miser Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 Does anyone here not question just how utterly contemptable the property owning classes have become towards the next in line.When they were young and needed to buy their own home it was hard, but certainly possible.By pricing out the young they are going to impact on the already low birth rate that we have in this country as young couples have to decide on either owning your own home by both working and never having any offspring.There is also the vast swathes of people on a low to medium wage who will never own because the multiples are just too great to take on.These sort of people who have been able to just about get on the ladder and own in previous generations will now have to be dependant on the state when they come to retirement. And can someone please explain to me what the hell is left to live on if some poor couple does decide to buy at 6x averge wage that exists now.We have an economy that has never been so reliant on consumer spending.Yet we are also expected to prop up these ridiculous levels for housing with everybody knowing full well that these circumstances are downright impossible on any sort of long term basis. What we have now is a property market with very few investors willing to fuel it any further and almost negligable amounts of first time buyers.Yet still it seems to be held up and kept artificially high by the government intervening and the so called independent bank of england backing out of making decisions that will have to be made sooner or later.The whole thing stinks of hypocracy and needs to come crashing down so that we can all make a decent bloody society again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
munimula Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 Yet still it seems to be held up and kept artificially high by the government intervening and the so called independent bank of england backing out of making decisions that will have to be made sooner or later.The whole thing stinks of hypocracy and needs to come crashing down so that we can all make a decent bloody society again<{POST_SNAPBACK}> It's held up by sellers that don't have to sell (yet) and don't realise the benefit of selling now even if they have to lower prices 10%. This will change.... From what I've read this week I am in even less doubt that we are headed for a monumental crash, it's just that it moves in slow motion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBFTB Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 Does anyone here not question just how utterly contemptable the property owning classes have become towards the next in line<{POST_SNAPBACK}> Welcome to the world. People shaft each other all the time. I'm not saying it's right, far from it, but that's (annoyingly) the way it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theChuz Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 Does anyone here not question just how utterly contemptable the property owning classes have become towards the next in line.When they were young and needed to buy their own home it was hard, but certainly possible.By pricing out the young they are going to impact on the already low birth rate that we have in this country as young couples have to decide on either owning your own home by both working and never having any offspring.There is also the vast swathes of people on a low to medium wage who will never own because the multiples are just too great to take on.These sort of people who have been able to just about get on the ladder and own in previous generations will now have to be dependant on the state when they come to retirement.And can someone please explain to me what the hell is left to live on if some poor couple does decide to buy at 6x averge wage that exists now.We have an economy that has never been so reliant on consumer spending.Yet we are also expected to prop up these ridiculous levels for housing with everybody knowing full well that these circumstances are downright impossible on any sort of long term basis. What we have now is a property market with very few investors willing to fuel it any further and almost negligable amounts of first time buyers.Yet still it seems to be held up and kept artificially high by the government intervening and the so called independent bank of england backing out of making decisions that will have to be made sooner or later.The whole thing stinks of hypocracy and needs to come crashing down so that we can all make a decent bloody society again <{POST_SNAPBACK}> No one will fight for you, you have to do it alone, take a defensive stance, protect what you can and start wearing overalls and goggles so when the sh*t hits the fan its affect will be minamalized for you. You will find it dosnt matter if it all affects you negativly aslong as it affect everyone at a little worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FTBagain Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 miser, Welcome to HPC. You sound like you are a young would be FTB. Fully understand how you feel. I left college in 1988, just as we were approaching the last peak. I remember discussing the issue just with fellow leavers. They all argued that house prices never come down. They rushed out and bought. I waited until 1992! Guess who did not have negative equity on selling. This time around will be no different. Just have to be patient I'm afraid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Don't Surf Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 The icing on the cake is the younger generation won't get state pensions, won't have the option of early retirement and will probably end up having to support the older generation financialy after they've MEWed away any inheritables they did have to go on cruises! Hope all you baby boomers are enjoying your easy lives at the next generations expense! