Foreverblowingbubbles

Just being devil's advocate, as i do agree that falls in PCL will eventually feed through to the rest of London, however... PCL contains a lot of trophy asset places that are insanely expensive. Apartments on hyde park / park lane with a cost in 2015 of 75million. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3116377/Five-bedroom-One-Hyde-Park-apartment-costing-75MILLION-expensive-market.html There's a few trophy asset type places around central London that were at those types of prices - Regents Crescent, Nottinghill, Knightsbridge, St James's Park. The prices of these places are truly divorced from the reality of the rest of the market, and set by the money coming out of Russia, the middle east, China and Africa. These could cost 100million or 30million and they would still be disconnected from the rest of the market - and the difference of 1 or 2 houses selling at 30 million rather than 100 million will be enough to show up in the overall stats for PCL, because the total transaction volume is quite low in that area (I can't remember exactly the annual sales, but i think in the low thousands per year) Just back of a fag packet, but a thousand houses selling in a year at an average of 1.5million each, with a single house previously selling at 100million that now sells for 50million would impact the overall average prices by about 3% So, overall whilst i do think it is clear that the "real" market that does affect the rest of London is suffering - by which i mean places in PCL costing about 1-5million, there is a portion of the PCL market that really is pretty detatched from the prices in the rest of the market, and this is where really big moves in prices have happened

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This. Glad I'm not the only one thinking this

That's a pretty callous view. People running businesses intrinsically have something to give a shit about, and a project they are focused on. That's at least something to be motivated by and feel a sense of achievement that can translate to happiness. Admittedly it can cause stress, but it's a good kind of stress Do you think 'young people' = children, so their lives are so simple by comparison? The idea that so many of our young adults feel hopeless is a terrible reflection on the society that has been created. it's generally the most go getting and optimistic period of life, if a house feels so totally out of reach that its not even worth working toward anymore, something has gone very very badly wrong. I'm not really sure how you can find that amusing. The house price crisis disproportionately affects the young, but yet I didn't detect an ounce of sarcasm in your post?

I don't think self build is likely to become a big % of houses in the uk. In Europe people build kit houses, they're not genuine self build in the sense we think of here, and British style of brick housing doesn't really suit those kit houses. I agree self build tends to be best quality, but not sure we have the number of niche builders in the uk capable of scaling up to make a dent in the numbers, unless people start desiring to live in wood and panel houses. I've not researched it, that's purely gut feel but we don't have the brickies from what I can tell. Agree that market is more about debt than it is supply and demand, however btl debt is and has been the major driving force behind the market over last 10 years. Remove a chunk of btl demamd through replacing them with build to rent supply, and I think prices have to adjust to what genuine buyers can support as there will be no btl bid.

There's only a finite supply of renters, so I would expect that for every build to rent unit that becomes occupied, it will (eventually, after some voids somewhere in the btl system) free an existing buy to let property to be released back to the owner occupied market. You see this already happening in student towns, btr has the potential to do that to large parts of the btl market I don't really see why people on here have a problem with build to rent. Genuine social housing construction would be preferable, but this is as close as we're likely to get. Sure it would be great if individuals also got incentives to build their own place, but that's not likely to bring on a new flood of supply in the way build to rent will. individuals would build detached homes, not blocks of units

Something that's not been mentioned in the comments so far that is important here - the secret is in the name. BUILD to rent. The government does see the bigger picture. It seems they see it perfectly. If you think they are making a mistake, you're missing the point that the policies they have implemented are specifically to discourage the use (ie monopolising) of pre-existing housing stock as rental units via btl, because they want it going back into owner occupied hands. Instead they're encouraging new rental units to be added - specifically for the purpose of being rented out, so not monopolising or reducing owner occupied stock - by build to rent funds. If you parents (or whoever) want to invest in a build to rent fund, they are free to do so. They are also free to continue to try to create 'their pension' through buy to let... but they should have read the signs a few years ago that the system is no longer being weighted in their favour, and they need to assess whether its worth the effort when they can probably get better yield with no effort in other ways. Buy to letters have been keen to be seen as savvy business people. In that case, whilst I feel sorry for any individual who makes a mistake and find themselves in hard times as a result, they did make their own choices and knowingly go into business extracting rent out of other people. As arpeggio says above, this is a zero sum game - it adds no value, it merely extracts rent from the person who wasn't able to snatch the asset first. The government recognise this, and the danger it poses to society (and their political tenure). This is the 'bigger picture'. These changes are well signalled by the government, with years of warning. If your family are in trouble, I'm afraid they only have themselves to blame

