The madness of the UK

[HonestBob]

http://www.wharf.co.uk/2014/05/tower-hamlets-house-prices-ris.html

I no longer live in the UK but have business and property there and come back every month or so.  When I read that shitholes like Tower Hamlets have gone up so much in value I think the time might have come to sell everything.  You couldn't pay me to live there.

[bigmc]

It's an economy built on fragile foundations

The London property market is propped up

By foreign millionaires

The rest of the UK is struggling

The bubble will burst again soon

[Frank Clairmonte]

It's an economy built on fragile foundations

The London property market is propped up

By foreign millionaires

The rest of the UK is struggling

The bubble will burst again soon

What about standart of living in the UK? Is it rising?

[HonestBob]

It's an economy built on fragile foundations

The London property market is propped up

By foreign millionaires

The rest of the UK is struggling

The bubble will burst again soon

I'd respectfully disagree with the bolded bit.  Foreign money isn't buying Tower Hamlets.  It has already bought Mayfair which is why it is a residential ghost town but other parts are not foreign per se and have just gone bid crazy.  Two bed ex council flats in Earl's Court are now just under a million quid. 

There's just no space left.

Canary Wharf - commercial rents are going to start edging higher than Mayfair soon.  I am seeing lower end office space go from £22/sq ft to £27/sq ft in less than a year even though the property has remained vacant for the entire time.  That is crazy, esp as with SC rates an off prime office space is now nearly £60/sq ft.

I do agree that it will all have to come off, but that won't happen until Carney hikes up interest rates.  I think higher interest rates to reward savers plus harder lending terms will be better for the country in the long run.

[a_pupil]

the lucky ones are the people who had multiple houses in london brought back in the days before the market skyrocketed. I'm guessing a lot of these types would have sold up to live a better lifestyle for 1/3 of the cost in another city/country

[HonestBob]

the lucky ones are the people who had multiple houses in london brought back in the days before the market skyrocketed. I'm guessing a lot of these types would have sold up to live a better lifestyle for 1/3 of the cost in another city/country

We bought a place for £101K in 1993.  Sold for about £350K in 2006.  Now worth about £650K.

I often wish I'd had the money / the balls / the foresight to buy a lot more.  But I also have another place in London that has only appreciated by about 50% in the last 9/10 years.

I had a meeting last year with one of the biggest property guys in London. A proper canny old fashioned Jewish Eastender. He said the best overall advice for London is just hold through thick and thin.  Told me a story of how he had bought one of the big houses near Green park for a few hundred grand in the 70s, and how it was sold for £38million last year (years after he got rid of it).

[Simple Simon]

All bought up by foreign money and left to fall apart.

[HonestBob]

All bought up by foreign money and left to fall apart.

I remember when it used to be called Millionaire's Row.  But those houses are so far out of normal people's price ranges that I am not sure how it impacts "real" prices. 

As I wrote earlier, when your mini cab driver owns a million pound flat in Earl's Court then you know that something is going to give.

[bigmc]

I'd respectfully disagree with the bolded bit.  Foreign money isn't buying Tower Hamlets.  It has already bought Mayfair which is why it is a residential ghost town but other parts are not foreign per se and have just gone bid crazy.  Two bed ex council flats in Earl's Court are now just under a million quid. 

There's just no space left.

Canary Wharf - commercial rents are going to start edging higher than Mayfair soon.  I am seeing lower end office space go from £22/sq ft to £27/sq ft in less than a year even though the property has remained vacant for the entire time.  That is crazy, esp as with SC rates an off prime office space is now nearly £60/sq ft.

I do agree that it will all have to come off, but that won't happen until Carney hikes up interest rates.  I think higher interest rates to reward savers plus harder lending terms will be better for the country in the long run.

i didnt really make my point that well

there has been a snowball effect

in that all the gucci pads are being bought up by rich russians with more money and sense

leaving everyone scrabbling for other property thus putting the price up everywhere

[Skorp1o]

London is a play ground for millionaires, Russians Arabs ..etc the property market is one big money laundering/safe heaven for foreign assets. Then the rising middle class is Asia buying and bubble wrapping (leaving properties brand new empty) then sell iPhoto a huge profit

The rest you have low earners living in horrid accomodations and areas, then young professionals like me just abt squeezing in, but most move out and commute.

[HonestBob]

London is a play ground for millionaires, Russians Arabs ..etc the property market is one big money laundering/safe heaven for foreign assets. Then the rising middle class is Asia buying and bubble wrapping (leaving properties brand new empty) then sell iPhoto a huge profit

The rest you have low earners living in horrid accomodations and areas, then young professionals like me just abt squeezing in, but most move out and commute.

That boat sailed many moons ago!

[bigmc]

London is a play ground for millionaires, Russians Arabs ..etc the property market is one big money laundering/safe heaven for foreign assets. Then the rising middle class is Asia buying and bubble wrapping (leaving properties brand new empty) then sell iPhoto a huge profit

The rest you have low earners living in horrid accomodations and areas, then young professionals like me just abt squeezing in, but most move out and commute.

move to watford skorp im all over nights out down there

[Roger Bacon]

Is the rest of the UK being significantly "enriched" culturally the way London is? Only the big cities overall I hope?

[HonestBob]

Is the rest of the UK being significantly "enriched" culturally the way London is? Only the big cities overall I hope?

London is still the same as it always was so long as you don't get public transport and stay in a couple of boroughs.

The rest of the UK is mixed. Some parts are untouched and just as you'd imagine from a TV mini series, and other parts are like inner city Dhaka.

You may be surprised to learn that our second language is Polish, not Punjabi / Urdu!

[Mawse]

move to watford skorp im all over nights out down there

The YMCA in watford town center was the first gym I ever went to. Dumb bells up to 70kg, rust everywhere. I imagine it looks a bit more David Lloyd these days.

[Frank Clairmonte]

London is still the same as it always was so long as you don't get public transport and stay in a couple of boroughs.

The rest of the UK is mixed. Some parts are untouched and just as you'd imagine from a TV mini series, and other parts are like inner city Dhaka.

You may be surprised to learn that our second language is Polish, not Punjabi / Urdu!

Be happy for poles, your government would be pleased to fill their place with blacks and muslims.

[Frank Clairmonte]

London is a play ground for millionaires, Russians Arabs ..etc the property market is one big money laundering/safe heaven for foreign assets. Then the rising middle class is Asia buying and bubble wrapping (leaving properties brand new empty) then sell iPhoto a huge profit

The rest you have low earners living in horrid accomodations and areas, then young professionals like me just abt squeezing in, but most move out and commute.

I still dont get what is your job exactly, stock broker?

[pedro01]

London is a play ground for millionaires, Russians Arabs ..etc the property market is one big money laundering/safe heaven for foreign assets. Then the rising middle class is Asia buying and bubble wrapping (leaving properties brand new empty) then sell iPhoto a huge profit

The rest you have low earners living in horrid accomodations and areas, then young professionals like me just abt squeezing in, but most move out and commute.

Sounds like most cities, that. Not just horrid accomodations but dangerous areas.

There's a few notable exceptions like Tokyo and Singapore where being on the lower end of the income scale doesnt mean you have to live somewhere less secure/more violent.

[denarii]

I had some interviews/ dinners with a retired goldman partner last year. He bought his first house for 270k in about 92. Sold it for 90k in 94. But bought for 2m a Mayfair town house. That same townhouse had changed hands for 10m two years prior...