Housing market

[Jim Audiomisc]

Social Housing for rent also would be able to suppy a flow of decent homes sold at genuine replacement price IF Councils were allowed to do that. But Thatcher took great care to prevent it. Again, this would then push private housebuilding to compete.

There was a series on BBC R4 some months ago comparing housing around the EU. It was quite remarkable how much better this was done in some places. Particularly one (IIRC in Germany, but may be wrong about that) where the social housing was a BIG factor and people were able to rent or buy good properties at affordable prices. They clearly though the UK was mad.

 

[hifinutt]

Not great news considering the time of year but demand is still there. Considering the current sales market, I'd go for a re-let at a reasonably higher rent.

thanks kirk , great relief to say that they were turned down for another property and they will be staying !!! cant be doing voids in jan feb in the snow ... its a pitb . and they are just lovely tenants

 

[Kirk]

thanks kirk , great relief to say that they were turned down for another property and they will be staying !!! cant be doing voids in jan feb in the snow ... its a pitb . and they are just lovely tenants

Good to hear - an early Christmas present.

 

[mandryka]

thanks kirk , great relief to say that they were turned down for another property and they will be staying !!! cant be doing voids in jan feb in the snow ... its a pitb . and they are just lovely tenants

I've got one coming vacant on Jan 1st. I put it on Openrent last week, priced about £100 less than the market rent. Well, in the space of a week I've had 21 enquiries -- nearly all of them rejected because of insufficient reliable income -- all employed but some self -employed with income just enough, and some actors/bar tenders type of thing. I guess these people have been searching for ages and had no luck. (More positively, I've got a couple of viewings lined up for the new year, maybe 3, from people who look more serious. )

20 enquiries in 7 days, in the run up to Christmas, when it's cold and wet, just because it's a bit of a bargain. That's the real state of the rentals market in London.

 

[tuga]

I think it's time the UK accepts that we can't all live in little houses...

New developments should consist of 3-storey apartment buildings which will reduce sprawling (take up less land, reduce commuting distances), are easier to build and more efficient.

 

[davidsrsb]

The new condos in my area are 41 floor. That's high rise!

 

[paulfromcamden]

I think it's time the UK accepts that we can't all live in little houses...

New developments should consist of 3-storey apartment buildings which will reduce sprawling (take up less land, reduce commuting distances), are easier to build and more efficient.

I'm all for that. Though in London most new developments are high-rise and it doesn't seem to have addressed the shortage of housing or the cost. We still have the same problems with councils allowing developers to water down the amount of 'affordable' housing in a development, the existence of 'poor doors' etc.

 

[paulfromcamden]

These are going up round the corner from me.

Unfortunately you still need to build the infrastructure to support that many people living in a high density development. We've got a new hopper-shopper single decker bus route that sits in gridlocked traffic....

 

[tuga]

I'm all for that. Though in London most new developments are high-rise and it doesn't seem to have addressed the shortage of housing or the cost. We still have the same problems with councils allowing developers to water down the amount of 'affordable' housing in a development, the existence of 'poor doors' etc.

London also has high-rise affordble housing but the living and safety standards are pathetic.

Outside of London flat buildings are mostly concil housing: drab-looking, 2m ceiling heigh 20m2 3-bed traps.

 

[tuga]

These are going up round the corner from me.

Unfortunately you still need to build the infrastructure to support that many people living in a high density development. We've got a new hopper-shopper single decker bus route that sits in gridlocked traffic....

Commuting is as much of a problem with new house developments as it is with high rise buildings. The infrastructure just isn't there (roads, collective transportation, school, surgeries, hospitals, stores).

 

[Mike Reed]

Outside of London flat buildings are mostly council housing: drab-looking, 2m ceiling height

2 metre ceiling height? I'd expect that in Crouch End, but not the provinces.

Certainly where I've lived, council houses built in the fifties/early sixties were very substantial buildings. Most domestic building has deteriorated since then, so that era probably represents the peak in quality.

 

[Ponty]

These are going up round the corner from me.

Unfortunately you still need to build the infrastructure to support that many people living in a high density development. We've got a new hopper-shopper single decker bus route that sits in gridlocked traffic....

Very nice I’m sure. How much will they cost?

 

[GavinA]

2 metre ceiling height? I'd expect that in Crouch End, but not the provinces.

Certainly where I've lived, council houses built in the fifties/early sixties were very substantial buildings. Most domestic building has deteriorated since then, so that era probably represents the peak in quality.

Yes. That was the era of sensible regulation: Park Morris space standards were much more generous than today’s rabbit hutches, and the Building Regulations prioritised safety and sound building. Since then, we’ve had ‘get bureaucracy off the backs of our entrepreneurs‘ who are now allowed to maximise profit over any other consideration.

 

[paulfromcamden]

Very nice I’m sure. How much will they cost?

Two bed flats in the blocks already build go for around £600k.

They're luxury flats with concierge, gym, etc. God knows what the service charges are like.

They seem popular with young professional City types.

Though anecdotally a number of them have been bought as an investment and been left empty.

As I posted upthread London has a luxury flat problem.

 

[Ponty]

Two bed flats in the blocks already build go for around £600k.

They're luxury flats with concierge, gym, etc. God knows what the service charges are like.

They seem popular with young professional City types.

Though anecdotally a number of them have been bought as an investment and been left empty.

As I posted upthread London has a luxury flat problem.

Yep. Build that in a lot of the country (if you could even get planning…) and it would be a white elephant. The build cost wouldn’t be recouped, let alone the land value. And that’s the challenge, developers have to look at the ceiling price in an area and work backwards when determining what they can build.

 

[mandryka]

Two bed flats in the blocks already build go for around £600k.

They're luxury flats with concierge, gym, etc. God knows what the service charges are like.

They seem popular with young professional City types.

Though anecdotally a number of them have been bought as an investment and been left empty.

As I posted upthread London has a luxury flat problem.

Did Greenwich not make it a condition of planning permission that the developers built some social housing?

 

[paulfromcamden]

Did Greenwich not make it a condition of planning permission that the developers built some social housing?

I can't remember the specifics in this case but there's generally some 'affordable' housing included - though normally rather less than what was originally proposed.

 

[Ponty]

Hmm, there’s talk of a rate pivot but as always with central banks, watch what they do, not what they say. 3 members of the MPC voted for a rate rise at the last meeting. Looks like purchase and rental costs are forecast to rebalance against longer term IR’s much closer to where they are now than where they have been.

House prices to fall and rents to rise in 2024, forecasts suggest

While first-time buyers would welcome price falls, the other costs they face are likely to be higher.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Jim Audiomisc]

I think it's time the UK accepts that we can't all live in little houses...

Literally *all* possibly not. Nor is that needed. I lived for 10+ years in a 3-story set of 'maisonettes'. Essentily flats off landings, but a long building. Main problem was that they were built when coal was cheap and used for fires. Nowdays such buildings with better insulation and a centralised efficient heat system would be fine for most people to own or rent.

The reality is that this is all a matter of sensible planning *and* having back things like Council housebuilding using *in house* skilled labour + Some 'New Town' Corporations - again under public control. Leaving all to 'the market' whilst *blocking* public sector activity is what has created the mess we're in. This has been damaging us as people and via economic problems as the private sector extracts wealth using contrived scarcity whilst Westmonster prevents what is needed.

 

[Minio]

What puzzles me is in this housing crisis (one more crisis!? ) why in Norfolk I am surrounded by new houses.

Along new ring roads and outlying villages there are thousands and thousands.

The question is where is the demand?
Perhaps all those priced out of London that now realise they can work from home in a detached house 100 miles away from "the smoke".