bomberbrown

Forgive me if I'm being naive. So what you're saying is they (mortgage/rent costs) are ommited only to make the figures (inflation) look better than they really are?

I've often wondered that. Why are housing costs (mortgages/rents), what is undoubtedly the largest monthly outgoing for the majority of working adults, excluded from inflation statistics?

By his own account, it wasn't even going to be an option he was prepared to consider. Case closed. 'Another one bites the dust'

I agree with the sentiment, but thats only true in the private renting sector.

And therein is the crux of the debate. One day. Personally, I believe now is NOT that day. Buying at a time with high house prices and low interest rates are not a happy mixture if they begin to go in opposite directions. Back in 1997/1998 I remember that getting a repayment mortgage was cheaper than renting because house prices were relatively cheap. That was a good time to buy. (I didn't as I was just finishing Uni) Oh, I see, I just get a bit riled when people dismiss social housing on the grounds of 'stigma'. I'm lucky enough to live in social housing in a OK'ish area in SE London and I have the security of an assured tenancy, very low rent that affords me to make a significant saving every month. When the time is right and the house price playing field has corrected itself again, that will be the time when I'll become a FTB. I'll even have a decent deposit by then hopefully too. I'm in Lambeth. Granted there are grotty parts but there are very decent parts too. Much the same as any London borough I guess.

I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean, do you know me or something? I'm more than happy with 'my lot' thank you very much.

Well, I'm sorry if this sounds blunt, but you sound like you've got your priorities all to ****, and a bit snobbish with it too! With all due respect, if you are prepared to spunk your hard earned wages on an overpriced shoe box, and further fuel the property dash, you appear to me as someone who is more concerned at being a property owner than having an affordable and secure roof/home over your heads. I know which one is more important to me. Do not underestimate an Assured Tenancy Agreement.

Easily done. Even I had to look twice at the fine print to find the catch. Now, personally, I think this kind of mortgage is gonna be one of the factors for the next HPC. Now I'm no expert on economics, and I don't claim to be and if you can find holes in my 'thinkings' then please point them out for debate and discussion, after all, that's what this site's for isn't it? I'm going to be drawing some correlations between this fixed rate mortgage and the gas price rates fixing of 2004/2005. A GUARANTEED fixed rate of interest for 25 years with the option top pay the loan back (presumably with a remortgage?) at 2 year intervals! One of the downsides of buying a home at the peak of house prices is the potential that interest rates might increase, with this mortgage you're laughing...... .....as much as those people that fixed their gas rates for 3 years in 2004 and 5 years in 2005. Who could have expected a wobble in wholesale gas prices that shifted prices up, and those with fixed rates were OK, they didn't need to worry, they were locked into relatively low rates....at the expense of the rest of us whose energy bills have doubled in two years! Now, if enough people get their mortgages fixed for 25 years at this relatively low interest rate and there is a wobble upwards in the base IR...... who do you think is going to be subsidising the shortfall for the mortgage lenders, yes, those on variable interest rates. Final thought - is a 25 year fixed rate mortgage a new concept? When did they start doing them?

Actually, you're wrong there. There's various years when you can repay off your mortgage. From the same link: "Annual windows in years 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, and 20 when loan can be repaid, without an early repayment charge. "

Oooohh. If were discussing good deals, how about a fixed rate mortgage for 25 years!? '5.97% Fixed to 31.05.2031 with £595 Arrangement Fee'. Incidentally, that rate has gone up from 4.99% earlier on this year. http://www.thecheshire.co.uk/online-mortga...ortgage-FCJ.asp

A1 Q1 2008 A2 8 - 10 years A3 40%

Serious question. If you had been offered a Council/HA/Social equivalent place to rent (not crack den, but not Knightsbridge) on an Assured Tenancy Agreement, would you still have bought?

Well, according to the LloydsTSB loan junk mail that came through the door this morning, 'INTEREST RATES ARE RISING' - Shock horror!! They cannot guarantee the 5.9%APR fixed loan rate after 31/10/06. I'm not stupid enough to see this as a cert, what I can't believe is that LloydsTSB can get away with such a bold statement on marketing/advertisement material?

I think most of this can be said about London on the whole, being crappy. I can't believe people will even consider 250k for an ex LA crack-den in the vain hope of getting on the property ladder. Mugs. People are seeing the light, selling up and moving out of London while they can still afford to. Before long, London will be home for the super rich and the 'benefits' gang. God I sound depressing

Actually, this link raises another interesting find. Unless I'm mistaken (or their database is skewed), notice the trend that less properties have been sold for the latest figures, towards the end of August. Could this mean a slowdown in the market I wonder?

I currently have my savings in an ING Direct account currently earning 4.75% interest. What other ways could I invest this money in order to get a better return than I already am? What are other people doing? Would prefer it to be not very risky too.

I found this interesting. I'm sure that these are the same people that recently predicted house prices were going to go up by 40% in the next 5 years too. http://www.mirror.co.uk/mirrormoney/mirror...-name_page.html I'm hoping history will be repeating itself very soon.

Brilliant, thanks. Couldn't see it for looking.

Apologies if this is in the wrong forum. I stumbled on this site with a Google search over a month ago (no internet history) and I seem to recall that there was a part of this site that had a section on what the papers said in the late 80's early 90's building up to the last crash. I can't find it now for the life of me. Any ideas?

Your own personal debts 'die' with you. Your siblings are not responsible for them Yes. Your 'estate' is used to pay off your creditors.

Thankyou. Yes thats very helpful, thanks, that last bit you wrote is what made it fall into place for me Cheers.

Yeah me too.............10 years ago. Forgive me being the newbie, but what's 'I/O' in the context of this thread? Cheers.

Odd. Looking at the graph of house prices where they go down in the first half of the 90's, I don't seem to recall us, the UK, being in a recession. (although I was in Germany in the Army during most of this time)

Have no fear. The Nu Liebour machine will just create the same number of public sector jobs. It's worked in the past.

Not sure I understand you. Ultimately, buying a home should be for somewhere to live foremostly and as a possible investment (depending on the current market) secondly. The point I'm trying to make is that, from the posts I've read on HPC so far, I get the impression that there's a lot of people here fed up because they are hacked off with unscrupulous landlords and flaky Shorthold tenancies, no-one's appears really bothered that they cannot afford a house in order to make a profit. I could be wrong in my assumption?