Si1 Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 London rents are shocking. I don't understand who are are paying them.... the housing benefits cuts aren't coming in for a while yet are they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Van Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 I have to confirm that rents have risen in Hammersmith, though nothing like the reported figures. Probably about 5-7% in the last 18 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maynardgravy Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 Well i have been renting a two-bed for 5 years in affluent Pinner, and in that time my rent has come down by fifty quid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkie Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 (edited) London rents are shocking. I don't understand who are are paying them.... http://www.gumtree.com/cgi-bin/list_postings.pl?search_location=London&num_bedrooms_1=Y&num_bedrooms_2=Y&min_price=&max_price=&ubercat=2511 Even on £50k+, you're going to miss £1500+ per month in post tax income. Paying that for somewhere that still aint that salubrious would break my heart. I agree with the above poster that buying actually starts to add up if you aren't that fussy. We are currently negotiating and 1 or 2 bedroom flats commutable to London in the £140k range. With the required 20% deposit, that puts us down at around £500 per month mortgage on the base rate tracker we have a work benefit. London is an absolute cess pit of a place, but I've been able to earn much more than I could outside and have socked it away so I can make my escape soon mortgage free similar to Orbital. .....London is a means to an end.....London is a place to do what you want to do, to visit great places while you can, a place to meet interesting people and experience different experiences...London is hyper, London is exciting, London is fresh, London is new.....London is for the young, London is for the able, London is for enterprise.....London is not the be all and end all...when you have used it to the best of your ability, there are far better places to be.....believe me. Edited February 17, 2011 by winkie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Van Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 Well i have been renting a two-bed for 5 years in affluent Pinner, and in that time my rent has come down by fifty quid. Of course there are exceptions. I've negotiated a £100pcm reduction in my rent as our landlady is looking to sell the place. She can't afford for it to be untennented and no one else is going to move in. At the current asking price it's x310 times our monthly rent, and yielding 3.2% gross. Add in management fees and repairs she's had to pay for and I'd guess it might be yielding 2.8-2.9%. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearlyBegun Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/constructionandproperty/8329584/London-rents-to-rise-by-8pc-in-2011-says-property-consultant-Savills.html London rents to rise by 8pc in 2011, says property consultant Savills According to research by Savills, rents grew by as much as 17.6pc in prime North London areas such as Hampstead and Islington last year, compared to a rise of 4.8pc in the mainstream UK market. " I was looking for a 1-2 bed in Hampstead Sep 2010 - huge competition against wealthy foreign students, especially Chinese and Japanese, whose parents were happy to pay 6months or a year rent in one go. The property there was turning over faster than I've seen in London before, although it was a poor time to be looking in an area so popular with the students (Aug into Sep when they are starting their course). Nice 2 beds were being snapped up at £425p/w (1840pcm), a couple of the 2 beds we viewed were taken or being vacated by 1 rich student. Hampstead certainly seemed to be booming, but generally I cant see how LL can squeeze much more from people as their rent is already often pushing up to 50% of income. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slumpmonkey Returns Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 Indeed, and rent, unlike house prices, is in the CPI basket so wil affect the number that Merv is ignoring. Merv will simply take rents out of the CPI basket if they continue to rise. Voila - inflation problem fixed for another few months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkie Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 (edited) I was looking for a 1-2 bed in Hampstead Sep 2010 - huge competition against wealthy foreign students, especially Chinese and Japanese, whose parents were happy to pay 6months or a year rent in one go. The property there was turning over faster than I've seen in London before, although it was a poor time to be looking in an area so popular with the students (Aug into Sep when they are starting their course). Nice 2 beds were being snapped up at £425p/w (1840pcm), a couple of the 2 beds we viewed were taken or being vacated by 1 rich student. Hampstead certainly seemed to be booming, but generally I cant see how LL can squeeze much more from people as their rent is already often pushing up to 50% of income. ...anyone paying that kind of price is being ripped off....there are plenty of places to stay for half that...renting a room in someones large house with garden and all the facilities.....when you are working and socialising you are hardly ever at home....just turn the key and creep in quietly. Edited February 17, 2011 by winkie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Van Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 ...anyone paying that kind of price is being ripped off....there are plenty of places to stay for half that...renting a room in someones large house with garden and all the facilities.....when you are working and socialising you are hardly ever at home....just turn the key and creep in quietly. Yeah, there's no accounting for stupidity. I mean, a lot of homeowners are probably paying their lenders' SVR and could probably halve their mortgage payments if they remortgages. It's the same with renters. Hampstead is nice enough, but it's hardly Kensington is it? Move to a cheaper area- there are plenty of them, even in London. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearlyBegun Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 Yeah, there's no accounting for stupidity. I mean, a lot of homeowners are probably paying their lenders' SVR and could probably halve their mortgage payments if they remortgages. It's the same with renters. Hampstead is nice enough, but it's hardly Kensington is it? Move to a cheaper area- there are plenty of them, even in London. I moved to west kensington in the end - and it definately was cheaper... Not that its really kensington of course Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VacantPossession Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 This "rents are going up myth" really needs nipping in the bud. London is a special case. In most areas rents are holding or going down. I moved a couple of years ago from a flat which started at £700 and rose to £850 two years ago. I left it and move to a larger flat nearby back to £700 again. The previous flat has remained un-let, starting at £800 and now down to £720 but still no takers. It'll probably shift for £650 now. This "rents are rising" old wives tale is promoted by EAs-turned-rental agents and the media. The trend is obvious. If the cost of buying a house or flat is declining, so will rents. Some cities full of people who are somehow attracted to them yet cannot afford a city lifestyle are stupid enough to go along with the hype. Stand firm and rents will conitnue to decline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Realistbear Posted February 17, 2011 Author Share Posted February 17, 2011 http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-17788329.html This is what you get around my way for £1000.00 a month plus another £140 council tax which helps pay some fat f***s 6 figure salary for sitting on his *rse all day. BTW 6 properties available in a 3 mile radius of my post code--6!