blonde poker forum

http://www.propertyweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=297&storycode=3136243&c=1

the ramifications of this could be enormous for some people if this goes ahead. anyone over the cap won't be able to remortgage when interest rates start going up. there will never be another housing boom. house prices could go down massively. people like my brother who chipped in with a friend to buy a 2 bedroom flat for 300K are completely screwed. scary stuff

Others will benefit though. Such as those too tempted to stretch themselves with impossible mortgage payments and, more importantly, those who will finally sort out their divorce this year and be looking to by in the last quarter in the Croydon are, for instance.

Sounds like good news to me.

hey byron - are you a surveyor? - i work in property and read PW.

Although itis100% certain that there will be legislative change - it is unlikely to soley be this. There will be more emphasis on Loan to Value borrowing as this is more critical IMO

but there will be change - no doubt

Great Idea IMHO, House prices spun way out of control, quarter of a million pounds for a 2 bedroom flat, gimme a break,.

I would love to see this impemented, property prices need a reset as far as i am concerned.  Houses in this country have been overpriced for far too long.

secured loans are already down to 75% max ltv at the moment for clean employed people and 65% for self employed or btl properties, but they work it out on det to income instead of income multiples so you can get more. Hard times at the moment.

Does anybody think this will have a significant effect on house prices??

I'm a bit worried...Just about to buy a flat as thought just now was the ideal time(basically know a house builder and getting flat for 100% ownership for 69% of list price)

Intention was to buy it as an investment for when market recovers in a few years time and sell it on for profit but if this(3x salary cap) goes through and house prices plummet i'll be royally screwed

lol no, i just decided to start taking an interest in investments/business/finance/making money a few months ago so spend some time most days reading stuff on the internet. all I have learnt is that there's nothing i want to invest in atm except perhaps gold, which is meant to be in a bubble which could pop at any moment so you are gonna be looking for a greater fool an all that. anyone know anything about gold? best way to invest in it?

i wrote some stuff out about buying a flat but i just deleted it cos tbh i haven't got a fckin clue. if you think we are in for some crazy inflation then maybe but it's a huge risk imo.

As I understand it, house prices may fall, but it's unlikely they will plummet.

The cost of labour and materials for building new homes remains pretty much fixed, developers will stop building as many homes if there is less profit to be had (ie if the house prices start to plummet).

Less homes being built = more demand (for both new and existing homes). This pattern should cushion any dramatic fall in house prices.

wtf where can you get a 2 bed flat for 1/4m? Beirut?

Thats my point, a 2 bedroom flat in a shit area and you are paying 1/4 of a mil !


Property prices are a joke and as such the gap between those that are rich and poor is growing at alarming rate.

Young families can only get houses by buying is shit areas that may potenitaly be a risk for their children, with the hope of eventually moving up, The system sucks!

but thats my rant over

lol..there are a ridiculous amount of 2 bed properties in decent areas going for way less than 1/4 mill.


The 3times salary cap is a good thing IMO..anything over that and people will start to overstretch.

name a couple of these areas please

BTW i just searched s1homes and there are 4 flats, 3 are in total toilets for areas and 1 is decent but its still way overpriced for what it is!

You lot are all Southerners I presume? Jesus. I'm trying to sell my 5 bed house on 1/3 acre land for £395k and had 1 viewing in 7 months. And I'm only 40 mins from DTD (at 2 in the morning anyway :). You can get a pretty decent flat for 250k near Nottingham.

I think the government imposing 3xsalary cap on mortgages is BS. It will achieve nothing - the banks are already a lot more cautious in their lending - it's bolting the stable door after the horse has long gone.

I searched East Sussex on Halifax for 2 Bedroom flats less than £1/4m

There were 44 results - Not all of them are in 'toilet' areas imho.

But it is a very humble opinion, what constitutes a nice area and what doesn't does depend on your basis for comparison a bit.

This is why I searched for East Sussex - it was too easy if you searched in most regions.

Hell, you can buy 3 bedroom houses for less than 200k in a nice villages (like the one I life in), close to both Edinburgh and Glasgow. I know this because I life in one.

Buy Scotland on Sunday and have a look.

This is in Nottingham (+10mile radius)

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?searchType=SALE&locationIdentifier=REGION%5E1019&radius=15.0&displayPropertyType=flats&minBedrooms=2&maxBedrooms=&minPrice=150000&maxPrice=240000&maxDaysSinceAdded=&retirement=&partBuyPartRent=false&_includeSSTC=on&sortByPriceDescending=&primaryDisplayPropertyType=&secondaryDisplayPropertyType=&oldDisplayPropertyType=&oldPrimaryDisplayPropertyType=&oldSecondaryDisplayPropertyType=&newHome=&auction=false&x=68&y=16

The below are flats in Glasgow. (+10mile radius)


http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E93616&sortByPriceDescending=false&minPrice=150000&maxPrice=260000&displayPropertyType=flats&radius=10.0&oldDisplayPropertyType=flats

Really, anyone claiming that for a 1/4mill they can't find a nice place in the UK is talking out of their arse or has never looked properly...or is looking at big city centres only....in which case, what do you expect?

