Wednesday, Jul 16, 2008
Yer naat from round ere, ar ya?
Times online: Three cheers for second-home owners
I remember very well the day that I moved to London in 1989. Nobody suggested to me, a country boy, that I had no right to live there, or complained that I was depriving a native East Ender of a home. It was accepted that young urban incomers like myself migrated to the capital city to seek employment.
Do we really want the English countryside to return to introspection and inbreeding? If you think English villages have died as communities, you should go and visit the East German countryside or the more crumbling parts of rural France. There is no problem with incomers there, but not much in the way of civilisation either.
Posted by housebear @ 09:52 AM (810 views) Add Comment
16 Comments
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1. fancypants said...
Sounds like *someone* has got second-home owners mixed up with people who move home permanently.
2. shipbuilder said...
Mr Clark is being a bit sly here - he uses arguments for people being able to move to the country to support the ownership of second homes. Clearly these are not the same thing.
When someone moves to the country permanently, they become part of the community, establish businesses etc. - all the good things Mr Clark rightly claims.
Having a second, or holiday home is quite different and cannot be justified with the same arguments. Clearly no-one only in a village for 2 days in the week (or just the summer) will be involved in village fairs or contributing greatly to the local economy.
Are people really objecting to permanent newcomers? I doubt it. I suspect that the real ire is directed toward the empty houses. Shame on Mr Clark for deliberately misleading his readers.
3. fubar said...
Spot on fancy pants. Eloquently demolished in one sentence. The article seems a bit confused about it's target audience. Stating in it's headline ``three cheers for second home owners'' while discussing a separate group entirely. i.e. Those who move to the countryside for a quieter life post 40, rather than second home owners. Odd little contradictory piece really.
4. inbreda said...
This guy hasn't got a clue what he's talking about. Sly language mixed up with downright lies: "...France. There is no problem with incomers there..." so those reports I read of foreigners properties being firebombed was a figment of my imagination then?
Clearly a VI.
5. str 2007 said...
Mr. Clark has spent too much time listening to Kirsty Allsop.
6. hpwatcher said...
It's a rubbish article.
7. housebear said...
The country person that sells a house to the city man was more than happy to TAKE the money!
The city man was happy to PAY the money!
So everyone is happy.
Yes?
When city man is in his city house, does he spend at local businesses, in his local area?
No!
Not if he lives in a suburb, he will most likely shop out of town, so little benefit to the local economy.
When city man is in his country house he has to shop LOCALLY.
Much as house ownership, be it one or more properties is a luxury NOT a right.
There is NO one group of people that has a God given right to live in the country.
Life is change.
Just because it’s been a certain way for 100 years, doesn't me it has to stay that way.
Why should the West Country, just for example be exempt from rapid increases or DEACREASES in housing prices or other economic activity.
They are happy to take the tourists money, but please go once you have spent up thanks!
The West County is not that hard up!!
Look further up to the northeast and you will see.
This article I posted has a certain resonance with me as that is the same year I left the north east to work down south in a hotel.
Hard, sh*t work!
You can't always get what you want!
It was a simple choice, on the dole up north or work away from home down south.
Norman Tebbitt did have a point when he said, "Get on your bike".
I am NOT a conservative by the way.
Now prices are on the slide, which house is city man going to sell first I wonder?
There could be a lot bargains in the west VERY soon! For ANYONE who wants to buy!
In my opinion a lot of the resentment to "outsiders" goes WELL beyond buying second homes in "their" area.
It is a village mentality.
The amount of time I have stood at a "local" bar and NOT been served in turn for example.
This subtle type of deliberate bad manners is replicated many times over in other customer facing businesses.
Makes me feel that if I had money to burn, I would buy the whole town and turn it into a casino.
They would hate it, but everybody has their price to sell.
8. housebear said...
Just before anybody gets his or her knickers in twist, thinking that I am xenophobic about the West Country.
Well, I guess I am to a certain extent!
