A House for everyone.
Discussion
A House for Everyone.
We're coming up to it. The house buyers are now dying off. We'll inherit. We're laughing. In a few years there will be empty houses everywhere, or if they are concentrated, Middlesborough will be empty.
In the good old days, up to about 1950, when the last parent died, they didn't own a house, they rented a terrace house for eight shillings a week or lived in a council house. This meant that all you might inherit was a few pounds and some old fashioned furniture. There may have been one or two heirlooms, a clock or something, which was generally regarded by the deceased as being worth a fortune. It wasn't, and whoever got it in the will was probably hated by the rest because of the fallacy that it was priceless. In fact the inheritance of this prized heirloom was nothing but a nuisance, like the old man who wouldn't get off the young man's shoulders after crossing the stream, because it couldn't be got rid of. The fortunate legatee, by family tradition must keep this ugly clock, or bronze dog, or ivory fan, or whatever, for their lifetime then pass it on. It can never be sold, so no one does any good from it, or gets any cash. It also has to be displayed for ever, especially if it is very ugly. This generation that we are describing had little to leave besides the firewood and the heirloom because they were happy to rent their house. They were 'looked after', if they had a landlord. It was as if they thought something terrifying and irremedial, of vast cost, could happen to a house, if it were theirs, and ruin them for life. They also did not aspire to house ownership. It was a class thing, and whereas now most of the population of the Country either do own their homes, or aim to. In those old days ninety per cent didn't even see it as an option. In due course, this generation, the renters, produced children. Time passes, great houses are in decline, war has opened less people are tied to the land and a tied cottage, and people started earning much more money.
The great emancipation got under way. These children wanted to, and did, buy their own houses. Villa for sale, brand new, £400. Bungalow for £280. Of course it seems cheap but it wasn't. Only by dint of skimping and scraping, the like of which is unknown today, could they afford them. These poor devils got their own property though, and enjoyed the independence and security that it meant. The bad news was that they had to be so mean to pay for it, they never got out of the habit. Their own children, of whom more anon, were not impressed with this meanness and, as they got older, scorned the 'old uns' because they weren't free with their money. I point out in their defence, they had forgotten how to be. These children should be pleased because they will eventually get a house instead of a bronze dog.
The great revolution of the last twenty years is the inheritance of these hard bought houses. Thanks to this, nowadays, many couples never have the life-long grind of a mortgage. As the buying of houses spreads, and council houses also come into the private sector, before too long virtually all the houses in the country will be bought by the population in general. The birth-rate is falling slightly. This means that many couples will inherit two houses. By this means, plenty of money is in the hands of the two house inheritors. There are plenty of them and there will be more. Large expensive houses are in their reach. The spare money which would have been for the mortgage goes on the Range Rover, which is why there are so many of them on Tesco's car park, and the time share. There is a great penalisation of those people whose parents did not buy. It becomes more and more difficult for them to buy a house because they have not got the top up of inherited property money. There is a £40,000 pound hurdle in front of them. They have to buy at the 'bottom end' , using the new schemes of paying for twenty years and still owning only half of it. Or buying the simplest of starter homes which are not much wider than the front door. No, it's harder road for those people whose parents did not buy a house, but it will even out in time.
It amounts to this :- The Range Rover and Time share are bought with a previous lifetime of diligently switching off forty watt bulbs, or sitting in the dark. The grandson gets a new car from the miles walked by Granny for bread two pence cheaper. The health club subscription for the granddaughter is the one tea bag for two cups which Gran and Granddad always had.
Regards Peter
We're coming up to it. The house buyers are now dying off. We'll inherit. We're laughing. In a few years there will be empty houses everywhere, or if they are concentrated, Middlesborough will be empty.
In the good old days, up to about 1950, when the last parent died, they didn't own a house, they rented a terrace house for eight shillings a week or lived in a council house. This meant that all you might inherit was a few pounds and some old fashioned furniture. There may have been one or two heirlooms, a clock or something, which was generally regarded by the deceased as being worth a fortune. It wasn't, and whoever got it in the will was probably hated by the rest because of the fallacy that it was priceless. In fact the inheritance of this prized heirloom was nothing but a nuisance, like the old man who wouldn't get off the young man's shoulders after crossing the stream, because it couldn't be got rid of. The fortunate legatee, by family tradition must keep this ugly clock, or bronze dog, or ivory fan, or whatever, for their lifetime then pass it on. It can never be sold, so no one does any good from it, or gets any cash. It also has to be displayed for ever, especially if it is very ugly. This generation that we are describing had little to leave besides the firewood and the heirloom because they were happy to rent their house. They were 'looked after', if they had a landlord. It was as if they thought something terrifying and irremedial, of vast cost, could happen to a house, if it were theirs, and ruin them for life. They also did not aspire to house ownership. It was a class thing, and whereas now most of the population of the Country either do own their homes, or aim to. In those old days ninety per cent didn't even see it as an option. In due course, this generation, the renters, produced children. Time passes, great houses are in decline, war has opened less people are tied to the land and a tied cottage, and people started earning much more money.
The great emancipation got under way. These children wanted to, and did, buy their own houses. Villa for sale, brand new, £400. Bungalow for £280. Of course it seems cheap but it wasn't. Only by dint of skimping and scraping, the like of which is unknown today, could they afford them. These poor devils got their own property though, and enjoyed the independence and security that it meant. The bad news was that they had to be so mean to pay for it, they never got out of the habit. Their own children, of whom more anon, were not impressed with this meanness and, as they got older, scorned the 'old uns' because they weren't free with their money. I point out in their defence, they had forgotten how to be. These children should be pleased because they will eventually get a house instead of a bronze dog.
