London house prices and commuting into London

[NightKid]

Sounds about right. It's a side topic, but I've never been disappointed by Polish Baristas when I've been to the big smoke or anywhere else.

Or Polish WGs for that matter 

[Ali Katt]

Or Polish WGs for that matter 

True that.

[lamboman]

Bloody good shopping and night life as well.

  like London without the wankers.

[Ali Katt]

like London without the wankers.

Loads of Wankers in Manc. Mention The Smiths, Oasis, Tom Finney, Mark E Smith, the Hacienda, Kevin Keegan at every opportunity. People from Hull don't name drop John Prescott and Cosey Fanni Tutti.

[sparkus]

Loads of Wankers in Manc. Mention The Smiths, Oasis, Tom Finney, Mark E Smith, the Hacienda, Kevin Keegan at every opportunity. People from Hull don't name drop John Prescott and Cosey Fanni Tutti.

When I lived there you had a very self-reverential cultural elite constantly in the papers and on TV eg. Peter Hook, Caroline Aherne, Mick Hucknall and Steve Coogan.  Dull as fuck, regardless of their individual achievements.

[Marmalade]

Poland is doing quite well, one guy posted on her looking for punting options while working in Poland and plenty of other Brits have taken jobs and contracts there in recent years, plenty have returned home too, those that have done well enough to rent or buy property here will stay a while or maybe forever, those working on zero hours contracts and the minimum wage had nothing to stay for, which included a lot of Sp,s whose work dried up in Lockdown.

The expected rush to return on lift off has not happened, they found out Poland is not so bad after all. I understand there is a better benefits system in place there in recent years. Read it somewhere but cannot remember where so could be wrong on that one.

I believe they’re still the largest immigrant minority by country of origin. They increasingly have their own section in Tescos! Most of them seem at least to work hard and their culture is not too dissimilar to ours — if you knock off about thirty years.

[king tarzan]

I believe they’re still the largest immigrant minority by country of origin. They increasingly have their own section in Tescos! Most of them seem at least to work hard and their culture is not too dissimilar to ours — if you knock off about thirty years.

And they do South Asian sections too..
I get most of my curry powders from there..

There was the Ironmaster..
Hopefully I can turn into the Curry master 🤣

[Payyourwaymate]

No, I have not seen it but I am happy I did not. It would have pissed me off. At this point it's now if you want a property sacrifice the prime years of your healthy life working to pay off one house and if you are lucky you can retire in that same house and pray you don't have to sell it to pay end of life care costs.

Looks like I spoke too soon  .

External Link/Members Only

Boris Johnson outlines new 1.25% health and social care tax to pay for reforms


"A cap will be introduced on care costs in England from October 2023 of £86,000 over a person's lifetime.

All people with assets worth less than £20,000 will then have their care fully covered by the state, and those who have between £20,000 and £100,000 in assets will see their care costs subsidised....

June Clay, 92, from Hornchurch, had to go into a nursing home four years ago.

As a property owner, June had to "self-fund", so sold her house to afford fees which over four years have risen to nearly £1,200 a week.

Her capital is almost all gone. The local authority will help, but only up to £640 a week - while the cheapest homes locally charge £900.

Now her children, in their 60s, are considering re-mortgaging their own homes and using their pension savings to pay for her care.

"I made a promise to my mum, that she would stay in that home... I'm worried sick about it," says daughter Sharon."


Well....RIP to the middle class.

[PunterNumber69]

Looks like I spoke too soon  .

External Link/Members Only

Boris Johnson outlines new 1.25% health and social care tax to pay for reforms


"A cap will be introduced on care costs in England from October 2023 of £86,000 over a person's lifetime.

All people with assets worth less than £20,000 will then have their care fully covered by the state, and those who have between £20,000 and £100,000 in assets will see their care costs subsidised....

June Clay, 92, from Hornchurch, had to go into a nursing home four years ago.