+1

LOL at Newmanseye saying £250k for a 2-bed flat is a shocking price for a property - I sometimes think that here in London we're living in a differernt country. £250k barely gets you a parking space round here.

you're not wrong...cost of living in London is nuts compared to anything north of it.

I'd love to be able to get £250K for my 3-bedroom semi-detached, with decent sized gardens, large garage, in a cul-de-sac location. 

Look at this one just round the corner from me - £275,000 for a one bed flat. (http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-18389540.html?locationIdentifier=OUTCODE^1859&maxPrice=300000&pageNumber=2&backToListURL=%2Fproperty-for-sale%2Ffind.html%3FlocationIdentifier%3DOUTCODE%255E1859%26maxPrice%3D300000%26index%3D10)

It's 'stylish' though.

The point of these proposals is, as usual with the "one-eyed Scottish idiot", too late and aimed in totally the wrong direction. Whether people have the ability to pay their mortgages is almost irrelevant. That's not what's brought the banking system to its knees. It's the loans at >100% of value that were/are the problem. Lack of security on the debt, and then transferring the risk on that debt in such a way that the lack of security becomes, if not hidden, then an incalculable amount, is what caused the problems.

Legislate for maximum LtoV, sure, but don't tell me how much mortgage I can afford compared to my salary when I have 40% equity in a house. The Scottish idiot has no idea what my salary is going to do for the next 25 years. Neither do I, for that matter, but if I do default on a mortgage at least all the debt is recoverable and I don't take the bank down with me.

/Rant

Blatant "I live in a big house" brag post

You have a 400k house, you have nothing to rant about!!  :D

FYP

This just about sums up my view on the subject.

Very well ranted sir.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/borrowing/mortgages/5001536/The-FSA-mortgage-cap-how-it-affects-you.html

Well, yes, but my mortgage is less than half that, and if we want to move to a house that's another, say 75k (+ 25k moving costs, mostly tax), it would probably take me over this 3xsalary limit. And Scottish Idiot (c) would say I'm not allowed. Why? Who's at risk? Me? Protect me from myself, yes thanks Gordon, cos if you didn't, I'd surely do something silly.

/Rant2

Besides, if I was in London and had a 400k house I'd be considered a pauper :).

Gross property price isnt the problem per say. The problemis net loss as a % in these difficult times.

ie. if you are in London  - you have a 'flat' for 250k - if that falls 10% you need 25k to cover that loss (paper loss). The problems occur when a paper loss turns into an actual loss when you lose your job etc.

The same 10% price fall up north on say a 90k flat is obv only 9k. the paper loss effect is the same (ie still 10% value) - but the actual gross loss if realised isnt so much of a problem.

I know everyone knows this - it just seemed relevant.

Paper losses arent stricly a problem. Infact in some instances they can be a benefit. Lets say you want to buy a bigger house, you may have 'lost' value of 10k - but the house you want to buy if you are moving up may have falllen by 50k (relatively speaking). Therefore providing you arent in negative equity and you can afford the next deposit - it can be beneficial.

is this not what it used to be like? it only changed when people started borrowing too much in late 90's?

Agreed. If I'm going to move upwards, I'd rather do it when prices are low than high, as the absolute difference between my house and the one I buy will be lower (in theory, assuming you can get the same discount on the asking price as you accept on your own). Problem at the moment is that no-one is buying at pretty much any price, it seems round here.

That's another discussion/rant though :).

On another issue of government/regulatory stupidity, the company I work for is doing ok at the moment, but wants to borrow some money for investment. Cash flow and business plan is good, repayment plan is sound and achievable. The bank won't lend without security, but because it's mostly a software company that doesn't own its office, the company has no security the bank will accept. So they would accept a charge on the owners' house, which they're not keen on as they've already sunk a fair bit into the company. The new government Enterprise Loan Fund (loan guarantee scheme) won't guarantee the loan because there is other security available. However, if the owners were to take out a mortgage for all the available equity on their house for some other reason (stake me to tackle the WSOP, I suggested), then the ELF would guarantee the loan and the bank would lend. How fcked up is that?

yes

didnt help when northern rock were offering 125% ltv mortgages and we could still offer our clients 125% sec loans, then house prices wen't for a burton.

lol no, there was a housing bubble in the late 80's with multiples well over x3

Really? In Holland the rule was always 3x the income...never more (well, more now obv now that houses are worth gazillions and prices will only go up....oh wait)

p.s. I am fine with people borrowing 4, 5 or 6x their income to buy a house.

Just don't come crying to me when you lose it...that's all I ask. and the bank that lends it to people shouldn't come and ask for my money either.

Rough translation the business owners don't think its worth the risk but are happy for the bank or the government to take the risk.

Untrue in this case, but not my point. My point was that the government will help out a company whose books look fairly screwed, but not one that is actually looking reasonably healthy and wants to invest for expansion. It just seems wrong. It's also a lot harder to get help for a company that exports a lot (which mine does), even though that's the kind of company the government should like.

It's been a ranty thread for me...

I lol'd at this bit

There are plenty of local amenities, with Finchley Road, The O2 Centre, Hampstead Village and Belsize Village all within walking distance. SOD  THAT WALK

Pls stop telling the southerners about the north. We don't want aload of shandy drinking cockneys dirtying the beautiful north.

Thank you.