House prices

[lilgreenback]

The headlines on the Express make me howl as their world seems to be an M25 bubble, snow causes chaos or mega heatwave torches country. No you dumb asses only the few darn souf no other bugger. With that and Pippa Middleton... a German bomber found on the Moon was more interesting and more likely in the Sport

[Iron]

They've surpassed themselves today!

http://twitpic.com/76807l



Jeff

The headlines on the Express make me howl

[Groovyelms]

Classic! there used to be a USA paper called the "National Enquirer", which a past girl friend used to buy..It was always running daft and generally unbelievable headlines.. I wonder if the express has hired their headline writer

[superfrank]

Local authorities will be told they can abolish the rebate, which can mean council tax on second homes is as much as 50 per cent lower than for main residences.

Ministers say the proposal will benefit hard-pressed middle-income families - but it will be unpopular with second-home owners.

Council tax blow for second-home owners
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politic ... wners.html

About time too. That owners of second homes can get tax breaks while millions can't afford one home is a pretty disgusting situation. Council tax on 2nd homes should be double not half.

[superfrank]

Paxman on the baby boomer generation and house prices...

'I am part of the most selfish generation in history and we should be ashamed of our legacy,' says Jeremy Paxman
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... story.html

"The soaring cost of putting a roof over your head is surely one of the most unattractive — and pernicious — characteristics of the past 40 years. And yet for decades the media have reported a rise in house prices as being somehow a cause for celebration and a fall as a bad thing.

But the consequence of this obsession — and the borrowing that made it possible — was to destroy the relationship between property prices and wages: housing is now so far beyond the reach of many young people that significant numbers doubt whether they will ever be able to buy decent accommodation".

"The only explanation for the nation’s obsession with property prices is the Baby-Boomers’ smug conviction that, having entered the market, the only thing they need to do to become wealthy is to sit on their backsides.

And who can blame them?

In 1968, when the first of the Baby-Boomers were beginning to think about settling down, 425,000 homes were built in Britain. Last year, the total was just over 100,000 — fewer than in any year since 1923. With figures like that, of course, the cost of putting a roof over your head rises.

Lucky Generation investors who followed the advice of property-porn television and got into buy-to-let schemes developed another way of taking money from the young and securing it for the old".

[Iron]

The Express are at it again!

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/282 ... urge-again

We may be on the brink of financial armageddon, and banks aren't even lending to each other, but against the fundamentals, UK house prices are surging!

Jeff

[superfrank]

Housing plans include up to 450,000 new homes by 2015
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/ ... -new-homes

sounds like good news, but...

The prime minister is also expected to back plans, supported by the Confederation of British Industry, for a government-backed mortgage indemnity scheme for first-time buyers.

Ministers regard a fillip to housebuilding as one of the best ways of securing growth.

Under the mortgage indemnity scheme the government would cover the risk for the lender, which should enable first-time buyers to take out larger mortgages relative to the value of the home.

what it really is is another government scheme to support high house prices with taxpayer's money.

why not just cut out the middle man and have the government build the homes then sell/rent them on the open market? i'd much rather the money was used that way and it makes much more sense economically and socially. the scheme as proposed just means that the taxpayer takes all the risk with nothing in return.

[Groovyelms]

Good point SF... I think it used to be called council housing sell off...
On another note I believe that most of the land to build on is owned by the big house builders anyway!!
But again I'll pose this question, where are all these people living now? do we really need all this developement?
Groovy

[superfrank]

I guess it's for the expected population increase (all from potless immigrants and the 3rd world population already here who culturally still like to have as many kids as biologically possible).

[superfrank]

Thanks very much
Best wishes
Allister
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2011 23:20:25 -0000
To: <[email protected]>
Subject: Newsnight


Hello Allister,

Congratulations on your Newsnight performance this evening.

You said everything that needed to be said on this cretinous new housing policy.

We all know that when people talk about about "getting the housing market moving" what they really mean is getting more house price inflation. It's a busted flush... the idea that we can return to sustainable growth through HPI and the associated increase in consumer spending is complete madness - both economically and socially.

Well done. Good man.

Regards.

[Iron]

I liked James Delingpole's Telegraph article on the matter: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/james ... atll-work/

I think he hits the nail on the head when he writes:

'Please can someone, anyone, explain what exactly the point is of voting in a conservative prime minister if he won't cut taxes, won't deregulate, won't support free markets, won't promote sensible energy policies, won't defend Britain's interests in Europe, won't in fact do anything that Ed Miliband wouldn't have done in the same position. And at least Ed Miliband has the decency to admit to being a socialist, so we'd know more or less what we were getting.'

Jeff

[Iron]

International house price inflation comparison - http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailycha ... houseprice

Jeff

[superfrank]

don't worry Jeff, today's Express reckons house prices are about to "soar"!!!

[Iron]

The Express base this prediction on:

'A persistent shortage of property on the market and cash injections into the economy by the Bank of England which will make it easier to get a mortgage.'

I don't see how they can say there's a shortage of properties on the market. I'd have thought there were far more properties on the market than people able to purchase said properties, given that the banks are reluctant to lend to each other these days, never mind the public!

I question whether further QE would cause banks to start lending again. That didn't really happen after the last QE. But QE could cause house prices to soar if it causes general inflation to soar...

Jeff

[Groovyelms]

House prices yet again. a very close friend is putting a nice house on the market in the next month.. I am intrigued to see if it actually sells for its (I think) high valuation...

I have already contacted the Express and a full press team is on hand to report its unbiased findings to us all

groovy