Rules for non UK citizens buying houses in the UK?

[RogerS]

I very much agree, in fact, I cannot find a single person that thinks HS2 is a good idea.

The reality will be that the cost of using HS2 will rule out anyone earning less than 100k, so just another thing to benefit the wealthy (w) bankers.

I agree that there are better projects than HS2 but as for your last sentence...I haven't laughed so much in a long time. Still wiping the tears from my eyes. Such drivel. Where did you magic it up from?

 

[Drudgeon]

Roger you mean to tell me you think HS2 will be affordable for an average working man to travel on daily?

 

[RogerS]

It won't be any different to other rail lines. Of course if you swallow everything that the Guardian spouts then .........

 

[finneyb]

Aren't all the main political parties in favour though?

I think they are which is interesting in itself when so may joe public cannot see the logic - I'll put money that there is some EU funding somewhere that we only get if the project goes ahead. Maybe associated with deprived areas that will be regenerated. HS2 is private financed so no Govt money needed and then 'free' EU money for regeneration if the scheme goes ahead its a no-brainer even for politicians.

But I'm just a cynic

Brian

 

[Drudgeon]

Roger I wouldn't wipe my backside with the Guardian, I hope you are right but I very much doubt it, much like the fast link from Ashford into London, £600 a month, or you can get the regular snail service for half the price.

My point is that I think many of these projects are set up and prices pegged so high that many people are simply priced out of using it, the end result is that it merely benefits the wealthy.

You cannot say it will be the same as any other rail service as every rail service charges different rates.

 

[finneyb]

.....much like the fast link from Ashford into London, £600 a month, or you can get the regular snail service for half the price.

For those not familiar with the geography fast link Ashford to London is run on HS1 tracks.

 

[rafezetter]

The Buy-To-Let market is helping out considerably in making houses available for rent.

Blind and foolish.

I can only surmise from your statement that you, or people you are related to are HMO landlords (House of Multiple Occupany - the lowest form of renting). The buy to let market IS NOT creating places for people to live and that statement is utter utter tripe of the most foul smelling putrescence ever to spread it's miasma on any forum anywhere.

House prices are fed on demand, now, as they always have been; if everyone was only allowed to buy ONE domicile, house prices would still be the same as they were 40 years ago, when the majority of people did only buy ONE house. Buying more than one if you have the ability, is smart business, but smart business has always meant = making more money from those who cannot do it themselves.

We rent because we have NO CHOICE, and the prices landlords set reflect that, and the rest follow suit; squeeze as far as the market will bear. My ROOM - shared everything else - is £400 pm NOT INCLUDING BILLS. There are cheaper, but not by much in Bristol and they are the kind of place you might be able to stomach living in for 6 months at a time in between uni terms, but not places you'd make a "home" out of.

While there are landlords that are good, they are few and I mean FEW. I've lived in shared accommodation all my adult life - 26 years with more than 22 moves in that duration, with an extremely annoying high percentage of forced moves (and I am not a tenant from hell by any means), and I have only ever met two that treated me as an asset to be kept - the first was a very nice lady with children who lived in the house, and the next was a very nice woman who bought the house from the first. Both treated me well and listened when I mentioned things, and I in turn did things to and for the house that they appreciated.

That leaves around 20 ish landlords that only gave a hoot about the money, and ONLY the money, because there are so many renters; now more than ever largely BECAUSE of the buy to let system, we are considered fodder. Many are not interested in the heating / utility supplies, having running water in the bathroom, stealing from tenants, drug pushers and a whole lot more besides, and this is COMMON, VERY COMMON. I was once moved on after just 2 weeks because and I quote "my daughter doesn't like you", I was living in a top floor bedsit alone, using a different door, I'd never even met her and she was older than I was!

Try juggling a 10 hour job with trying to find a place to live twice in 2 weeks and then come talk to me about how landlords are making things better for renters.