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ritters Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 (edited) I'm concerned about the low birth rate too. Will there be enough people working, and contributing to the public purse when I approach retirement? What will tax rates be like if 1) oil is used up and the government is forced to rely on taxing us some other way to make up the fuel duty loss. 2) Will anyone still be smoking and drinking as much (again, a potential tax loss for the government) 3) people who haven't planned for their retirement because of todays 'live for today' mentality. Will the government bail them out? Looks like our situation is a double edged sword (we're going to get shafted both ways). To buy a home at todays prices will have a certain (disasterous) 'ripple in the pond' effect on my future prosperity. Edited August 10, 2005 by Ritters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pink Flamingo Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 I find your post a little stongly worded Miser. I wouldn't call everyone who has managed to work hard and save their deposit and purchase a house "contemptable"? I find this an odd view. Should I have not purchased a house "on principal" as a show of support for those who couldn't afford to? The fact of the matter is that life IS unfair, sh1t happens and you have to fight your corner. Also, this image that all young people are struggling along living with their parents or renting, I know a large number of 'young' people who own their own homes - they don't have "contempt" for those not so "lucky" - they are simply looking out for themselves. People are greedy by their very nature - most animals are. The problem stems back to the banks & lenders who have allowed people to borrow more and more money. If mortgages were still lent at 3 x a single salary or 2.5 x a couple's then we wouldn't have got into this mess in the first place. Sadly they gave us enough rope & we've hung ourselves. Now we need to step back, allow the crash to happen & learn from our mistakes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gravity's Rainbow Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 Does anyone here not question just how utterly contemptable the property owning classes have become towards the next in line. I sympathise with the sentiments but you can hardly blame people for wanting to maximise the value of their asset. If I sold a house at what I considered a "fair price" what is to stop the person I sell it to flicking it for an immediate 50% profit? [As an aside, this is one of the unremarked weaknesses of the Govt's 60K homes initiative] The boom has been sustained because too many people have been prepared to pay over the odds to buy property, leveraging themselves up to the eyeballs with debt in the process. The banks, of course, have been complicit in this. But in the end it is the buyers who have behaved irrationally, not the sellers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Culpability Brown Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 Human civilisation on this planet is constantly treading new lows. We have scant disregard for each other or the planet. Planning for the next generation! We are light years from that kind of intelligence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBFTB Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 Planning for the next generation! We are light years from that kind of intelligence. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> We'll resume that kind of thinking when our lives depend on it and not until. Human nature, I'm afraid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Culpability Brown Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 We'll resume that kind of thinking when our lives depend on it and not until. Human nature, I'm afraid.<{POST_SNAPBACK}> Human nature is evolving. We have the capability to make informed decisions everyday of our lives. No exscuse JBFTB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pod Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 I'm concerned about the low birth rate too. Will there be enough people working, and contributing to the public purse when I approach retirement? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Immigration... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justanewbie Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 Nothing has been said in the first post to this thread that was not true when I was growing up in the late 60s/early 70s. It was just as hard, if not even more difficult, to get started financially. It takes a decade or two for most working people to become financially secure, unless they inherit/get lucky etc. Welcome to the human race. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrB Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 And can someone please explain to me what the hell is left to live on if some poor couple does decide to buy at 6x averge wage that exists now.We have an economy that has never been so reliant on consumer spending.<{POST_SNAPBACK}> As housing stock turns over as people die of oldness, and the new blood pay lunatic amounts for houses, then there will be very little left in the pot for 'consumption'. If people can't afford to buy stuff because all their cash goes on rent/mortgage then the economy is truly ******ed. The problem is that most people bought house > 5 years ago, and will be sitting on tens of thousands of pounds of 'equity' and have a tiny mortgage due to low interest rates. They might think "What's the problem?". Unfortunatelty this may take a while to resolve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkG Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 It was just as hard, if not even more difficult, to get startedfinancially. Crap. Back then my parents bought a four-bedroom house on a factory worker's salary, while supporting four kids. How many people in their late 20s/early 30s could do the same today? People can keep spouting this 'oh, it's always been hard, you're just lazy' nonsense as much as they want, but we know it isn't true because our parents were able to buy far better houses on lower salaries: and often on a single salary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rain'ard Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 Being a baby boomer myself I can strongly sympathise with the next generation although I have not been into the grabbing