Just to say, my experience coming to nz as a Brit is my expectation on the weather was lower than it actually is in reality. Auckland is sub tropical. The average daily high temp in mid winter is 15 degrees, with night average of 8. I have never seen frost in Auckland,and get through the winter with autumn jackets from the uk. If the sun is out in mid winter, you can generally sit outside and enjoy the sun in shorts and a t shirt. The sun is strong enough that it feels like a sunny April day back in the uk, even in mid winter. Admittedly, there are more days of rain than in the se uk (220 here vs only 106 in UK), but the weather is much more changeable from hour to hour (a-la "4 seasons in a day"). In practise, this means that even if it rains, you're likely to also see the sun for a few hours that day. It feels to me like you don't as often get days-and-days of set in grey skies like you do back home. The other few things new zealand has on aus... Security of water supply. They're not going to drain their aquifers. If you're playing tennis or whatever and your ball goes in the bush under a load of leaves, you just stick your hand in there. No snakes, no poisonous spiders. That's a plus! Few wildfires, and in general the summer is a more bearable heat. I was in Adelaide for Christmas 2 years ago, and it was something like 45 degrees. Here it rarely goes above 28 (but is humid, so feels more like 35) The other thing is, fewer Australians. Don't get me wrong, i love aus, but the place is racist as f* compared to here, and Aussie guys in particular are a nightmare in my experience. I have Brit friends in Sydney who've been there 15 years and still only really got a couple of good Aussie mates. They're hard to get past the bravado, and all the criticism of lack of intellectualism, sports interest, tall poppy syndrome that gets levelled at kiwis is just as bad in aus. But the level of racism! The whole country of Australia is founded on a history of racism really. The plight of the aboriginal people of aus is incredibly sad. In many months spent in aus, traveling quite extensively, I can't honestly say as I've ever seen, met or spoken to an aborigine. Maori people may be disadvantaged and in more poverty in nz, but they're a proud people; an integral part of the society, traditions and identity of nz. Though I'm not saying it's perfect, the treaty of waitangi did see that this country at least attempted to be founded on a coming together of people as equals. Nobody was 'conquered' or 'robbed' here at the foundation of this country. Maori retain many highly valuable rents on fishing, forestry, etc. In fact, Britain lost the war for New Zealand to the Maori (probably due to under commitment of troops due to India being more important). I think this contributes to the pride of the Maori people, and the position of them and other islanders in society here

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Now that is an interesting choice! What are you doing? I spent some time in Tanzania and Zambia 15 years ago, and they seemed wonderful places. Didn't do business - I guess corruption is an issue, have you found it impacts everyday life? What is the cost of living, how much are you able to save?

Hey, yeah and I think all the points made are completely valid legit criticisms. Luckily I move here reasonably wealthy, live in a good part of town and have choices/flexibility. Being stone broke is bad, which ever country you call home Having said which, if you made a blog just criticising the uk as not a great place to live, there are myriad criticisms that are as bad. There's no utopia, everywhere is what you make it I made a new thread for 'where to emigrate to', as I felt like a lot of this convo is going off topic from nz banning foreign buyers and how that's impacting house prices. Some discussions are of other country options. Apologies if there's already one, I searched briefly but didn't find one

There's been a lively discussion on the nz banning foreign buyers thread about the best places, and pros and cons of moving over seas. People fleeing the uk are probably looking for some balance of: affordable and good quality housing, good education, reliable healthcare, rule of law/lack of corruption, job prospects, native language spoken, lifestyle, cultural stimulation, agreeable climate, political and natural stability, favourable tax laws, pre existing personal or cultural connections to the country, location relative to home. Where do people, on balance think are the best countries to emigrate to, and why? Or, is staying put in the uk actually the lesser of 2 evils?!

