I don't know what this is, a vent perhaps?

[carlyema]

Also another benefit to renting. Our oven breaks, call the landlord, washing machine goes kaput, call the landlord.... etc etc. We both lose our jobs in the morning?? We walk away from the house. Maximum 1 months rent left to pay and no worries!

Sent from my GT-I9505 using SalonGeek mobile app

 

[waffle4]

Also another benefit to renting. Our oven breaks, call the landlord, washing machine goes kaput, call the landlord.... etc etc. We both lose our jobs in the morning?? We walk away from the house. Maximum 1 months rent left to pay and no worries!

Sent from my GT-I9505 using SalonGeek mobile app

God yeah, people don't realise how much money the upkeep and running a house really is!

 

[Aphrodite26]

I'm quite lucky as I have a beautiful council flat. It's round the corner from my mum and in the middle of a brand new estate. (Built around us after I moved in)
I've had it for 9 years. If I choose to buy it I will get it for around £40k, they are valued at 80-90
However. I am an only child, I don't plan on having children so if I bought it there is no one to leave it to.
I plan on moving back to Greece so I can give this up and walk away whenever
Downside a mortgage is actually cheaper than my rent.



Sent from the catphone

 

[Mobile Manicure]

I'm quite lucky as I have a beautiful council flat. It's round the corner from my mum and in the middle of a brand new estate. (Built around us after I moved in)
I've had it for 9 years. If I choose to buy it I will get it for around £40k, they are valued at 80-90
However. I am an only child, I don't plan on having children so if I bought it there is no one to leave it to.
I plan on moving back to Greece so I can give this up and walk away whenever
Downside a mortgage is actually cheaper than my rent.



Sent from the catphone

Wouldnt it make sense to buy it for £40K and then sell it when you move to Greece making a £50K profit or am I missing something here?????

 

[Aphrodite26]

Wouldnt it make sense to buy it for £40K and then sell it when you move to Greece making a £50K profit or am I missing something here?????

No that's true but the local authority rules say I can't sell for 5 years.
It does make sense but I'm scared of committing to it lol x


Sent from the catphone

 

[waffle4]

I'm quite lucky as I have a beautiful council flat. It's round the corner from my mum and in the middle of a brand new estate. (Built around us after I moved in)
I've had it for 9 years. If I choose to buy it I will get it for around £40k, they are valued at 80-90
However. I am an only child, I don't plan on having children so if I bought it there is no one to leave it to.
I plan on moving back to Greece so I can give this up and walk away whenever
Downside a mortgage is actually cheaper than my rent.



Sent from the catphone

Wow how lucky are you?! How on earth did you get a council flat when you don't even have children? In my area that's nigh on impossible. My nephew and his partner have a severely disabled child and had to wait over 5 years before they were even offered something, private renting in the meantime.

I also don't think the system is fair that people can buy council houses literally half price then double their money selling them. The folk that buy private and have to scrimp and save for mortgages don't get half price mortgages given to them!

 

[Mobile Manicure]

Wow how lucky are you?! How on earth did you get a council flat when you don't even have children? In my area that's nigh on impossible. My nephew and his partner have a severely disabled child and had to wait over 5 years before they were even offered something, private renting in the meantime.

I also don't think the system is fair that people can buy council houses literally half price then double their money selling them. The folk that buy private and have to scrimp and save for mortgages don't get half price mortgages given to them!

Yep, thats why this country is so messed up. There is nothing fair about the benefits system, no matter what angle you look at it from but thats a whole other thread.

However, if you were one of the lucky ones to be in a situation like Aphro, wouldnt you reap the rewards? I know I would, morally wrong or not. Its not her fault, she didnt make the rules, the government did.

 

[waffle4]

Yep, thats why this country is so messed up. There is nothing fair about the benefits system, no matter what angle you look at it from but thats a whole other thread.

However, if you were one of the lucky ones to be in a situation like Aphro, wouldnt you reap the rewards? I know I would, morally wrong or not. Its not her fault, she didnt make the rules, the government did.

I'm not saying Aphro is at fault, and of course you would reap the rewards. I'm saying the system is unfair and very galling for the people that have to scrimp and save for mortgages and get no help.

 

[Spa Therapist]

To be honest, if you cannot save up, then you simply can't afford a mortgage. Bear in mind, home ownership doesn't stop with paying back the mortgage. You have council tax, utilities, TV licence etc on top.
So if you cannot save at least 1200 a month, you can't afford to live alone.
From my own staff, they seem to think they should be able to live in a fabulous, brand new flat, still go on at least two holidays a year, have an iPhone, and eat out at least once a week, as well as run a car, and buy new clothes every week. It's simply not realistic at the start of your career.
When told this, they make excuses for their decisions, such as:
I gotta have a phone.
Everyone needs a holiday.
It's only Primark clothes.
I can't live in a cheap area, it's not safe.

With money, you can only spend it once. For every £500 you spend on a holiday, that's £500 you're not saving for a deposit. For every £50 night out, or £50 spent on clothes, ditto.
I bought my first flat at 21. I put down a 50% deposit. I had no family money, or help, just savings. Mortgages were hard to get in those days too. I had to have an interview for mine. Interest rates were 15%, so my mortgage cost me half my take home pay every month.
It's never been easy.

