apelike Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 Be aware that buying a flat is not the same as buying a Freehold House. 1. Flat will be leasehold. Yes I know 2. There will be service charges. Yes its quite reasonable at around £400 PA 3. There will be ground rent. About £10 PA I believe. 4. There are usually additional provisions for Sharing costs of Major repairs to a block of flats. True but its just been modernised, new aluminium gutters and soffits, roof tiles still in good condition, new kitchen and bathroom upgrade with new doors, and new communal area upgrade to be done before April. As you can guess I will be buying once it has all been completed. 5. You may be tied in to a particular insurance company. The insurance is done by the council as a block insurance and does not amount to much, last time I checked it was around £60 PA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest makapaka Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 An article in the star says upto 1000 affordable houses could be built in sheffield as a consequence of the governments announcement. The council has bid for 34m of the available pot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 An article in the star says upto 1000 affordable houses could be built in sheffield as a consequence of the governments announcement. The council has bid for 34m of the available pot. The council will manage to screw it up somehow. Linking the bid with some unreasonable demand no doubt. ---------- Post added 04-01-2017 at 11:19 ---------- You can only buy a house nowadays if a relative dies and leaves you a stack load of cash or you win the lottery. Affordable housing doesn't exist One of my friends bought a house (his first) 6 months ago without a lottery win or a dead relative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest makapaka Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 The council will manage to screw it up somehow. Linking the bid with some unreasonable demand no doubt. Why do you think that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unbeliever Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 One of my friends bought a house (his first) 6 months ago without a lottery win or a dead relative. Quite. For "can't" read "can't after I've paid for my new iPhone and 50'' TV with full Sky". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 The median household income is under £24k/yr. at 3.5 times earnings, that's £84k. So most houses aren't within the affordability criteria for most people. You don't need to buy "most" houses, you just buy one. And you might have to save a little first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unbeliever Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 You don't need to buy "most" houses, you just buy one. And you might have to save a little first. Exactly. These points have been made already. Many of the people complaining don't have the discipline to save up. It's this simple: Usually, if you can afford to rent a house, then you can afford to buy it. You just have to save up the deposit which means managing on fewer luxuries for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 I'm not saying every house, but Staveley isn't typical. The average house price is more than 11 times the average salary. Even taking Yorkshire and Humber region, the average house costs over £150k. http://www.economicshelp.org/blog/5568/housing/uk-house-price-affordability/ No it's not. The UK average is at 5 times. ---------- Post added 04-01-2017 at 11:31 ---------- Why do you think that? Precedence. ---------- Post added 04-01-2017 at 11:32 ---------- Quite. For "can't" read "can't after I've paid for my new iPhone and 50'' TV with full Sky". Well, he has a phone, a TV and a freeview box. I'm sure he could afford sky if he wanted it, but he chooses not to have it. And he's not on some massive wage, above the Sheffield average, but hardly an unusual amount. ---------- Post added 04-01-2017 at 11:34 ---------- Exactly. These points have been made already. Many of the people complaining don't have the discipline to save up. It's this simple: Usually, if you can afford to rent a house, then you can afford to buy it. You just have to save up the deposit which means managing on fewer luxuries for a while. Yeah, sorry, was just catching up with the thread. Might have been repeating comments that other people had already made. Nobody has mentioned land banking by construction companies though. Land shortage, red tape, building regs, I've seen those mentioned. But there are companies sitting on hundreds of acres of land they could develop. They don't because that would depress prices, so they build slowly and keep prices high. A tax on land banking would solve this overnight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biotechpete Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 http://www.economicshelp.org/blog/5568/housing/uk-house-price-affordability/ No it's not. The UK average is at 5 times. I suppose it depends which source you consult and what they use as averages. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/nov/01/teachers-house-market-property-prices Having checked, the ONS puts it at 9.19 times average household income in England and Wales. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/housing/articles/housingsummarymeasuresanalysis/2015#affordability-of-home-ownership ---------- Post added 04-01-2017 at 12:30 ---------- You don't need to buy "most" houses, you just buy one. And you might have to save a little first. If we are talking about something to aim at (the premise of this thread), as a goal that everyone should own a house then surely there needs to be a link between the averages. It's correct that a single household need not aim at an 'average house price', but if that household is above average in terms of earnings, then the limitation on affordability will surely push up the price at the lower end of the market. This is really what leads to the 'gentrification' of areas, a phenomenon which runs counter to the prospect of everyone owning a house. Ergo, and perhaps this is just me, average people must be able to afford and average house for everyone to own a house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unbeliever Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 (edited) If we are talking about something to aim at (the premise of this thread), as a goal that everyone should own a house then surely there needs to be a link between the averages. It's correct that a single household need not aim at an 'average house price', but if that household is above average in terms of earnings, then the limitation on affordability will surely push up the price at the lower end of the market. This is really what leads to the 'gentrification' of areas, a phenomenon which runs counter to the prospect of everyone owning a house. Ergo, and perhaps this is just me, average people must be able to afford and average house for everyone to own a house. This is mathematically invalid. What you want to calculate is the fraction of people (and couples) who don't own a property and have the (collective) borrowing power for say 80% of the cost of any large enough property within reach of their place(s) of work. It's far more complicated. Averages tell you nothing. Edited January 4, 2017 by unbeliever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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