[macafee2]

Originally Posted by wraymond

It’s simple. It’s a market just like any other. Along with anything else it has a particularly common component, people.

Housing is a secondary consideration in house building. At least it is now, when very few houses are being built for local authority renting. Even in those times there was not enough to go round.

It’s telling how, when needed, the mortgage conditions allow huge loans to be available to those who, for whatever reason, are not in a position to make it long term. Manipulating bank lending rates at each Budget, reducing the deposit which is increasingly relevant due to relaxed credit rules, or term extension is what regulates the market by selective exclusion of borderline buyers. It’s the one market where the buyer is captive forever.

The old arguments, about being a small island with limited land availability, no longer apply. There are literally thousands of brown sites that could be available with just a kick in the pants for local authorities and government to make minor changes to planning law. Crucially, they also have road infrastructure and services already in place - a huge saving which could be most helpful in pricing.

Instead of having elected representatives holding highly regulated control we now have private landlords using the demand for housing as a means of making a profit. I wonder if there are figures available comparing numbers of new build houses versus new flats? There’s nothing wrong with profit, but to evict a family who fall into payment arrears doesn’t sit too well.

The very first thing prospective sellers will do is to increase the price of their home, and then complain if the seller of the house they want does the same. Estate agents will do nothing different and solicitors will get the calculators out. HMRC will see a 15% drop in receipts.

It is not nice to be evicted because people fall on hard times but the landlord has to pay his mortgage and that probably comes out of the rent money. Some people prefer to rent then buy although I feel renting is making someone else "rich" the majority of the time but still, there seems to be quite a market for rental properties, in Germany it seems to be the in thing.

macafee2