As a property owner, June had to "self-fund", so sold her house to afford fees which over four years have risen to nearly £1,200 a week.

Her capital is almost all gone. The local authority will help, but only up to £640 a week - while the cheapest homes locally charge £900.

Now her children, in their 60s, are considering re-mortgaging their own homes and using their pension savings to pay for her care.

"I made a promise to my mum, that she would stay in that home... I'm worried sick about it," says daughter Sharon."


Well....RIP to the middle class.

I think these privately run care homes have become cash cows. If you run one you have a licence to print money. If you 30 residents each paying £1200 a week in fees that's £1.7M a year.  Assuming you have 10 staff each being paid £30,000 a year that's £300,000 in wages. If you put pension contributions on top then say £500,000 in staff costs. Then operating costs for linen, food, heating, electricity, etc.  then maybe that's another £500k-£700k, so £1.2M costs. Someone is making a decent profit.

[Payyourwaymate]

I think these privately run care homes have become cash cows. If you run one you have a licence to print money. If you 30 residents each paying £1200 a week in fees that's £1.7M a year.  Assuming you have 10 staff each being paid £30,000 a year that's £300,000 in wages. If you put pension contributions on top then say £500,000 in staff costs. Then operating costs for linen, food, heating, electricity, etc.  then maybe that's another £500k-£700k, so £1.2M costs. Someone is making a decent profit.

I was always under the impression that the members of staff in care homes were poorly paid, minus management.

[PunterNumber69]

I was always under the impression that the members of staff in care homes were poorly paid, minus management.

That's my understanding too, so the management companies are coining it in.

[Ali Katt]

Looks like I spoke too soon  .

External Link/Members Only

Boris Johnson outlines new 1.25% health and social care tax to pay for reforms


"A cap will be introduced on care costs in England from October 2023 of £86,000 over a person's lifetime.

All people with assets worth less than £20,000 will then have their care fully covered by the state, and those who have between £20,000 and £100,000 in assets will see their care costs subsidised....

June Clay, 92, from Hornchurch, had to go into a nursing home four years ago.

As a property owner, June had to "self-fund", so sold her house to afford fees which over four years have risen to nearly £1,200 a week.

Her capital is almost all gone. The local authority will help, but only up to £640 a week - while the cheapest homes locally charge £900.

Now her children, in their 60s, are considering re-mortgaging their own homes and using their pension savings to pay for her care.

"I made a promise to my mum, that she would stay in that home... I'm worried sick about it," says daughter Sharon."


Well....RIP to the middle class.

Energy bills are going up so it doesn't even itself out.

[PunterNumber69]

Energy bills are going up so it doesn't even itself out.

Lots of inflationary pressures at the moment

Food prices up
Energy prices up
Delivery drivers wages up
Escort prices up

Inflation will go up.  Interest rates will have to rise.

[MilleMiglia]

I was always under the impression that the members of staff in care homes were poorly paid, minus management.

+1.

[Markus]

+1.

I dated a woman who was paid around £12-£14 an hour.   £30,000 is quite generous for a care home to pay for staff that aren’t in management.

[Ali Katt]

I dated a woman who was paid around £12-£14 an hour.   £30,000 is quite generous for a care home to pay for staff that aren’t in management.

I know someone who does it. He earns less than a trainee teacher. Only way to earn upwards of 30k a week is to work 7 days a week and do megalong shifts.

[Payyourwaymate]

External Link/Members Only

Landlords in London have faced the most expensive cost of evicting a rogue tenant during the pandemic due to the capital’s more expensive rent values, bringing the average total cost to £43,574.

This is followed by the South East (£36,578), the East (£35,186), and the South West (£34,526).

The lowest cost of evicting a rogue tenant has been in the North East, although the total cost of a rogue tenant still hits £30,290

Director of Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr, continued:

“Rogue tenants are a landlord’s worst nightmare and unfortunately this nightmare rarely ends when they are finally evicted. More often than not, the property is in severe disrepair when it is finally repossessed and this is sometimes done out of spite, or simply to strip the property of materials they can then sell on.

