worth

I totally understand what youre getting at, however, trying to find a new house for under the help to buy cap is difficult. Its not that we can't afford it but it makes it harder to afford with them putting the price up. Yes we arent looking to do help to buy but thats for various reasons. We have and still are looking at pre-owned homes, but they are at a high and very reluctant to go for that especially when people arent exactly forthcoming with defects and things and the end of a life span and to fix that means free cash which isnt an option.

Part of the problem is, people will pay it because they have a 'we'll worry about it later' mentality and also because there isnt a great deal of options other than paying a high price even if they are worth it or not.

[Deleted User]

value is subjective.  I value being in the middle of nowhere so will pay a premium for that whereas someone might want to pay less due to the lack of transport links.  To you this property isnt worth it, but to another person it could tick all the boxes.   
You cant just put it down to a lack of thought on another buyers part

[Deleted User]

Just imagine living in somewhere like Portsmouth. Working class, low wages, and that house would cost £350k.

The whole housing market is broken and there is no way to fix it.

zagfles

RMiller95 said:

Deleted_User said:

Prices obviously arent too high for the area as they are still being sold.  They are just too high for you.   There is a clear difference. As you are being priced out of it then you clearly feel it is unfair.   Its not though,  if everything worked on that basis then I would be living in a 10acre property with a fishing lake.   Everyone has to buy a house at a level that is affordable to them.  Its simple supply and demand that dictates pricing for new builds.   Enough people have shown a willingness to buy at a higher price so therefore thats what they are worth

Part of the problem is, people will pay it because they have a 'we'll worry about it later' mentality and also because there isnt a great deal of options other than paying a high price even if they are worth it or not.

There's also the "we're not spending, we're investing" mentality, plus FOMO mentality- "prices keep rising so better buy now or we'll never be able to afford to"