I looked up the youth suicide rate, which was stated as 5 times that in the uk at 15 per 100k between the ages of 15-19, here https://www.google.co.nz/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-asia-40284130 However I looked up uk suicide rate, and found that nz is not 5 times higher unless the 2 data sets aren't comparable. The ons states here https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/articles/suicidebyoccupation/england2011to2015 that the suicide rate of men and women 20-65 is 12 per 100k, so that puts young adults in nz about 25% higher than all adults in the uk. If you look at farmers and other labourer type jobs in the uk, the suicide rate is much higher than average - and more % of jobs over here are that kind of nature Looking at the kiwi stats, 15 per 100k means between 15-19 years old, an individual has a 60/100k chance of committing suicide, which is 0.06%, or 1 in 1666 across a 4 year period. If you imagine this as a school of people going from gcse through to completing a levels, its about 1 suicide per 4 year cycle, with an intake across the 4 year period of 1666. The average secondary school in the uk is about 1000 students across 7 years, so essentially this would translate to 1 suicide amongst 15-19 year olds per 3 average sized secondary schools Clearly the rate being higher than the uk shows there's an issue (especially if it were 5 times, but I think that statement is wrong in the article posted). Child abuse, bullying, poverty, drugs, culture etc all must come in to the problem. Suicide is the biggest killer of young men here (higher than car crime), but however tragic it is for those families affected, the actual rate of suicide is still low when you look at the pure odds of it happening to your family. Actually, as this is quite off of the thread topic, I'm just wondering if we should start a 'where to emigrate to' thread, or similar, or is there one already?

Sorry, my ex partner was a psychiatrist. I don't work in that field. Yes, early days. I agree fully with sentiment expressed, kiwis from what I can tell are unfriendly and passive aggressive. I have made some friends here, but they're from India, Taiwan, China, Brazil, columbia, UK, US, etc. The one kiwi I became friends with stabbed me in the back the worst that I've ever experienced... Don't want to go into it Youth suicide, I'm no expert at all. I would guess this is because there are a lot of terribly isolated small towns here, and this is a very conservative place. As a small society where everyone knows everyone, it's more conformist than I'm used to from the uk. My guess from seeing a bit of this society and the 'tall poppy' syndrome is that they pick on difference to weed out the non conformists and the people who stand out. If you're different, maybe a nerd, an emo kid, or just awkward or not sporty, or picked on for whatever reason, I imagine that the bullying is bad, and the small towns could mean that there's fewer people like you to connect with and be supported through becoming comfortable in your own skin

The carribean is also pretty damned boring unless you want to spend the rest of life diving or fishing. I've been to cayman 3 times as I have a friend who works there so can stay at his (no hotel to pay). After you've done the few main tourist activities, there's nothing left to do but get pissed. No culture at all

That blog presents a particularly bitter and resentful view of nz. I'm sure all the issues raised are here to an extent - I can't disagree with much I've read, but it's blowing the scale of these things out of all proportion If you want to focus on the negatives, of course you can find them. Is this some utopia? No, of course not, and if you're looking for that, sorry but it doesn't exist Does nz offer a workable alternative to the uk that offers something distinctly different? Yes. Is this a good place to start a small business of your own, where high Street businesses like hardware stores still have a chance because there's no amazon or mega retailers to compete against? Yes. Does it have socialised healthcare, honest police and courts? Yes. Is the lifestyle quality offered for bringing up kids better than the uk? Certainly But is this a place to come and work an average office job, and think you'll get ahead or afford a comfortable lifestyle? No, you probably need the drive and some interest/passion in an area to be starting your own business here. Its worth remembering if you move here, you're becoming a first generation immigrant. Do you think *any* first generation immigrants around the world have an easy cake walk life? Maybe 'ex-pats' retiring abroad do, but if you are moving overseas to work, that's never an easy thing, for anyone, moving to any country - for many reasons

Out of interest, have you had hayfever constantly since arriving? I have had allergies and almost thought I was getting athsma when I first arrived. Not had much problem before that, just allergic to cats and a couple of weeks of tree pollen during summer. Here it's constant, even the daily tablets don't keep it in check Don't think it's mould as I lived in a well built dry apartment block til recently, but maybe