“What’s more, the landlord will have usually suffered arrears prior to starting the eviction process and is still required to make mortgage payments out of their own pocket during a period where their property is generating no income.

“Unfortunately, legislative changes in recent years and particularly during the pandemic have focussed solely on the well being of tenants and so the backbone of the UK rental market has been further weakened as landlords are left high and dry to pick up the pieces.”

[SamOmar]

External Link/Members Only

Landlords in London have faced the most expensive cost of evicting a rogue tenant during the pandemic due to the capital’s more expensive rent values, bringing the average total cost to £43,574.

This is followed by the South East (£36,578), the East (£35,186), and the South West (£34,526).

The lowest cost of evicting a rogue tenant has been in the North East, although the total cost of a rogue tenant still hits £30,290

Director of Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr, continued:

“Rogue tenants are a landlord’s worst nightmare and unfortunately this nightmare rarely ends when they are finally evicted. More often than not, the property is in severe disrepair when it is finally repossessed and this is sometimes done out of spite, or simply to strip the property of materials they can then sell on.

“What’s more, the landlord will have usually suffered arrears prior to starting the eviction process and is still required to make mortgage payments out of their own pocket during a period where their property is generating no income.

“Unfortunately, legislative changes in recent years and particularly during the pandemic have focussed solely on the well being of tenants and so the backbone of the UK rental market has been further weakened as landlords are left high and dry to pick up the pieces.”

Buying rental properties is like any other business venture, you may loose in tough climates. Estate agents and many landlords get away with too much crap with their honest tenants or those who are vulnerable and have made a killing especially in London over the last 21 years. I personally have little sympathy for the vast majority of them.

[SamOmar]

And back to house prices.

What do people think solutions to the problem are?

Larger and longer term mortgages?

House prices are.allowed to fall when imterest rates rise?

We build more overpriced houses?

Main issue is there are too many corners cut by councils when it comes to affordable / social housing. If there was enough then property prices would not be so high. Take the new northern line stations at Nine elms and Battersea. The developers of many modern high rises paid a contribution to the council if they could reduce the amount of affordable housing from 33% to 9%.

[Stevelondon]

Buying rental properties is like any other business venture, you may loose in tough climates. Estate agents and many landlords get away with too much crap with their honest tenants or those who are vulnerable and have made a killing especially in London over the last 21 years. I personally have little sympathy for the vast majority of them.

Spoken like a man who thinks all landlords are thieving scum. 
We won't mention estate agents 

I've been a landlord for a long time and thankfully not had too many problems with tenants. The ones I have had have all been amicably resolved. Maybe I am just good at finding the right folk who knows.
I agree with the comment regarding it is a business and as such you must learn to take the rough with the smooth.
I am more a homes under the hammer kinda guy than a property developer with a huge portfolio. I thought I might just add that and yes, London has been good to me.
But I have worked for it.

I do not agree with some landlords renting out doss houses and getting away with it. The recent showings on tv regarding the state of some local authorities social housing is shocking. How can that be for gods sake. Sad state of affairs.

[Payyourwaymate]

External Link/Members Only

Soaring property prices are forcing people all over the world to abandon all hope of owning a home. The fallout is shaking governments of all political persuasions.

It’s a phenomenon given wings by the pandemic. And it’s not just buyers — rents are also soaring in many cities. The upshot is the perennial issue of housing costs has become one of acute housing inequality, and an entire generation is at risk of being left behind.

“We’re witnessing sections of society being shut out of parts of our city because they can no longer afford apartments,” Berlin Mayor Michael Mueller says. “That’s the case in London, in Paris, in Rome, and now unfortunately increasingly in Berlin.”

[lillythesavage]

External Link/Members Only

Soaring property prices are forcing people all over the world to abandon all hope of owning a home. The fallout is shaking governments of all political persuasions.

