Rules for non UK citizens buying houses in the UK?

[pebbles]

How is it possible for someone on benefits to find the deposit to buy a house?

 

[Drudgeon]

Sympathise about your pension but you aren't doing anything for anybody by being a landlord. You are not needed unless you actually build houses.
I notice that those who say the population is too big don't usually see themselves as surplus to requirements. Otherwise they could just throw themselves into the nearest pond. Simple!

Why am I not doing anything by being a landlord? I am providing affordable short term accommodation for people that either cannot or do not wish to buy.

I'm afraid as someone who is still fairly young, with a young family and someone who is contributing to the economy, no I do not consider myself surplus to requirements, people surplus to requirements would include those who are contributing nothing to the economy, i.e. not contributing anything in tax, that would be either those of above retirement age, and more importantly, those with no inclination to work.

I tend to agree with Roger that those who are so heavily against buy-to-let etc tend to appear rather bitter about it.

So are you saying you do not think the population is too large for the country?

 

[Jacob]

Sympathise about your pension but you aren't doing anything for anybody by being a landlord. You are not needed unless you actually build houses.
I notice that those who say the population is too big don't usually see themselves as surplus to requirements. Otherwise they could just throw themselves into the nearest pond. Simple!

Why am I not doing anything by being a landlord? I am providing affordable short term accommodation for people that either cannot or do not wish to buy.

No you are not. The building (the accommodation) was provided by somebody else. You are just an opportunist taking a profit. NB don't be offended by that, we are just having a grown up conversation - some of my best friends live off the backs of their neighbours in the same way.

 

[Drudgeon]

I see your point, but not everyone would wish to buy even if they could, I agree that house prices are waaay too high, I couldn't give a monkeys what my house is worth, or that flats for that matter, I don't intend on selling, so if prices dropped by 30,40 or even 50% it would bother me.

I just think that there are too many people, especially in the South East, perhaps if we stoop building houses all together people would be forced away? Maybe an extreme view, but the way I see it is our governments over the years tend to be far to reactive, they wait for a problem and then try to solve it when it's realistically too late.

I just worry for my kids, and their kids, I believe their will be a big bubble burst in the next 10 years and prices even in the south east will drop hugely. Let's still not forget that as soon as the BOE start raising interest rates that half the home owners in the country will not be able to afford their repayments, there's an almighty problem looming, and there is not an answer for it, it will be a recession like no other, that's what I think anyway, just hope I'm wrong.

 

[Harry 48]

Drudgeon
People above retirement age don't pay tax I WISH

 

[MMUK]

Trouble is, the only way to bring house prices down is to vastly increase the supply.

Wrong.

The way to bring prices down and aleviate the shortfall is to stop letting ******* immigrants in and GIVING them houses at OUR expense. Even worse when they then bring family over in double figures and get given multi million £ mansions in Chelsea, Sunningdale, at al. again at OUR expense. :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

 

[Woodmonkey]

Oh dear, the daily mail rears its ugly head again.

 

[themackay]

The house builders have no incentive to build substantially more houses than they do if prices drop so do there profits a 350,000 3/4 bed house probably cost less than 100,000 to build.

 

[pebbles]

There are plenty of affordable houses in the country. They're just not where the work is, and many are empty. Bring work into the depressed areas and things will improve.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Too many incentives to buy property over and above the need for housing/workplaces.
Taxation would help - inherited wealth to be treated the same as income frinstance. Rates to be related to value, increased if under occupied.
Buy to let is a crazy privilege - just makes things worse by giving the better off a free ride on the back of the worse off - who in turn become dependent on benefits and the tax payer i.e. we all subsidise landlords and inflate house prices. Half the people I know seem to live off rents without doing anything much to deserve it.
Crack pot free market theory makes it difficult to correct. We need to role forwards the state and take more control if the necessities of life.

Rates increased if under occupied...
Sounds like a bedroom tax.

 

[NickWelford]

Ooooh. What have I started?

 

[flanajb]

Given I started this topic, I thought I would post my 2 cents worth. Firstly, I think the horse bolted far too long ago now and house prices are vastly inflated to where they should be. The Governments will not allow a massive readjustment as the banks will suffer another very large credit crunch as people will most likely just walk away from their mortgages. This is what happened in the US during the 2007 credit crunch.

1. Mortgages should have been much more tightly regulated. None of this moving the lending multiples up to 6 / 7 times as house prices increased. People over leveraged and just kept borrowing more and more. A tight cap of 4 time salary would have helped peg house prices as most people only have a finite income.

2. Stop overseas investors from buying property in the UK. The Chinese and Middle Eastern's have been helping London's property boom

3. Heavy taxation on 2nd homes.

 

[finneyb]

Well, I think you are all missing the main point - the problem is overheated parts of the UK eg London and the SE. Distribute the jobs elsewhere in the UK and the demand for houses goes with the jobs and the house prices settle. As an example in 1996 I bought a 1 bed flat - near Bloomsbury (because I worked in London but kept the family home up North) at that time it was the same price as my family home a 3 bed largish semi 10 miles outside Liverpool. Today that flat is at least twice the price of the semi. The reason, people need to live near the job.