I absolutely agree with everything you've said on this thread. I'm about to put down a £33,000 deposit on a house to let. I'm on £9 per hour now but until last year I was on minimum wage. It's not a God given right to go on holiday every year, eat takeaways, have an Xbox, go out drinking every weekend and travel in taxis etc! People can't seem to grasp this these days. We aren't hard done by at all, far from it!

 

[Mobile Manicure]

I'm not saying Aphro is at fault, and of course you would reap the rewards. I'm saying the system is unfair and very galling for the people that have to scrimp and save for mortgages and get no help.

I agree. We have never had any help or claimed benefits. Not even a fiver from either of our parents. Nothing. Nor are we entitled to child benefits. Just work and save, work and save. Like the olden days.

I have a friend who is worth over 20M because she was a shareholder in a family company which was sold. She doesnt work and her hubby does a little part time work playing in a band. They claim benefits for their 3 kids. How fair is that?

 

[waffle4]

I agree. We have never had any help or claimed benefits. Not even a fiver from either of our parents. Nothing. Nor are we entitled to child benefits. Just work and save, work and save. Like the olden days.

I have a friend who is worth over 20M because she was a shareholder in a family company which was sold. She doesnt work and her hubby does a little part time work playing in a band. They claim benefits for their 3 kids. How fair is that?

Oh god don't, I'm getting palpitations now!

 

[Spa Therapist]

My husband (before we were married) worked overseas for 3 years in order to save up for a deposit.

The first house we bought was a dump. We ripped out all the smelly brown shag pile carpet and also lived on floorboards until we could afford to buy carpet. We had no kitchen for 2 years and I cooked on a portable 2 ring electric hob and mini oven/ grill. We had no central heating the first winter and froze.

A friend's mum took pity on us and donated her old velvet floral suite. At least we had something to sit on.

I don't know how many would be prepared to do that nowadays. We didn't go out, didn't have holidays and just saved and saved until we could afford what we needed. Nothing went on credit.

It certainly wasn't easier back then but I think we were just more prepared to give up luxuries for the end goal.

...and I bet you appreciated it a whole lot more!

 

[xxAmyxx]

But renting is more expensive than a mortgage that's what annoys me.

 

[waffle4]

But renting is more expensive than a mortgage that's what annoys me.

But then you can offset that with the fact that you're not paying normal upkeep costs. Eg if the boiler broke down the landlord would have to pay for it, whereas if it's your own home you're accountable for everything.

 

[Aphrodite26]

I was on the housing list for 7 years.
Also my local authority does a customer of excellence scheme where you have to of been in employment x amount of years, show bank statements to show affordability etc then you get more points towards moving up the list.
In a year I will likely do my right to buy and then when I move to Greece I will rent it out so I always have something to come back to x


Sent from the catphone

 

[hazeleyes]

I have a housing association place. I got it through the council I was on the waiting list for a year or so before getting it. Cheaper rent but still not what they used to be,

 

[carlyema]

Yes renting is more expensive but you have no house insurance cost, appliances are maintained by landlord, no property tax etc etc. Also you can pull out of renting with 30 days notice you certainly cant pull out of a 25 year morgage! Its worth the extra cost for the amount of stress thats avoided and the security of short term contracts.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using SalonGeek mobile app

 

[fluffy26]

I'm quite lucky as I have a beautiful council flat. It's round the corner from my mum and in the middle of a brand new estate. (Built around us after I moved in)
I've had it for 9 years. If I choose to buy it I will get it for around £40k, they are valued at 80-90
However. I am an only child, I don't plan on having children so if I bought it there is no one to leave it to.
I plan on moving back to Greece so I can give this up and walk away whenever
Downside a mortgage is actually cheaper than my rent.



Sent from the catphone

I understand your thought process, about there being no one to leave it to, but surely if the mortgage would be cheaper than the rent, & you can afford to do it then isn't it about financial security for yourself for the future? Renting it's never going to be yours, therefore dead money, (yes on the plus side you can just walk away)although with a mortgage you have a financial tie, but at least a little pension for yourself at the end? (& you could rent it out if you return to Greece)X


Sent from my iPhone using SalonGeek mobile app

 

[persianista]

Surely cheap social housing is for people who need it, not for speculators out to make a buck?
Every time a council flat is sold, it adds to the problem of prices going beyond people's reach, which I believe, was the opening post of this thread?
Is there a justification for why I, as a taxpayer, should provide cheap property for speculators to rent out, while I paid full market value for my own home?

It should be illegal to rent out former local authority property. If people buy it, they should live in it, as the policy was intended. Anything else is immoral and greedy. I couldn't earn money knowing that my direct action caused a poor family to languish in a B&B.
Make your money legitimately in this life.

Also, as an aside, renting property isn't a walk in the park. Tenants knock you for money, damage stuff, and ring at two in the morning to report a blown bulb. I know, I've been there. It's not easy money, nor is it for the faint hearted. I would never rely on the rent to pay a mortgage.

 

[Aphrodite26]

If I did buy it and rent it out it would not be to make money or a quick buck at all.
It would be so that I could live in it again when i came back from Greece.
As a taxpayer you don't fund my housing in any way. The rent is not cheap, I pay full rent and it's actually higher than private rent in my area.
My local authority are combatting the lack of social housing by building new estates that are part private part social, the private sales pay to build the social housing.
My parent and grand parents all bought their houses off the local authority in the north east that's how 80% of people used to buy houses.
They have changed the rules since I started my tenancy.
New tenants do not get a discount if they choose to buy.


Sent from the catphone