It’s a phenomenon given wings by the pandemic. And it’s not just buyers — rents are also soaring in many cities. The upshot is the perennial issue of housing costs has become one of acute housing inequality, and an entire generation is at risk of being left behind.

“We’re witnessing sections of society being shut out of parts of our city because they can no longer afford apartments,” Berlin Mayor Michael Mueller says. “That’s the case in London, in Paris, in Rome, and now unfortunately increasingly in Berlin.”

Same reasons as the HGV problem, poor planning and investment in people or in this case social housing, everything is about profit for shareholders these days, pay as little as possible, treat people like working donkeys ,no investment in training youngsters,  with no thought about how the can afford to live, then they scream they cannot get workers 

[Payyourwaymate]

Same reasons as the HGV problem, poor planning and investment in people or in this case social housing, everything is about profit for shareholders these days, pay as little as possible, treat people like working donkeys ,no investment in training youngsters,  with no thought about how the can afford to live, then they scream they cannot get workers 

I agree, the only thing I wonder is when this will all bubble over and the shit will hit the fan. It's clear this is not sustainable long term but somehow the can keeps being kicked down the road. I guess there must be a lot of lobbying interests at a commercial level in relation to private entities having a hand with housing development to make a profit.

[lillythesavage]

I agree, the only thing I wonder is when this will all bubble over and the shit will hit the fan. It's clear this is not sustainable long term but somehow the can keeps being kicked down the road. I guess there must be a lot of lobbying interests at a commercial level in relation to private entities having a hand with housing development to make a profit.

Right to buy should have worked, selling off old housing stock and using council owned land to build new, the councils failed to do this and sold land to private developers with so much supposedly affordable homes being part of the development, it never is though and never enough of it, big brown envelopes have a way of changing things.

This bubble is just starting, out sourcing contracts to avoid employment contracts by councils, the NHS, big business and god knows who else and the lack of investment in our youth is going to come back and bite now, the unions could have a field day if they can persuade more to join them. The driver crisis is just the start, the can of worms is open.

This could be a winter of big discontent with the way things are going.

[Chorley]

Right to buy should have worked, selling off old housing stock and using council owned land to build new, the councils failed to do this and sold land to private developers with so much supposedly affordable homes being part of the development, it never is though and never enough of it, big brown envelopes have a way of changing things.

This bubble is just starting, out sourcing contracts to avoid employment contracts by councils, the NHS, big business and god knows who else and the lack of investment in our youth is going to come back and bite now, the unions could have a field day if they can persuade more to join them. The driver crisis is just the start, the can of worms is open.

This could be a winter of big discontent with the way things are going.

Totally agree. I reckon there'll be massive public disorder as you'll have a perfect storm of the UC uplift removal, furlough ending and possible redundancies, tax and NI increases, the gas  price hike, possible continuing fuel and food supply issues and a winter Covid surge.
 I hope I'm just being pessimistic, but the government has shown itself to be incompetent and self- serving so I'm not holding my breath.

[lillythesavage]

Totally agree. I reckon there'll be massive public disorder as you'll have a perfect storm of the UC uplift removal, furlough ending and possible redundancies, tax and NI increases, the gas  price hike, possible continuing fuel and food supply issues and a winter Covid surge.
 I hope I'm just being pessimistic, but the government has shown itself to be incompetent and self- serving so I'm not holding my breath.

Been a lot of governments that have been self serving over the years, the current one is not to blame, the lack of investment, care of the youth, indecision, feeding from the trough, selling of assets. often to foreign business, splitting the union, privatization and the rise of the woke mob, can be put firmly on Blair & Brown.

Since they have been fighting with their hands tied.

Perfect storm is right, as well as the things you mentioned, as others get better pay deals, the rest will want the same and that can of worms has been opened.