Incidentally, I am still living in this house 8 years on, but the new landlords as of last year have given more than a few veiled threats that if I continue to request they attend to things as the law requires, after I've asked nicely a dozen times, "they will have to reconsider their letting strategy" - and these are two 50 something, english ex computer engineers with a portfolio of a dozen houses at least, going by their email list, who obviously make far more money from letting than they ever did working - exotic holidays all over the world, they openly talk about stock markets and shares etc etc.. it's GREED in it's purest form. I would say 90% of buy to let landlords are people who did not work for it but simply rode the wave and cashed in the equity on their houses that they bought years ago for a fraction of what they are worth now, and the smart ones don't even need to be concerned that the new mortgage(s) are levereged against their other properties as they hedge their risk and make sure one way or another that the rent keeps coming in.

The laws do not protect tenants in any way at all, and are only now being "considered" in parliament to change it so that your tenancy agreement cannot be summarily dismissed by a landlord with NO REASON given. Why don't you look on SHELTER's website to read of unscrupulous buy to let landlords evicting OAP's, or those that evict if tenants complain about something they are lawfully entitled to - like working heating or very dangerous house wiring etc etc

The official numbers of "evicted" tenants in the last year alone is over 170,000, some are obviously because of arrears, but many who do have arrears are given virtually zero chance to sort things out with landlords, and this is on top of the govt means testing what they will give in housing benefits, regardless of what the actual bill is. (but still paying for asylum seekers and women with 10 kids to live in london at exorbitant prices). http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26160569

There used to be something called an assured tenancy years ago, with scant few still in effect, but the powers that be abolished it when property tycoons complained it was making things difficult for them to "reclaim" their properties when it suited them.

If I had the ability I would be a buy to let landlord, BUT I would offer good housing at rates that allow you to have a life, and food and the occasional holiday. Not rent/ bills or food.

I could end up getting into a MAJOR rant over this, but let me (almost) finish with this:

PRIVATELY RENTING A PLACE HAS ALWAYS BEEN 1.5 TO 2X MORE EXPENSIVE THAN A MORTGAGE FOR THE LAST 26 YEARS.... FACT.

I could have finished paying an average mortgage off twice over - even in today's market... a 30 yr old work colleague and wife are thinking of renting out their house as the rent will cover the current mortgage they have PLUS the new one for the next house, freeing up £400 they are currently spending on the mortgage, and at the rental rate they would be in the lower end of prices for that type of 3 bed semi so pretty much assured of renting for sustained periods.

:evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

As to the OP - there are many countries where there are limits set, and some don't allow it at all - but the UK is a place where greed and capitalism is king, you can claim govt benefits for dependents that don't even live in the UK, and still claim a UK pension when living in another country as an ex pat.

It's beyond bonkers.

 

[Jacob]

The Buy-To-Let market is helping out considerably in making houses available for rent.

Of course it isn't it does exactly the opposite. It's like having someone blocking your way to the bar, buying you a pint but charging you full price plus a percentage for the favour.
Build to let or not-for-profit property management (housing associations etc) may provide a service but buy-to-let landlords are just parasites. The crudest form of capitalism.

 

[RogerS]

....
You cannot say it will be the same as any other rail service as every rail service charges different rates.

Precisely and which is why your statement 'in reality' was wrong and reference to salaries of £100k just plain daft, IMO. But there are expensive rail fares already and so HS2 is not going to be any different. On those rail journeys with high fares, I don't only see bankers...not that I'd recognise one from any other passenger.

Either way, we're both agreed that HS2 is a white-elephant.

 

[Drudgeon]

Agreed, my comment about bankers and 100k salaries was rather tongue in cheek, I was merely trying to make the point that I thought it would be unaffordable for the 'working classes' and therefore would completely defeat the purpose it is being sold as.

Jacob, I'd like to ask you a question, as a 'parasite' I have 2 BTL's, both are 1 bedroom flats in very good condition, in one flat I have a really nice young Polish couple, both very hardworking and great people, they couldn't buy as they haven't been in the country long enough and wouldn't fit any sort of banking criteria. Where would they live if there were no BTL's?

Or are you saying that there should be large housing trust that own large complex's of flats and houses for these people to rent in?

Also I'd like to point out that the rent on both of my flats is actually slightly less than the repayments would be on a repayment mortgage and certainly not 1.2-2x more than the mortgage would be, having said that my tenants are great I have not increased the rent ion the 2 years they've been there and will not do so until they leave, I am not desperate for the money and would rather keep good tenants than try and squeeze and extra ten or twenty quid out of people.

