The housing ladder will simply cease to exist. Home ownership will just be handed down from generation to generation. The rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer. It's a simple fact of a capitalist system. It will end in a revolution. It's all an inevitable part of human existance. There's no alternative and it's a cycle that will continually repeat itself.
Revolutions are harder to come by in a civilised society because even the poorest have tvs, fridges and a roof over their head. But we will get more riots and unrest as the rich are getting richer when most people, poor and hard working middle earners are taking the sting. The revolution will be that this government loses the next election.
The biggest shame for me, is that there is a liberal democrat party propping them up. People won't forget that Clegg! They need to stop this government prematurely, not go all the way to an election with them - that is their only chance of salvaging their party but they are running out of time.
Our housing model has always been slightly weird. In Europe, renting properties is a lot more popular than over here where owning our houses is the norm.
Because Thatcher and her scumbags helped by her Aussie PR man told everyoine in the 80s that we needed a nation of home owners, and caused this attitude which is shite.
Our housing model has always been slightly weird. In Europe, renting properties is a lot more popular than over here where owning our houses is the norm.
Because Thatcher and her scumbags helped by her Aussie PR man told everyoine in the 80s that we needed a nation of home owners, and caused this attitude which is shite.
Ah, a well thought out coherent argument not relying upon abuse - that'll be the reason then. Or alternatively, the basic housing stock in many european countries, particularly France, Italy, Spain and Greece is of such very poor quality, that no one would consider it worth buying?
Obviously the idea of owning a house and therefore having no rent to pay after a certain age is massively appealing. I have never understood quite why people obsess over the value of the house they are in, it means nothing until you move.
In Belgium once someone buys their house, they stay there because the taxes to move are horrendous. Of course this is more practical as the place is small enough that if your job moves to the other end of the country you can still commute.
Here in Portugal the taxes are quite high, but it is the cost of estate agents that is prohibitive - from 5% to 7% - but there are plenty of home owners. Here in the Algarve you pay more for a house closer to the ocean and more again for a sea view, however within an area, age is a factor more than location partly due to the poor quality of building in the past, as cafcfan says. I can see that changing once the dimwits here work out that you can't build new where there is no room.
I always thought it was so that when you get to 60 you can sell your house and spend the rest of your life drinking and taking drugs and wintering in southern Spain. Then I remembered that's what I spent my 20s doing and now I have to work til I'm 80.
In France there's a system similar to equity release but done by individuals rather than insurance companies. So, you buy a house for, say, 10% of its value, pay the erstwhile owner a monthly amount to continue living there and sit and wait until they pop their clogs, then the gaffe is yours. A bit of a gamble of course but maybe a fun way of getting a £1mn house for much less. Here's an example: rightmove.co.uk/overseas-property/property-38902541.html
Comments
The biggest shame for me, is that there is a liberal democrat party propping them up. People won't forget that Clegg! They need to stop this government prematurely, not go all the way to an election with them - that is their only chance of salvaging their party but they are running out of time.
In Belgium once someone buys their house, they stay there because the taxes to move are horrendous. Of course this is more practical as the place is small enough that if your job moves to the other end of the country you can still commute.
Here in Portugal the taxes are quite high, but it is the cost of estate agents that is prohibitive - from 5% to 7% - but there are plenty of home owners. Here in the Algarve you pay more for a house closer to the ocean and more again for a sea view, however within an area, age is a factor more than location partly due to the poor quality of building in the past, as cafcfan says. I can see that changing once the dimwits here work out that you can't build new where there is no room.
Here's an example:
rightmove.co.uk/overseas-property/property-38902541.html
I reckon you did it the right way round. Why didn't you let the rest of us in on the secret?