The fuel crisis happened so quickly it is obvious what happened, the drivers took up better paid jobs with those that were prepared to pay it to keep in business and no attempt was made to pay match and keep them.
Waitrose announced they had solved driver problems very quickly, by paying more, every driver in the country is going to be looking for more and following the money, the oil companies put profit over people and got away with it, now it has come to bite them.
They cannot poach drivers elsewhere, most do not have ADR training, driving a tanker with a live moving load is very different from a fixed load, they lost what they had by not paying a decent rate, they are going to struggle to replace them.

They tried to blame the Government for their lack of planning and poor management of people and caused the panic by doing so, governments are not responsible for running private business 

[Payyourwaymate]

It seems it has finally begun.

External Link/Members Only

Lender and pensions insurer team up to offer 40-year fixed mortgages

"UK lender Kensington Mortgages and Rothesay, the UK’s largest pensions insurance specialist, have teamed up to to offer fixed-rate mortgages of up to 40 years.

The longer-dated mortgages will be the first product of its kind in the UK market, and will help borrowers avoid the hassle of switching deals every two or three years."

[Payyourwaymate]

External Link/Members Only


"Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions will further be abolished, ending the unfair situation where renters can be kicked out of their homes for no reason.

We will consult on introducing a landlords register, and will set out plans for a crackdown on rogue landlords – making sure fines and bans stop repeat offenders leaving renters in terrible conditions.

The government will announce a plan that for the first time ever, all homes in the Private Rented Sector will have to meet a minimum standard – the Decent Homes Standard."

Full press release of levelling up the UK is below.

External Link/Members Only

[Payyourwaymate]

External Link/Members Only

Challenges for levelling up

"Event starts at 0:21.

This week, the Government has published their ‘Levelling Up White Paper’, outlining twelve missions to be achieved by 2030 across pay, employment, education and health. This comes against a backdrop of large and persistent regional inequalities that will take a long period of focus to fix.

At this event, IFS researchers put the White Paper in context by outlining the current pattern of taxes and public spending around the country and presented new work that looks at geographic inequalities in labour market outcomes (published as part of the flagship IFS Deaton Review of Inequalities, funded by the Nuffield Foundation)."

[Marmalade]

It sounds to me as if London can be a more or less ok place to live if you are quite wealthy. An echo of Victorian times where a degree of wealth shielded one from the abominable conditions put up with by everybody else. Awful and poor value housing conditions, constant road problems, extra taxes, the list goes on. Does it not occur to most people that the quality of life might be better elsewhere?

Try typing in a few other cities…
External Link/Members Only

[lillythesavage]

It sounds to me as if London can be a more or less ok place to live if you are quite wealthy. An echo of Victorian times where a degree of wealth shielded one from the abominable conditions put up with by everybody else. Awful and poor value housing conditions, constant road problems, extra taxes, the list goes on. Does it not occur to most people that the quality of life might be better elsewhere?

Try typing in a few other cities…
External Link/Members Only

London is still quite mixed, the upper class/working class divide is not as prominent as earlier times because of social housing and the like over the years.

That ratio is changing all the time though, only those with some wealth can afford to buy in, forcing youngsters to look elsewhere. There is some moves to " affordable " housing through percentage buying, and rental only new builds, how affordable it is though is debatable.

The ever increasing cost of commuting and the young living elsewhere cannot be good for business in the long run, like my son, they will find work nearer home, but WFH, has changed the dynamic again, both our partners have no intention of returning to the daily commute.

