House prices / Housing Shortage

[paulb]

a single adult with no dependent and i assume no disability. i really think you need to realize you at the bottom of any list for social housing. if your looking at 500-1000 in rent seriously save and buy. ive seen flats in lerwick for a 100k and if you can learn to drive you really increase your buying power. you can buy with a 150k mortgage for 750. you can recieve assistance from below. http://www.rightmove.co.uk/help-to-buy.html#scotland   

 

and if you  have space rent out spare space to a lodger it could cover 1/2 your repayments. so on a 150k using above scheme you would need to find £7.500 for a deposit.   

http://www.shetlandislesproperty.co.uk/l0013.php this would cost £380 a month a 5% deposit £3,800 . 

[Ally]

It's really not that simple to get on the property ladder in Shetland. In some cases people are paying 20% over the asking price, and reasonably priced property in Lerwick is like gold dust. First time buyers are usually in competition with developers, many of whom can throw resources (and even people from their own building firms) at a property to fix it up and rent to Gas Plant\Oil Folks for daft money. 



 

Edited June 9, 2015 by Ally

[brian.smith]

People here are making an assumption that buying is the best option. No credit should be taken where the borrower would struggle to make repayments. I really do feel for you neepjelly as it is a vicious circle you are in. Over the last forty years the housing market has changed dramatically. Remember the day only the affluent could afford to buy a house and the rest of us relied on social housing but of course nowadays young folks are forced down the ownership route as all the social housing has been sold off and private landlords have seized the opportunity for profit which as far as Shetland/Lerwick is concerned has spiralled to a level that has become unaffordable.

 

I don’t buy into the advice you have been given here move. buy or share. If the government when they decided to sell social housing had reinvested the money earned to build new houses then the problem would not exist and the private rental market would have been more competitive. I hope you find something soon staying in a B&B cannot be pleasant.

 

As an aside I wonder what all these private landlords will do when the oil money goes and there property’s fall dramatically in price.

Edited June 9, 2015 by brian.smith

[paulb]

brian i understand were your coming from. but when buying is a lot cheaper and you have an asset afterwards. why would you rent if you could buy. realistically neepjelly will never be offered a house.  she does not tick the correct boxes. social housing should never have been sold. its should not be a life tenancy either. fixed terms say 5 or 10 years and review needs.        

[brian.smith]

I totaly disagree with you Paul financial cisis after financial crisis have been caused by lending to people who can pay but its the proportion of their income required to meet the bills cause the problem. Social housing is an essential element of our country and always has been it should not be fixed term it should be there for the people who wish to use it. The private rental sector should be the step between social housing and ownership. House prices would not be at the level it is now if there had been enough social housing available. My Aunt bought her house in the 70's in Bridge of Allan for 4K the house now is worth close to 400K show me something else that has increased by that much

[paulb]

im not disagreeing. just facts at the moment  a repayment mortgage of say a £100k is 501 at 3.5%| at 8% its 772. still cheaper than private rented. in an ideal world we would have social housing to spare but we dont. even in the 1950s-1980s a sinfle adult was not a priority. its a modern trend to have single person households. i was raised in council  housing at one stage we had 4 generations living in a 4 bed terrace. my family lived there from 1935 until it was pulled down in the 1990s. our first bought  home was a repo in 1999 for 23k.  below is last years social housing stock report  http://www.shetland.gov.uk/housing/documents/Stock_Lets_DemandMarch2014.pdf a 2 bed council will cost £315 a month a 3 bed £380. but council wont allow a rental of more than a bedsit to a single adult. 

[JustMe]

Ah yes Paul, but what happens if the interest rates go into double figures.  Maybe even into the 20%+ level.  And frankly this country is rich enough to build homes for everyone.  Decent single bedsits for the young folk and upwards to multi bedroomed houses for those who need them. 

 

And what is this government planning to do with housing benefit for young people?.   Cut it out!.  What happens to young people who get kicked out of home and cannot get a job.  Maybe just a big bust up with parents that was not the young persons fault.  And no job because they have nothing to offer an employer that a younger person on a lower minimum wage could offer.  Or because they did something silly and have a criminal record.  And no I was not thinking of your son there although that might also apply.  Really is about time this country started to care for the young and the weak.  Reasonably good care for the old at the moment but young people without care when they need it might not get old.

 

As for council and housing association homes in Shetland I guess we all know of some strange things going on as well as the presumably well intentioned policy of housing druggies and ex-cons.  Yes I agree they do need homes like anyone else but maybe there is a case for finding a way that working people kicked out of privately rented homes so the landlords can get more money from company lets can get a bit more priority.  

[Suffererof1crankymofo]

 below is last years social housing stock report  http://www.shetland.gov.uk/housing/documents/Stock_Lets_DemandMarch2014.pdf a 2 bed council will cost £315 a month a 3 bed £380. but council wont allow a rental of more than a bedsit to a single adult. 

 

Rubbish!  I know several single adults in one bed council properties which are not bedsits, some of them being new lets in the last year or two, and indeed, the last one being only in the last 2 months.

[paulb]

1 beds are listed as bedsits. im not sayin its ok. but under 25s wont be able to claim benefit it was a tory promise.. under 35s can only rent a room in shared private accommodation came in 2012. 

[Slobodan]

If you work at the gas plant, you will be earning in excess of £120 per day -  I can't see how private rentals are outwith your reach, especially if you share.

[Suffererof1crankymofo]

1 beds are listed as bedsits. im not sayin its ok. but under 25s wont be able to claim benefit it was a tory promise.. under 35s can only rent a room in shared private accommodation came in 2012. 

 

Not all 1 beds are listed as bedsits.  The SIC have some bedsits, yes, but they also have some 1 bed flats.

[Urabug]

Ma'be we need another Knab Camp.

 

Should  be room at the same old site soon.

[brian.smith]

Paul the state still has an obligation to house its people when did we get to the stage where we encouraged young people to borrow 100K just to have a roof over their head for gods sake. I was tought to live within my means save for the future is that not what those who are in power now are saying yet there is no affordable housing to enable them to do exactly that.

[paulb]

i cant see it improving. tories are dismantling all support. being poor old or disabled is not sectors were cuts should  be made.  single people homes are on the increase its obvious it reduces supply if your 1 person households. its a pity we cant impose double or more council tax on second homes or can we. the channel isle control demand quite well. as does isle of man. can we do it i assume not.

[neepjelly]

If you work at the gas plant, you will be earning in excess of £120 per day -  I can't see how private rentals are outwith your reach, especially if you share.

 

This figure is not correct. 

 

1 - there was a 20% pay cut in February

2 - general administrators were only on £100 per day before the cut, and technical clerks £120.

 

And any way, this is only true for Petrofac. I do not work for Petrofac.

 

Another point, none of us know when we will lose our job, it would be irresponsible to take on a flat at £1000 a month (shared or not) as tomorrow I could lose my job. There is no security here.

Edited June 10, 2015 by neepjelly