culture of my many of my peers. I like a lot of people believed that the pension contributions we paid were going into some sort of safe long term saving account and the politician at the never publicised the fact that we were paying for the generation before us. I would like to say one thing about my generation is that we never had the BTL culture in our day. As mortgages at the time had restrictions, including no subletting. Any ideas of being a landlord, was much a more serous proposition. Getting a business loan and being saddled with secure tenants wasn’t to be taken lightly. The BTL phenomenon IMO has been the prerogative of the 25 – 50ish, who have seen recent legislation, under - I have to add - successive Conservative governments and encouraged by the present one, been given the conditions to exploit this market. I work in the housing industry and I find that the oldie, rather than the baby boomer, has a much more altruist view in thse matters and are very sceptical and disapproving of the current housing situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fancypants Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 Human nature is evolving. We have the capability to make informed decisions everyday of our lives. No exscuse JBFTB. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> it infuriates me when I have this argument with friends and acquaintances of mine. I suggest that they may be behaving a little unfairly by consuming the wealth of future generations and living in an entirely unsustainable fashion - the usual response is "so what, that's their problem" I usually counter by asking if they are grateful that their forebears didn't have the same attitude - we are all provided with the gift of life and should be grateful for what we DO have, not what we don't. I believe we have a responsibility to pass these gifts on - it is a wonderful world, we should leave it that way. Anyway, what kind of arrogance makes us think we are the masters of this planet? We're only borrowing it. You'll see what I mean when the oil runs out It seems like unfettered capitalism (ie the breakdown of the postwar social consensus) has encouraged us all to place ourselves even closer to the centre of the universe because of the idea that this will make us all richer. It panders to the most lustful, greedy & selfish impulses that we all have (see also other threads re: debt) we all make our own choices in this world. It is particularly cowardly to hope that your children will pay the bill for your greed. Actually, I think the waiter is coming to our table with the bill sooner than we expected Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkG Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 It seems like unfettered capitalism (ie the breakdown of the postwar social consensus) has encouraged us all to place ourselves even closer to the centre of the universe because of the idea that this will make us all richer. Since when is a society where a central bank controls interest rates and the government steal 40% of the national income 'unfettered capitalism'? We'd be far better off if we had 'unfettered capitalism', as banks which created money from thin air at artificially low interest rates would rapidly collapse when no-one accepted their money anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Fred Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 MISER IN DISCOVERS REALITY OF CAPITALISM SHOCKER. Yes have a moan, but don't blame rational home-owners. We live in a capitalist society, the only question is how to change the rules of the game to make the game fairer and more equitable while maximising total benefit to all players. VERY hard to do. Imposing tighter restrictions on lenders, for example, is great in theory and may help keep prices more sustainable/ affordable. BUT it risks punishing educated, knowledgeable risk takers, who, for example, use their home as a way of funding a start-up business which will go on to employ potential FTBs and allow them to buy their first house. FF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkG Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 the only question is how to change the rules of the game to make the game fairer and more equitable while maximising total benefit to all players. Get the Bank of England out of the interest rate business and tell the other banks that they won't be bailed out if they go bust. Job done... no-one will then put money into a bank which takes major risks with loaning it out, and artificial monetary inflation will be cut off rapidly as depositors move money elsewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VickyPollard Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 (edited) hsgtdhe Edited August 10, 2005 by VickyPollard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justanewbie Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 Crap. Back then ......<{POST_SNAPBACK}> It's rather difficult to feel sorry for someone who is rude. So I won't Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Fred Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 Get the Bank of England out of the interest rate business and tell the other banks that they won't be bailed out if they go bust.Job done... no-one will then put money into a bank which takes major risks with loaning it out, and artificial monetary inflation will be cut off rapidly as depositors move money elsewhere. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Erm... if you think current prices are unfair then how unfair would it be to lose your life savings cos a bank went bankrupt (or, should we all train as forensic accountants / actuaries and go through every banks accounts, files and lending criteria before depositing our money?) ANd what is wrong with the bank of ENgland setting interest rates? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OzzMosiz Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 It's rather difficult to feel sorry for someone who is rude.So I won't <{POST_SNAPBACK}> He might've been rude, but he was right! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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