There are a lot of myths like with everything, and people often believe what they want to believe, but every area and postcode is different and should be taken on merit.

Jacob you are obviously an extreme lefty socialist who would welcome the return of trade unions and all the 'spoils' that socialism brings with it. if you go to the top of a very high building on a clear day you may just be able to make out my political views on the horizon, for that reason we will never agree, but I enjoy your woodworking posts and will not fall out with anyone over opinions.

Dan

 

[NickWelford]

The Buy-To-Let market is helping out considerably in making houses available for rent.

Blind and foolish.

I can only ..."

It's beyond bonkers.

Please look at my post on page 1. I did not say that, it's a quote from someone else attributed to me. I am not a landlord, indeed I am a tenant paying a considerable amount.
Apologies demanded.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

I'll say it again, politics and religion are the two topics that should be avoided for the sake of peace. Sharpening, whilst controversial has to be allowed because its relevant. When a thread gets to the point of folks demanding apologies I have to ask, has it reached a threshold of being reasonable?

 

[RogerS]

Bob, you are spot on with this.

Out of curiosity I went back to the beginning of the thread to see just where the rot set in. Opening post was a perfectly reasonable question. So were posts two and three. Then enter Jacob, as ever, with his tedious left-wing soapbox rants and the thread got derailed from then on.

Which is why I keep him on Ignore as he derails too many threads.

 

[Benchwayze]

Does the UK have a similar tax regime in place for non UK citizens for buying houses like those in Jersey or The Isle of Mann?

I don't think we do, and I find that staggering, especially, given the rate of house price inflation and the fact many people in and around London are unable to afford a house of their own.

I do chuckle to myself when I hear the Governor of the BoE saying he is concerned about an over cooked housing market. I think the horse has bolted on this one. I think the gate opened around 10 years ago.

I have a friend who lives in London with his Wife and 2 Children in Clapham, owns a one bed flat and cannot afford to buy a 3 bed property so he has to rent a 3 bed. He earns over 100k

Something is very wrong

He probably could afford a house, if the other 'coats' he has were cut according to cloth. I.e, prioritize. The house first. Car, holidays, et al second. That was my experience at least. :wink:

 

[whiskywill]

.....
There's a different attitude towards disposable income these days, with people not wanting to spend as high a proportion of their income on the roof over their head. But with many northern rents pegged at something like £10-£12 per day you can hardly suggest that's a large percentage of an income! ........

What rents where? Pegged by whom? £10 a day wouldn't get you a one bedroom terrace around here - starts at about £400 a month at the bottom. 3 beds would be £1000 ish. People are having to spend a higher proportion of their income on property nowadays than they ever did. Property prices going up at about 10% pa at the moment, incomes aren't!
You might be a bit out of touch in "a middle bit of France".

Those premium prices seem like a bargain and worth every penny just to live near you.

 

[rafezetter]

This is the problem with statistics - that could mean none in ten areas, and 100% in the eleventh. Some areas of Cornwall have 50% - 60% second homes and btl's, others of course have none.

The area where I live, Filton in Bristol, has become so filled with BTL's that a recent poll done by the local paper showed a greater than 50% saturation of them, so much so that people here are considering seeing if action by the council can be done to limit how many mortgages for buy to lets are granted here now. Over a period of a few years going up and down the same road I've seen many houses sold then a month or two passes and the infamous "to let" signs go up, where the front gardens are all paved over to make way for multiple cars.

 

[Jacob]

Plenty of BTLs around here, and second homes etc.
One grim new feature of the wealth imbalance of the country is the way some villages get slowly bought up by the same wealthy set - turning it into their own holiday village, with property empty for a good deal of the time. There'll be a sudden influx of hooray henrys in the local pub, then no sign of them for months. Similarly farms are bought and there are horses everywhere.

Up the revolution - let's roll forwards the state! Seriously though - views which Roger and co think are extreme lefty, Guardian inspired etc, are becoming mainstream. There is a real problem of imbalance and it isn't going away.
Clearance of the highlands is well recognised but there has been a steady clearance of the rest of the countryside too.

