So how do you (and your family) intend to ‘hold you nerve’?

Callistemon21

This is worth considering:

In 2022/23 the government of the United Kingdom is expected to spend approximately 15.4 billion British pounds on housing benefits
Stastista

This £15.4 billion is in fact buying properties for landlords (I use the term generically).

How much social housing could be built with this £15.4 billion?

Indeed!

Callistemon21

This is worth considering:

In 2022/23 the government of the United Kingdom is expected to spend approximately 15.4 billion British pounds on housing benefits
Stastista

This £15.4 billion is in fact buying properties for landlords (I use the term generically).

How much social housing could be built with this £15.4 billion?

In what location?

"About 35,000 homes are planned by 2026, paid for by £4bn of government funding - an average of £114,000 per house." (in London, I believe)

growstuff

Callistemon21

This is worth considering:

In 2022/23 the government of the United Kingdom is expected to spend approximately 15.4 billion British pounds on housing benefits
Stastista

This £15.4 billion is in fact buying properties for landlords (I use the term generically).

How much social housing could be built with this £15.4 billion?

Indeed!

I realise that some of the housing benefit will be going towards renting social housing, so it's not that simplistic.

Although there appears to be a huge number of new houses being built all around the country, I'm not sure how much is affordable or social housing.

Norah

Callistemon21

This is worth considering:

In 2022/23 the government of the United Kingdom is expected to spend approximately 15.4 billion British pounds on housing benefits
Stastista

This £15.4 billion is in fact buying properties for landlords (I use the term generically).

How much social housing could be built with this £15.4 billion?

In what location?

"About 35,000 homes are planned by 2026, paid for by £4bn of government funding - an average of £114,000 per house." (in London, I believe)

£114,000 won't build much of a house in London.

growstuff

Norah

Callistemon21

This is worth considering:

In 2022/23 the government of the United Kingdom is expected to spend approximately 15.4 billion British pounds on housing benefits
Stastista

This £15.4 billion is in fact buying properties for landlords (I use the term generically).

How much social housing could be built with this £15.4 billion?

In what location?

"About 35,000 homes are planned by 2026, paid for by £4bn of government funding - an average of £114,000 per house." (in London, I believe)

£114,000 won't build much of a house in London.

I suppose a lot of the cost is the land and if an LA already owns the land, that would cut the costs.

We are so lucky to be mortgage free now and three of our five adult children still live with us () but our elder son is desparate to get into the property ladder and our eldest daughter is lucky as she and her partner have very well paid jobs and just one child.

I bought my first property alone in the early 80’s and had to have one full time job and one part time job.

I think mortgage rates alone would be easier to “ride out” but difficult to “hold your nerve” when everything is so much more expensive and if you’re a public sector worker having had to live through “austerity” for no good reason at all !!

In the early 90s it nearly hit 15%

Years ago, our financial adviser told us that the best advice for long-term investments is to trust that the money markets will pay up in the end - ie ‘hold your nerve’.

Unfortunately, this is the sort of advice that works if you have spare money to invest, rather than needing a house to live in.

Rishi doesn’t seem to have a clue what life is like for most of us, he’s like a caricature of an out-of-touch millionaire.

I remember 16% interest. I'd just bought out my ex and had a huge (for the time) mortgage. I had to work agency nights at weekends and have a houseful of students as lodgers just to make ends meet. There was also MIRAS if anyone remembers that! These days young people live in smaller houses and don't always have room to do this sort of thing, plus there are more restrictions on letting and tax implications. I feel very sorry for families who are suffering from this. I think it's all very well to ask people to hold their nerve when you are used to spare cash on the bank, a full larder and plenty of clothes in the cupboards but many live from paycheck to paycheck to service mortgage debt, childcare and basic living costs already. Many landlords with a mortgage are likely to have no option but to increase the rent to cover the extra interest - in many circumstances they can't claim mortgage interest against tax, so again ordinary families suffer. I remember the autumn I had to buy school shoes and football boots every couple of months as my son had growth spurts and imagine how dreadful the budgeting decisions are going to be even for the reasonably well off. After austerity, followed by soaring fuel costs people have worked through any savings they may have built up. Now water bills are set to rise in order to clean up their filthy messes in our rivers and coastlines, having creamed off profits for years to pay the shareholders and management ahead of investing in a good service. The sooner this government gets kicked out the better.

growstuff

Norah

Callistemon21

This is worth considering:

In 2022/23 the government of the United Kingdom is expected to spend approximately 15.4 billion British pounds on housing benefits
Stastista

This £15.4 billion is in fact buying properties for landlords (I use the term generically).

How much social housing could be built with this £15.4 billion?

In what location?

"About 35,000 homes are planned by 2026, paid for by £4bn of government funding - an average of £114,000 per house." (in London, I believe)

£114,000 won't build much of a house in London.

growstuff £114,000 won't build much of a house in London.

I've no idea, I merely quoted an article.

I assume land cost is not part to build cost, in this quote.

My husband doesn't use land cost as a part to business costs (on a yearly basis, only at purchase) perhaps that's normal.

Is there an answer? … other than going all Guy Fawkes on them all?
It’s a true shitshow.

