London's world status and house price boom is now hurting the middle class
By jamFace at 2013-08-04 17:13:12
London, UK
68 replies
10527 views
2013-08-07 11:30:00
I... imagine it's time for me to get used to the fact that I'll never have a property.
When the bubble bursts land will be cheap. Remains to be seen how far it inflates before it bursts though: if it's too far it will bring the banks down, again, and the govt almost certainly will not this time be able to bail them out, so we'll be a kind of worse Greece. So you might not like to live in London then. Oh well - I kind of like renting. chiefly the part where I call the landlord whenever something breaks and he fixes it from his own pocket. I really love that bit.
2013-08-07 16:07:00
That's why I moved out of London.
You could live somewhere like Leicester or the Stevenage area and commute to the city fairly well. I have a friend who bought a 2 bed with garden and garage for less than £180k and commutes to Moorgate to work. Depends what you want. On a moderate salary of £50k, I'd be able to pay for a 3-bed in a non-slum area ..... never.
Then factor in the train costs, from what I can tell a monthly period pass is £794.90 (£183~ a week) PLUS a zone 1 travelcard (or PAYG)
Obviously it's a personal evaluation and if it makes him happy then so be it, but from my perspective I think the whole tribulation would be too pricey in time and money to even be worth it.
Mind you I presently pay roughly £170ish a month for the tube so I expect it's not a huge leap. Still, 25 minutes on the tube is better than over an hour!
I remember my manager eagerly leaving work earlier than usual at 5pm saying I'll get home by 7 tonight! People doing these commutes are mad, truly crazy
2013-08-07 20:13:00
I... imagine it's time for me to get used to the fact that I'll never have a property.
When the bubble bursts land will be cheap. Remains to be seen how far it inflates before it bursts though: if it's too far it will bring the banks down, again, and the govt almost certainly will not this time be able to bail them out, so we'll be a kind of worse Greece. So you might not like to live in London then. Oh well - I kind of like renting. chiefly the part where I call the landlord whenever something breaks and he fixes it from his own pocket. I really love that bit.
Also, there's the wealth conservation look - Greeks have been buying London property to keep their money out of the Greek system. Russians do the same.
Basically, it's not all (or even mostly) regarding profit to a lot of buyers.
2013-08-07 21:08:00
No. It's good for everybody forever. Interest rates will only go lower and prices will rise forever. Leverage up, it's a one way bet. When alotofhelp2buy comes out the government will lend the first 40%. What could go wrong?
We rather the term up two down scheme
Ps it's certainly not a pyramid scheme
2013-08-07 21:24:00
I... imagine it's time for me to get used to the fact that I'll never have a property.
When the bubble bursts land will be cheap. Remains to be seen how far it inflates before it bursts though: if it's too far it will bring the banks down, again, and the govt almost certainly will not this time be able to bail them out, so we'll be a kind of worse Greece. So you might not like to live in London then. Oh well - I kind of like renting. chiefly the part where I call the landlord whenever something breaks and he fixes it from his own pocket. I really love that bit.
2013-08-08 01:47:00
I... imagine it's time for me to get used to the fact that I'll never have a property.
When the bubble bursts land will be cheap. Remains to be seen how far it inflates before it bursts though: if it's too far it will bring the banks down, again, and the govt almost certainly will not this time be able to bail them out, so we'll be a kind of worse Greece. So you might not like to live in London then. Oh well - I kind of like renting. chiefly the part where I call the landlord whenever something breaks and he fixes it from his own pocket. I really love that bit.
2013-08-08 02:30:00
I... imagine it's time for me to get used to the fact that I'll never have a property.
When the bubble bursts land will be cheap. Remains to be seen how far it inflates before it bursts though: if it's too far it will bring the banks down, again, and the govt almost certainly will not this time be able to bail them out, so we'll be a kind of worse Greece. So you might not like to live in London then. Oh well - I kind of like renting. chiefly the part where I call the landlord whenever something breaks and he fixes it from his own pocket. I really love that bit.
2013-08-08 03:01:00
I... imagine it's time for me to get used to the fact that I'll never have a property.
When the bubble bursts land will be cheap. Remains to be seen how far it inflates before it bursts though: if it's too far it will bring the banks down, again, and the govt almost certainly will not this time be able to bail them out, so we'll be a kind of worse Greece. So you might not like to live in London then. Oh well - I kind of like renting. chiefly the part where I call the landlord whenever something breaks and he fixes it from his own pocket. I really love that bit.
2013-08-08 04:51:00
I... imagine it's time for me to get used to the fact that I'll never have a property.
When the bubble bursts land will be cheap. Remains to be seen how far it inflates before it bursts though: if it's too far it will bring the banks down, again, and the govt almost certainly will not this time be able to bail them out, so we'll be a kind of worse Greece. So you might not like to live in London then. Oh well - I kind of like renting. chiefly the part where I call the landlord whenever something breaks and he fixes it from his own pocket. I really love that bit.
Also, there's the wealth conservation look - Greeks have been buying London property to keep their money out of the Greek system. Russians do the same.
Basically, it's not all (or even mostly) regarding profit to a lot of buyers.
- london continues to exist at the top of the world's most desired cities (at least in the top ten except i'd say top five)
- 'world cities' go on to be few and concentrated
- concentrated wealth at the crown of the pyramid constant or increasing relative to total world wealth
- london livable space continues to be restricted due to zoning and density restrictions (good in that you keep the feel of the place architecturally and make it less crowded and bad in that it limits affordability). skyscrapers would ruin a large amount the city in more ways than you can imagine
- the english legal organism maintains its reputation as a reliable, efficient system that protects rights and prevents abuse
- simple tax systems in the UK comparative to the rest of the world (france, USA, etc) continues. i am not referring to lower taxes as much as clarity and simplicity in application. intricate tax regimes keep foreigners from buying in a lot of places due to uncertainty
2013-08-08 07:54:00
I... imagine it's time for me to get used to the fact that I'll never have a property.
When the bubble bursts land will be cheap. Remains to be seen how far it inflates before it bursts though: if it's too far it will bring the banks down, again, and the govt almost certainly will not this time be able to bail them out, so we'll be a kind of worse Greece. So you might not like to live in London then. Oh well - I kind of like renting. chiefly the part where I call the landlord whenever something breaks and he fixes it from his own pocket. I really love that bit.
