sammersmith

Was made illegal around 2014 after it got silly with all agents only taking offers if they're in-house, but stills happens by the backdoor. "You don't have to use our in-house broker, but of course your offer would be more attractive to the buyer as we can personally verify your access to funds"

I vaguely remember a story about a canny 'owner' of a shared ownership flat who staircased to 100% based on the current market valuation, which after Grenfell was £0 (or thereabouts) as the flat was an unmortgageable liability. I think they found a way to plug that loophole though.

Everyone i know who bought one of these sort of flats, shared ownership or otherwise, had no intention of selling when they were ready to move on but instead openly boasted that they'd hold onto it as a rental side hustle after they shack up with someone. Most of the early 2010's developments around Fulham and East London seem to be rentals now and i suspect many started out being bought by OOers (or shared ownership-ers) following this same strategy. I'd rather not bail BTLers, or wannabe BTLers, out anymore.

Similarly, there's a decent number of posts from FTBers on MSE who are 'desperate' to make the 30 June stamp duty holiday cut-off. No one on MSE points out that the FTB stamp duty exception of £300,000 is reinstated from July, even though the resident posters on MSE pride themselves as being saintly fountains of wisdom.

Google 'Pathfinder'. They weren't so good at building them but demolishing existing houses to increase demand Labour get a gold star for.

I don't think the cons do care, but likewise i don't think Labour care either. If the Guardian instead said: "if politicians had the option to end housing crisis, they still wouldn't" then i'd not argue with it. They're implying Labour would do better and i don't believe they would. The cons did introduce S24 and the tenant fees act. I know the latter was a Miliband proposal in 2015, however i can think of nothing Labour did whilst in power from 1997 to 2010 to bring landlords under control. Quite the opposite in fact. The whole BTL boom got out of control under Labour's watch.

Free broadband for everyone?

Would Labour? Just a little reminder of who was defending the LLs against S24 and who has 'a secret passion for HUTH'. Can you imagine the Guardian's horror if it was Carrie Symonds was defending LLs? Don't remember them being too bothered with Cherie standing up for the LLs against the 'don't make me do it them - tenant tax'.

They probably realised that asking for another extension (on top of the existing extension + taper) would attract 0% sympathy so had to scratch around to find an extension by another means. The emotive language of the petition seems to indicate desperation, but doing this would represent a fundamental change to how stamp duty is paid. I can't see them doing this just to 'help' a few new build buyers. It would be less work just to extend the holiday again, and i really can't see them doing that after the taper and reintroduction of FTB exception. This would get messy.

Not as much as I expect they hope. As others have said, buyers will still need to satisfy salary multiples and monthly affordability checks. If they haven't managed to save more than 5% deposit then it’s likely their salary or spending habits will prevent them from qualifying for a 95% mortgage at these prices. It really seems that the govt didn’t consider this so there’s still hope for a crash if they overlook something so fundamental. As an aside: I don’t think your posts are trolling. I’m glad there’s still some housing-related posts appearing here instead of endless Brexit argument re

I've seen this a number of times. Property lists with agent for £X for ages and no takers. Stick it on an auction with a guide/starting bid of £X + legal fees and they go mad for it. I offer no explanation except that people are stupid and treat auctions as a game that they have to 'win'.

The stamp duty holiday being available to 2nd home owners has distorted this IMO. I remember how mental they went before the +3% was introduced in 2016, and this current mania seems to be a muted version of that. Let's see how keen they are to buy after September when stamp duty + 3% is reinstated.

Not this time. The existing BTLers have had to deal with non-paying tenants and no ability to evict. I very much doubt they'd buy more to fill with non-paying tenants, especially if, as you say, unemployment is expected to rise.

They don't have to live like that though. They could try their chances in a private rental, and do what everyone in a private rental does in these situations: move out or be kicked out! However, it seems that they would rather be flooded with water than give up a secure tenancy with the council. This should be more shocking really.

I've lived in a housing association place for the last 3 years, compared to about 10 years in private rental. The other residents complain the HA are bad at repairs, but I think they expect them to repair minor things that day/next day. The reality is that the HA triage work and handle water/heating problems before wear and tear. As an anecdote: my shower head was busted but still usable. A private landlord likely wouldn't have fixed it until the next tenancy but the HA did, although it took them 3 weeks to send someone. HA don't bother you for tenancy renewals, tenant inspection,