 

[rafezetter]

Agreed, my comment about bankers and 100k salaries was rather tongue in cheek, I was merely trying to make the point that I thought it would be unaffordable for the 'working classes' and therefore would completely defeat the purpose it is being sold as.

Jacob, I'd like to ask you a question, as a 'parasite' I have 2 BTL's, both are 1 bedroom flats in very good condition, in one flat I have a really nice young Polish couple, both very hardworking and great people, they couldn't buy as they haven't been in the country long enough and wouldn't fit any sort of banking criteria. Where would they live if there were no BTL's?

Back in Poland, where houses are easier and cheaper to buy. Sorry but I've heard this before - I know a polish architect / builder couple who want to come and live here purely because they want a better education for their young children.. a better free state education. They have a house in Poland, a BIG one, designed by her and made by him, they have means and good money by Polish standards, but they want better. I can understand, but you can bet for them coming in - there will not be one going out and working abroad, and you can bet, once they are able to, they will buy another home, and another.

Or are you saying that there should be large housing trust that own large complex's of flats and houses for these people to rent in?

Why not? Govt / trust owned buildings at fair rents are good earners and anyone who says different is a moron - there is a guy I saw on TV who owns a large portion of the local housing - and I mean tower blocks purpose built in some city someplace abroad- who sets fair rents, and looks after tenants, because he came from nothing, worked for it and knows the value of good secure housing. Yes of course there are issues with maintenance, but a lot of those issues we have with old council houses are because they are old and were poorly built the first time.

Or there's the build to let option - or more help with communal building associations - plenty of derelict and church owned land doing nothing for anyone. I'd be over the moon if I could help in one of those, such as what happened in St Werburghs, Bristol about 10 years ago, a dozen or so houses built by the owners, each helping the others - now a posterchild for these schemes built on derelict land, and there's clauses so that they cannot build then sell.

There ARE options, just not ones fat cats want. Can't have lots of people suddenly building there own homes now can we?

Also I'd like to point out that the rent on both of my flats is actually slightly less than the repayments would be on a repayment mortgage and certainly not 1.2-2x more than the mortgage would be, having said that my tenants are great I have not increased the rent ion the 2 years they've been there and will not do so until they leave, I am not desperate for the money and would rather keep good tenants than try and squeeze and extra ten or twenty quid out of people.

Very commendable but that would place you in the 0.5% of landlords going from extensive personal experience of the last 26 years. Still not the point though, while you are providing for your own and childrens' future you have multiple properties tied up that prevents others doing the same, and the market increase prices alone will give you a very healthy pension scheme, on the order of hundreds of thousands, and the truth is, if you thought you were able to do it safely - you would buy yet another, further feeding the increasing prices.

Jacob you are obviously an extreme lefty socialist who would welcome the return of trade unions and all the 'spoils' that socialism brings with it. if you go to the top of a very high building on a clear day you may just be able to make out my political views on the horizon, for that reason we will never agree, but I enjoy your woodworking posts and will not fall out with anyone over opinions.

While I don't agree with everything, Jacob has some fair points to make and the truth is Pure Capitalism as a social heartbeat just doesn't work, why else do those using it keep swinging between boom and bust? There have been half a dozen or more serious ones in the last 100 years alone, the last of which was fed largely by the greed for housing (because it makes money right? and still cheaper than renting) and the subprime and self cert situation that brought us to our knees, and crippled half the planet.

If you STILL don't believe me the house ownership situation is utterly broken - why is it that the only thing in UK right now making really progress since the bust is house prices? Because those with money still have the ability to buy more, and for a while - cheaper than a few years ago to boot - it was a feeding frenzy.

 

[Woodmonkey]

Feeding frenzy is right. Whenever a house round here goes on the market they normally have 20 odd viewings on one day, offers have to be in normally the next day and it will sell over the asking price. We looked at one on a Saturday that had just come on the market, we wanted to have another look on the Monday before making an offer, the owner said no as he had already had five offers, all over the asking price.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

My house is soon to go on the market, and I will be lucky to get what I paid for it in November - and that's after redecorating it totally. West Cornwall.