Redistribution of the jobs is the only answer.

Brian

 

[finneyb]

Given I started this topic, I thought I would post my 2 cents worth. Firstly, I think the horse bolted far too long ago now and house prices are vastly inflated to where they should be. The Governments will not allow a massive readjustment as the banks will suffer another very large credit crunch as people will most likely just walk away from their mortgages. This is what happened in the US during the 2007 credit crunch.

1. Mortgages should have been much more tightly regulated. None of this moving the lending multiples up to 6 / 7 times as house prices increased. People over leveraged and just kept borrowing more and more. A tight cap of 4 time salary would have helped peg house prices as most people only have a finite income.

2. Stop overseas investors from buying property in the UK. The Chinese and Middle Eastern's have been helping London's property boom

3. Heavy taxation on 2nd homes.

1. As I understand it tightening is already happening as of last week mortgage suppliers have to justify their lending.
2. Don't see how you do that in a free market - you could add a purchase surcharge eg 30% of the market price as a tax - but the politicos will lack the balls.
3. You only get capital gains relief on your primary residence - the profit on the sale of a second home is taxed as capital gains ie 40% but there are means off legally offsetting some of that I understand.

Brian

 

[RogerS]

Oh!! We are getting rather upset aren't we.
Here Roger: a little lecture and definition for you to mull over:

Fraud: Deception deliberately practiced in order to secure unfair or unlawful gain.

Grossly exaggerating your actual annual income to a financial institution counts as fraud. Does in my book. Perhaps if you are of the more laissez faire variety I guess you think it all fair gain and f. the rest. The only problem Roger is that the tax payer footed the bill.
Dabbled a bit yourself Roger?

Evidence? Or just your embittered wishful thinking? If the former then step up to the plate and go and report it instead of wingeing about it.

 

[RogerS]

......
I just worry for my kids, and their kids, .

You're right there. I'm just glad that I won't be around in 2050....it won't be fun.

 

[MIGNAL]

Oh!! We are getting rather upset aren't we.
Here Roger: a little lecture and definition for you to mull over:

Fraud: Deception deliberately practiced in order to secure unfair or unlawful gain.

Grossly exaggerating your actual annual income to a financial institution counts as fraud. Does in my book. Perhaps if you are of the more laissez faire variety I guess you think it all fair gain and f. the rest. The only problem Roger is that the tax payer footed the bill.
Dabbled a bit yourself Roger?

Evidence? Or just your embittered wishful thinking? If the former then step up to the plate and go and report it instead of wingeing about it.

Now you are getting desperate. No evidence. Not really needed, he readily admits that he lied on the forms. Boasts about it!
I'm astonished that you find it hard to believe. Most of the country now knows what was going on, they probably knew it 7 years ago. . . or perhaps you really have lost your moral compass and find it acceptable.
I blame Thatcher myself. Now there's a complaint for you Wodger.

 

[pebbles]

Self-certification of salary was ludicrous for lending on ppr's. And the banks' readiness to lend way over and above their own lending criteria for btl's was bordering on the criminal.

 

[themackay]

My grown up kids are still at home cant afford their own place Aberdeen is very expensive due to the oil.
Regarding mortgages when I bought my first house 1979 cost 17300 I borrowed £15000 I was earning @£12000 a year with a lot of overtime ,it was with great difficulty I was able to borrow the money and only after a letter from my employer saying my overtime was guarranteed that they would take this into account.If the banks etc had stuck to this formula house prices may not have risen as they have ,obviously we need more built as supply and demand has an effect on prices but if you cant borrow the money you cant chase the value of property continually upwards.

 

[RogerS]

Oh!! We are getting rather upset aren't we.
Here Roger: a little lecture and definition for you to mull over:

Fraud: Deception deliberately practiced in order to secure unfair or unlawful gain.

Grossly exaggerating your actual annual income to a financial institution counts as fraud. Does in my book. Perhaps if you are of the more laissez faire variety I guess you think it all fair gain and f. the rest. The only problem Roger is that the tax payer footed the bill.
Dabbled a bit yourself Roger?

Evidence? Or just your embittered wishful thinking? If the former then step up to the plate and go and report it instead of wingeing about it.

Now you are getting desperate. No evidence. Not really needed, he readily admits that he lied on the forms. Boasts about it!
I'm astonished that you find it hard to believe. Most of the country now knows what was going on, they probably knew it 7 years ago. . . or perhaps you really have lost your moral compass and find it acceptable.
I blame Thatcher myself. Now there's a complaint for you Wodger.

What part of the phrase 'if you believe it is fraud then do something about it' do you have difficulty in understanding? It's not that hard to comprehend, surely. But then...you'd not have anything to moan about, would you?