Sorry - Double post

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_New_Zealand

I met people who told me they bought the house linked as their 'business investment'. Dyor of course, I've not looked into it myself, I took their word for it Edit: I expect any 'commercial experience' can be passed off as business experience. I doubt you need much specialist knowledge to run a motel/cottages. And I've met several brits here doing just that. Having said which, remeber this is so so far from home. I've been here 2 years and still quite home sick, despite the beauty of the place. Kiwis aren't that friendly, most of my friends are other immigrants with few local connections. It's like moving down to Cornwall - having not been to school here, ill always be an outsider. They say it takes 20 years to make friends with a kiwi and I can understand that - it's a close community and they want to see people who are here to contribute to the community, not just run a business. I think if you contribute back to the community for years, they'd accept you, but it's not an overnight thing

Earthquakes are only a major risk on the south island and east coast of the North island, as far as I know. Up north, where it is also the best climate (unless you like alpine winters), there have only been 2 quakes over 6.0 in recoded history, which admittedly is only ~250 years unless you count Maori history, which takes it about 800 years. They saw the last volcanic eruption in Auckland, but I don't think major major disruption from earthquakes Auckland is built on an active volcanic field, but the last eruption was 700 years ago, and youd certainly get warning if a new eruption was coming I wouldn't personally live at sea level on the east coast due to flooding and tsunami risk. Taupo if it goes off big style could cause a 'nuclear winter' style climate event the world over, and bury the entire place in metres of Ash - but that last happened in roman times and again you'd see signs the magma chamber was bulging before something like that went off I guess nowhere is perfect, its these things such as the rapid uplifting of nz from earthquakes and the volcanos that makes the scenery so unique and dramatic.

Here's how you do it: - spend $3million on a building that you can operate as your business premesis, and also your home. Buy with a 50% loan secured against it. - you need about £750k cash in that case. - you have 15-20 years to pay off the rest of the loan, although you have the cash available to do so at any time. - here's an example of what much less money can get Http://www.trademe.co.nz/property/residential-property-for-sale/auction-1330372736.htm. I actually spoke to the owners of that place, they did exactly this visa route. Brits, retirement age now. Osteopath (him) and another business run from home (her), can't remeber exactly. Ran it for 10 or 15 years before retiring. Admittedly they bought for a lot less than $3m, but they bought the fixed asset, the location and home as part of the investment they made, and (probably, I didnt ask) used leverage to get above the investment nominal amount

Ok we're way off topic. Don't want to derail the thread too much Can discuss on another thread if you want to create one? Theres a lot of lobbying for the banning of foreign buyers to be watered down here. Companies listed on the nz stock exchange such as elderly care homes are saying they will be blocked from building and operating facilities, because they have more than x% foreign ownership of their shares. It seems like there's a bit of tinkering with the wording of the rules to come and will take a while. I believe 300 businesses wrote to the government protesting the law. Going back to what crash monitor said I would say it feels like the housing here is actually more overpriced than back home. Having said which, they average floor area is much larger, but the build qaulity is incredibly low. Even the apartment buildings they put up have a lot of leaks, and the houses are as commented, timber frames, weather board and a roof. I went on a road trip a few weeks ago along the East Coast - logging country. its mind blowingly empty. Looking at the houses in some of these poor villages, they looked little better than a developing country. Can't imagine how cold and damp they get in winter

If you have the funds and want to move out here and work, then buy a business in new zealand and move here on this visa https://www.newzealandnow.govt.nz/investing-in-nz/visas/investor visa. By the way, you don't need all that in cash - you could leverage the business a bit to make the cut off point if you only had half If you want to move to another country just to be retired, is it any surprise that they don't want you? Other people talking about their experiences aren't doing it to rub salt in your wounds. As wicao said, if you have the will and time on your side, you can make a new life more or less where ever you want. If you're really upset about not living overseas, consider somewhere like seville or Lisbon which you could pack your bags and go to tomorrow

Actually, thinking about it she may have been classed as part qualified, because she hadn't done child psychiatry experience, only adults and elderly. It was odd, as she was clinical lead at the Royal London hospital, so she had gone a long way in her career by her mid 30s. But i think there was an issue regarding her lack of child experience thinking back. She was hardly a mediocre applicant though. Most people don't get consultant at her age, let alone clinical lead