I think I speak from a reasonable standpoint though.
Having been born in Bristol, moved to the highlands of Scotland, moved to Co Durham, moved back to my parents original home town of Newcastle, moved to various home counties and visited all the four corners of the UK through out my thus far 38 years of age.
Now settled in the Midlands, what a perfect solution.
I have no idea where I am from.
I am from all over, as are many people.
I don't care about protecting "communities".
Or to put it another way nosey curtain twitching, wanting to know your business, yokels!
Be them in the west, north, south, east or the Midlands.
The same goes for all the other pockets of "communities" throughout the UK, the northeast as well.
I like NOT knowing my neighbors.
It's called privacy.
House crash for ALL!!!!
9. housebear said...
Come on!!!!!!!!!!, is any body going to venture another opinion, agree or disagree with me?
It takes me bl**dy ages to type this stuf an spel chek itt
Come on!!!!!
"hpwatcher said...
It's a rubbish article."
What's rubbish HPW?
Elaborate please.
10. housebear said...
House prices are going up forever.
BTL is a sound long and short-term investment.
Krusty the clown is a property expert.
The fundamentals of the economy are sound.
There will be no recession.
The people on HPC are all nutters.
High house prices are a good thing.
We can all make money selling houses to each other for ever!!
There, that should to do it!!!
11. holding out said...
HB - I don't think anybody is having a go at someone moving around. What they are objecting to is the article suggesting that those with second or more homes are a benefit to the local community and I'd go along with that.
12. housebear said...
holding out said...
"HB - I don't think anybody is having a go at someone moving around. What they are objecting to is the article suggesting that those with second or more homes are a benefit to the local community and I'd go along with that."
You think second homes a good thing, yes?
13. housebear said...
If people want to own multiple houses, thats fine with me
They take the risks associated with that, wether those risks are known to them or not.
NOT, as seems to be the case with so many BTLers going bust now.
Cheap houses for the likes of people on this site, Devon and London included.
I wonder how many of the people on this site will buy more than one house if prices crash by 50% or more as forcast by some?
I would be pretty tempted my self.
If prices drop 50% I could by the average three bed house in my area for cash, or take out a modest mortgage for the two houses.
Or take a BIG risk and buy three.
Comments please...
14. nooneo said...
"Now prices are on the slide, which house is city man going to sell first I wonder?
There could be a lot bargains in the west VERY soon! For ANYONE who wants to buy!"
Agreed housebear, the trouble is that communities in nice provinicial areas rely on the 2nd home owners to bring money into their areas. Industries and local economies aren't exactly thriving in areas where there are large amounts of 2nd homes (the south west for instance). It;'s OK saying there are going to be loads of bargains but the local economies haven't the resources to buy into them as they have already exceeded even the national average for houses buy some considerable amount. Some properties in devon and cornwall are just plain crazy, 400k for what is essentially a terraced house (these are basically London prices transported to the south west because, in my humble opinion, its the only place in the UK that Londoners/home counties dwellers deem possibly up to their very, very high standards enough to live). The locals will be priced out even after substantial falls.
15. housebear said...
nooneo said...
"400k for what is essentially a terraced house (these are basically London prices transported to the south west because, in my humble opinion, its the only place in the UK that Londoners/home counties"
Would you expect price falls to more severe in the west than in London, if things continue to slide?
I.e. 50% drop in London=75% drop in west. Extreme ripple effect?
The percentages above are just for examples, even I don't think they will drop that much.
16. nooneo said...
I think, as we all know, it's really hard predicting house prices, no-one knew how far they would rise and we are in the same position when they fall. My own gut instinct is that the percentages will be roughly inline, 50% everywhere, with the odd anomoly above and below that level. I think as prices fall and fall further than most people (apart fom all us bears here) properties will become attractive to those who wish to escape the rat race that is our fair capital and support house prices in the south west from collapsing any further than the national average (average fall that is). That all falls by the wayside though with the old adage "cash is king".