[Payyourwaymate]

External Link/Members Only

Renters to receive new rights to challenge landlords in biggest shake-up in 30 years: Here's what it means for buy-to-let investors and tenants

"Measures form part of the Renters Reform Bill to be introduced later in 2022

-Section 21 to be banned and all renters to have a right to keep pets in properties

-A new Private renters Ombudsman to begin and no more arbitrary rent reviews

-Renters to move to periodic tenancies and doubling notice periods for rent hikes

-Families with children and those on benefits cannot be excluded by landlords"

[king tarzan]

External Link/Members Only

Renters to receive new rights to challenge landlords in biggest shake-up in 30 years: Here's what it means for buy-to-let investors and tenants

"Measures form part of the Renters Reform Bill to be introduced later in 2022

-Section 21 to be banned and all renters to have a right to keep pets in properties

-A new Private renters Ombudsman to begin and no more arbitrary rent reviews

-Renters to move to periodic tenancies and doubling notice periods for rent hikes

-Families with children and those on benefits cannot be excluded by landlords"

That hottie in the first picture looks yummy for a discounted agreement 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[Gordon Bennett]

London is still quite mixed, the upper class/working class divide is not as prominent as earlier times because of social housing and the like over the years.

That ratio is changing all the time though, only those with some wealth can afford to buy in, forcing youngsters to look elsewhere. There is some moves to " affordable " housing through percentage buying, and rental only new builds, how affordable it is though is debatable.

The ever increasing cost of commuting and the young living elsewhere cannot be good for business in the long run, like my son, they will find work nearer home, but WFH, has changed the dynamic again, both our partners have no intention of returning to the daily commute.

Well the upper class and well-heeled still require access to tradesmen, gardeners, cabbies, cleaners, flunkies etc etc so there will always be a need for some riff-raff to live in London.

[berksboy]

Or travel in and just add it to their day rate ? A trade mate was doing just that over 30 years ago. IE you dont charge for parking / travel time / now days ULEZ you just build it in to your day rate.

[catweazle]

arbitrary rent reviews

A few years back, I needed to rent a flat  while I was working away from home. Renting was cheaper than hotels or commuting.

At the end of the initial 6 month tenancy, the agent wanted to increase the rent. I asked "why?"
First answer I got was " inflation- to keep up with rising prices "

I countered by pointing out that the proposed increase was more than three times the inflation rate.

Next answer I got was " to remain in line with similar rentals in the area".

After a bit of research  I was able to show that the rental before the proposed  increase was, in fact  higher than any comparable rental locally.

Finally, the agent said they " had an obligation  to obtain the best rent for the landlord". When I asked if the landlord had instigated the rise, they admitted he hadn't  and they were doing it off their own bat.

I had the landlords details, so contacted him directly. He said he would be happy to let me take a further 6 months at the existing rent. I showed  this to the agents; a week later  I was served with a Section 21 notice to quit.

[Payyourwaymate]

A few years back, I needed to rent a flat  while I was working away from home. Renting was cheaper than hotels or commuting.

At the end of the initial 6 month tenancy, the agent wanted to increase the rent. I asked "why?"
First answer I got was " inflation- to keep up with rising prices "

I countered by pointing out that the proposed increase was more than three times the inflation rate.

Next answer I got was " to remain in line with similar rentals in the area".

After a bit of research  I was able to show that the rental before the proposed  increase was, in fact  higher than any comparable rental locally.

Finally, the agent said they " had an obligation  to obtain the best rent for the landlord". When I asked if the landlord had instigated the rise, they admitted he hadn't  and they were doing it off their own bat.

I had the landlords details, so contacted him directly. He said he would be happy to let me take a further 6 months at the existing rent. I showed  this to the agents; a week later  I was served with a Section 21 notice to quit.

Wow, that's absurd. I can't believe the agents done that.

[catweazle]

Wow, that's absurd. I can't believe the agents done that.

They did re-let, at the increased price, a week after I left

[peter_bungee]

I was in a similar situation and bought in zone 5 (SE London) 3 years back and now only have to commute in x2 a week and it takes 50mn door to door, much nicer on the overground than tube.  I previously lived in zone 1 and it would still take 30min by the time you changed trains walked to platforms etc.  even outside london the grass isn’t always greener, i used to live and work in Birmingham and even there used to spend 30-40min driving in traffic

I think you need to change your attitude to wfh and commuting otherwise you will forever be renting