The great revolution of the last twenty years is the inheritance of these hard bought houses. Thanks to this, nowadays, many couples never have the life-long grind of a mortgage. As the buying of houses spreads, and council houses also come into the private sector, before too long virtually all the houses in the country will be bought by the population in general. The birth-rate is falling slightly. This means that many couples will inherit two houses. By this means, plenty of money is in the hands of the two house inheritors. There are plenty of them and there will be more. Large expensive houses are in their reach. The spare money which would have been for the mortgage goes on the Range Rover, which is why there are so many of them on Tesco's car park, and the time share. There is a great penalisation of those people whose parents did not buy. It becomes more and more difficult for them to buy a house because they have not got the top up of inherited property money. There is a £40,000 pound hurdle in front of them. They have to buy at the 'bottom end' , using the new schemes of paying for twenty years and still owning only half of it. Or buying the simplest of starter homes which are not much wider than the front door. No, it's harder road for those people whose parents did not buy a house, but it will even out in time.
It amounts to this :- The Range Rover and Time share are bought with a previous lifetime of diligently switching off forty watt bulbs, or sitting in the dark. The grandson gets a new car from the miles walked by Granny for bread two pence cheaper. The health club subscription for the granddaughter is the one tea bag for two cups which Gran and Granddad always had.
Regards Peter
Why is this in the business section?
Top rant/rave/postulation though
I would have to add, I'm 24, fresh out of Uni and straight in to contracting, earning a decent wage. The other half is 20, few qualifications behind her in the restaurant game, earning a decent wage too. Between us, there's about £45k pre-tax coming in. Yet we have the choice of grotty little hole we could afford to 'repay' or flat in better although not particularly "nice" area we could 'interest only'.
Believe me, it isnt nearly as clean cut as the young dont know how to scrimp to afford what they want.
Top rant/rave/postulation though
I would have to add, I'm 24, fresh out of Uni and straight in to contracting, earning a decent wage. The other half is 20, few qualifications behind her in the restaurant game, earning a decent wage too. Between us, there's about £45k pre-tax coming in. Yet we have the choice of grotty little hole we could afford to 'repay' or flat in better although not particularly "nice" area we could 'interest only'.
Believe me, it isnt nearly as clean cut as the young dont know how to scrimp to afford what they want.
peterperkins said:
Buying and selling/owning houses is a business and a complicated one at that IMHO. Peter
Agree, and agree with much of the OP - although it's "Middlesbrough"...a common mistake.
I'm "lucky" that myself and the missus have worked hard, yet inherited nothing (my 'rents do just that, so there's no huge inheritance for me, it'll be the porcelain dog), but at 25 I own a nice enough (4 bedroom) house, with an affordable mortgage - so it can be done.
I do know several people who are relying totally upon substantial inheritances in order to pay off their interest only mortgages (and in some cases fund their own retirements).
It doesn’t work so well when there are multiple children to share the money out amongst, or one of the parents spends years in a car home where the fees eat away all the money. Or those whose parents used equity release, and they now find the bank owns an increasing share of the property.
It doesn’t work so well when there are multiple children to share the money out amongst, or one of the parents spends years in a car home where the fees eat away all the money. Or those whose parents used equity release, and they now find the bank owns an increasing share of the property.
emicen said:
Why is this in the business section?
Top rant/rave/postulation though
I would have to add, I'm 24, fresh out of Uni and straight in to contracting, earning a decent wage. The other half is 20, few qualifications behind her in the restaurant game, earning a decent wage too. Between us, there's about £45k pre-tax coming in. Yet we have the choice of grotty little hole we could afford to 'repay' or flat in better although not particularly "nice" area we could 'interest only'.
Believe me, it isnt nearly as clean cut as the young dont know how to scrimp to afford what they want.
Top rant/rave/postulation though
I would have to add, I'm 24, fresh out of Uni and straight in to contracting, earning a decent wage. The other half is 20, few qualifications behind her in the restaurant game, earning a decent wage too. Between us, there's about £45k pre-tax coming in. Yet we have the choice of grotty little hole we could afford to 'repay' or flat in better although not particularly "nice" area we could 'interest only'.
Believe me, it isnt nearly as clean cut as the young dont know how to scrimp to afford what they want.
I wopuld like to hope the cash would 'cascade' a bit, but fear it will be neeed to plug the pensions gap for many people. Perhaps it will just mean lean year until the next genereation die then 15 years of madness before you pass it on?
rsvmilly said:
... except those pesky parents are living ever longer!
With the worst pensions in history?
In the fifties we were all going to be eating food in pill form, by today. Why aren't we?
Well we could if we wanted to, but the thing is that people don't like it.
What I can't understand is why people put up with things they don't like. It's not like there aren't plenty of things not to like. People are being duped. They don't like that they cant buy a house, but buying an expensive car and an expensive telly, an expensive handbag, whatever.
Consumerism makes it all feel so much better. Since it keeps the economy afloat, it makes everybody feel doubly happy.
I can't believe this cash for peerages business myself. You have Prescott there on the telly, Sunday morning. He says that it's terrible how the cost of an election campaign has gone through the roof. He says something must be done. He says that what his party have done is not criminal, it's just a more extreme version of what has been done in the past by other parties.
Well, the way I see it is that it is criminal. It's criminal, because political parties aren't supposed to upset the balance of politics in this way. That is sacred. The reason that they have become trapped is because they have denied that inflation exists for too long. Why does the cost of an election campaign increase?
Maybe they do more now than they did then, but if you can't afford it you don't do it. If you do it anyway you get inflation.
Inflation. Consumerism. Happy pills. Get on the train to oblivion, or be left behind.
There won't be a shortage of houses, as the population declines the space will be filled with immigrants. It always was, and always will be. It's the only way a house can be worth anything.
Edited by dilbert on Monday 18th December 09:09
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