Chris Barker wrote:
> Hmm, that would be good: being able to offset your negative equity
> against tax. But somehow I cannot see Mr Gordon Brown doing that for
> anyone in this country if the bubble bursts and people are left owning
> a property that is worth less than their mortgage debt ...
Property prices aren't going to go down anyway.
1. The government failed to bail out the Equitable Life, so huge swathes of
professionals (me included) have no faith in pension schemes and refuse to take
a private pension.
2. The stock market is doing poorly, and will continue to do poorly. Under a
Labour government it will always do poorly.
3. There is no real political will to fight the NIMBYs to increase housing
stock; even if land was released it would only affect house prices briefly.
In short, people have to invest somewhere, and they feel (understandably) happy
with bricks & mortar.
The lack of first-time buyers (who simply cannot afford to buy) will not affect
house prices. It hasn't yet, and there aren't any first-time buyers left! The
typical first-time buyer house is now bought as a long-term investment property
(a pension) by wealthy 50+ year olds. And the would-be first-time buyers have
to rent.
The days of owning one's own property are over. The gap between rich and poor
increases massively. Well done, socialists...
Simon Worby
Newbury (where a small 3-bed detached house in town will set you back around
£250k, about 10 times what a qualified 25-year-old might hope to earn)
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