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deckard Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 .....London is a means to an end.....London is a place to do what you want to do, to visit great places while you can, a place to meet interesting people and experience different experiences...London is hyper, London is exciting, London is fresh, London is new.....London is for the young, London is for the able, London is for enterprise.....London is not the be all and end all...when you have used it to the best of your ability, there are far better places to be.....believe me. +1 All very true, couldn't have put it better myself. Oh, and what I hear from my old London pals completely contradicts the pathetic VI assertion that rents are going up - not even in the posh areas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darwin Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 I moved to west kensington in the end - and it definately was cheaper... Not that its really kensington of course Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miko Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 .....London is a means to an end.....London is a place to do what you want to do, to visit great places while you can, a place to meet interesting people and experience different experiences...London is hyper, London is exciting, London is fresh, London is new.....London is for the young, London is for the able, London is for enterprise.....London is not the be all and end all...when you have used it to the best of your ability, there are far better places to be.....believe me. Thats fine and thats your opinion However there are plenty of people to take your place once you have moved on . The amount of property is not keeping pace with the amount of people and therefore those with the deepest pockets are pushing up the rents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Bear Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 Well, according to Savill's rents in the UK rose by 4.8% in 2010. According to the ONS CPI measurement, they rose 1.6%. Which VI to believe? Savills don't deal in the sort of properties most ordinary mortals live in, so it's probably best for most ordinary mortals not to pay too much attention to anything they say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkie Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 Thats fine and thats your opinion However there are plenty of people to take your place once you have moved on . The amount of property is not keeping pace with the amount of people and therefore those with the deepest pockets are pushing up the rents. ...So what do you suggest....build more flats, more traffic,more parking, knock down more houses, garages, build on more gardens......the more you build the more that will arrive to fill the places as recent history has proved.... If tax payers refuse to pay the rents, the rents will fall or those who can't afford the rents will have to find alternative cheaper accommodation......nobody has to live in London, and if they choose not to I don't blame them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle_monty Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 Rents my way (prime SW London) are up around 40% on a year ago, 20% up from 6 months ago. In my street, 3 properties have rented for well over £2k pcm for 2 bedders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si1 Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 It does you know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miko Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 ...So what do you suggest....build more flats, more traffic,more parking, knock down more houses, garages, build on more gardens......the more you build the more that will arrive to fill the places as recent history has proved.... If tax payers refuse to pay the rents, the rents will fall or those who can't afford the rents will have to find alternative cheaper accommodation......nobody has to live in London, and if they choose not to I don't blame them. Yes build more housing flats and houses. There will not be any more traffic as the people are already here and the traffic they cause is already here. The more you build the more that will arrive to fill the places is not actually true the arrivals are here , enought housing for them is not that is the reason the rents are up We can build the housing without having to knock down houses already here , building on gardens or garages. Like most other places in this country the shortage of land argument is fallacy , there is plenty of empty brown field land in London. Just a few examples E16 which takes in the Royal Docks there are thousands of acres of empty ex industrial land . It has been earmarked for building but they release it in drips and drabs to keep the prices up and only build expensive housing for the few that can afford it. The East Thames Corridor has been earmarked for housing for about 30 years . There have been plans to build from Woolwich right down to Graves End in kent on the south side and from Barking down to Grays on the north . They could build more than enough housing on this land but as ever the govenments of the day have found reasons not to . Take a drive around the North Circular Road , through Tottenham , Enfield and Edmonton , again loads and loads of land just laying there and not used. Go to the outskirts of London i.e. Essex there is land here that cannot be built on as they call it green belt , Ugly flat grassland where there is no major farming just a few pig farms and a house here and there . There is enough room to house everone in Essex who needs a home but again the land only gets realesed bit by bit to keep the prices up. As for more people coming to fill any new homes built . Yes I do think the govenment should stop foreign nationals buying up London pricing the average Londoner out , until we have housed our own they can go to the back of the queue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikthe20 Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 According to this London rental yields are still in the shit: London Property Watch Not too sure how often it's updated but their selling price data is up to date. So I'm still dubious about that 17.6y% rent increase figure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Van Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 I moved to west kensington in the end - and it definately was cheaper... Not that its really kensington of course Hey, I live in West Ken at the moment =) Yeah it's only Kensington in name - more correctly it's "North Fulham". But great transport links and not a bad area. We currently pay £240pw for a 750sqft place, which is a bit of a bargain, really. We're moving (buying) to Southfields soon though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearlyBegun Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Hey, I live in West Ken at the moment =) Yeah it's only Kensington in name - more correctly it's "North Fulham". But great transport links and not a bad area. We currently pay £240pw for a 750sqft place, which is a bit of a bargain, really. We're moving (buying) to Southfields soon though. Sent you a mail. Honestly though, although I have noticed an increase in rents these last 3-4 years its only seem to me to be tracking inflation plus a % or two. Demand is always high in London but now more than ever people are bargaining harder, simply because their own disposable is being squeezed. I certainly dont buy the statement that rents are soaring by double digits, total bull IMHO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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