Well I'm not plannng on opening up my skin to find one to hold 😏 He, non of them are in the real world.

No mortgage with me. Cost of living still biting.

My eldest fortunately locked in to a new deal last October. The family on.my DiL side mortgage/ins broker advised him to get it sorted early.

They are well off as my son in software development which is a high paying job. They aren't struggling but still noticing the cost of living is knocking down spare income

My other 3 live abroad. My youngest works for a bank so has a very low interest rate anyway as its special deals for Bank employees.

My daughter and her partner are in rented living abroad. Rrnts are more reasonable where they are in Canada.

My other son lives in Thailand teaching and is OK

There used to be very strict control on mortgage lending. Bought first house in 1770. I remember the meeting when we applied for mortgage, one and a half times DHs salary, mine was totally disregarded. This control in a way restricted the price of property. We managed to buy a 3 bed in the south east. It was a bit of a fixer upper but we had enough left from our wages to do what was necessary. Interest rates were certainly higher than 3, 4, 5%. 1992 was the highest I can recall at 15%. Hold your nerve at that!

I don't think even Sunak knows what he means, he has no idea at all what it's like for the 'man in the street'. No good telling people to hold their nerve when they can't afford to feed their children properly or pay their utility bills let alone their mortgages.

4allweknow

There used to be very strict control on mortgage lending. Bought first house in 1770. I remember the meeting when we applied for mortgage, one and a half times DHs salary, mine was totally disregarded. This control in a way restricted the price of property. We managed to buy a 3 bed in the south east. It was a bit of a fixer upper but we had enough left from our wages to do what was necessary. Interest rates were certainly higher than 3, 4, 5%. 1992 was the highest I can recall at 15%. Hold your nerve at that!

1770? Wow! You're doing well for your age!

At one point in the 80s we were paying 65% income tax plus 7.5% social insurance from our relatively low salaries and our mortgage interest went to 14%. We were both lucky to have jobs.

How come you were paying 65% income tax on a low salary?

What do you mean by social insurance? NICs weren't 7.5%.

Just thought - maybe you weren't in the UK.

Do you think it would be better to have an impoverished prime minister who could empathise with the people - on the other hand he/she might be more fallible when it came to taking bribes or backhanders!

You are correct *Grow stuff. I live in Ireland.

DaisyL

Do you think it would be better to have an impoverished prime minister who could empathise with the people - on the other hand he/she might be more fallible when it came to taking bribes or backhanders!

Do you live in the real world. We aren't Belarus.

Jess20

I remember 16% interest. I'd just bought out my ex and had a huge (for the time) mortgage. I had to work agency nights at weekends and have a houseful of students as lodgers just to make ends meet. There was also MIRAS if anyone remembers that! These days young people live in smaller houses and don't always have room to do this sort of thing, plus there are more restrictions on letting and tax implications. I feel very sorry for families who are suffering from this. I think it's all very well to ask people to hold their nerve when you are used to spare cash on the bank, a full larder and plenty of clothes in the cupboards but many live from paycheck to paycheck to service mortgage debt, childcare and basic living costs already. Many landlords with a mortgage are likely to have no option but to increase the rent to cover the extra interest - in many circumstances they can't claim mortgage interest against tax, so again ordinary families suffer. I remember the autumn I had to buy school shoes and football boots every couple of months as my son had growth spurts and imagine how dreadful the budgeting decisions are going to be even for the reasonably well off. After austerity, followed by soaring fuel costs people have worked through any savings they may have built up. Now water bills are set to rise in order to clean up their filthy messes in our rivers and coastlines, having creamed off profits for years to pay the shareholders and management ahead of investing in a good service. The sooner this government gets kicked out the better.

This is one of the reasons we are in a mess well Thames water.
This is appalling, and the Gov should step in. This bank should be held accountable and fined, heavily.
Just heard J Hartley Brewer and Vince Cable on talk tv.

People often mention Sunak’s wealth.His mother was a pharmacist and his father was a GP. I have always admired the Hindu families I have known. They have a great work ethic. My husband was friends with our local newsagents and with a small shopkeeper with a sub post office. They worked long hours and gave their children the best education they could afford. Rishi went to public school but the wealth is from his wife’s family. There are many immigrants who are comparatively well off via hard work. Sunak could have earned much more had he not gone into politics and I think he does not take his parliamentary salary. To say he cannot understand what being poor because he is rich is just plain nastiness. When times are good young people never seem to save for a rainy day something my husband drilled into our kids. I have only 2 grandsons now in their,late 30s. One works in cyber security for a large bank and his wife is in HR. I marvel that even with such ridiculously high amounts charged for preschool services ( one child is 2) my young family members seem to own great cars, pay the mortgage and take more than one holiday a year. My generation knew what it was like to live week to week and my father, who served in the war, never earned a great wage and my mother became too sick to work. These days people seem to be able to not take a job and still live whereas older people took any job going because they were too proud to be on the dole. I know my views are very old fashioned but blaming Sunak for economic problems that currently affect most democratic societies is unfair. Remember the battle to curtail COVID? The war in Ukraine? It is not only Britain that is affected. If you think Sir Keir has a magic wand and will make everything better then good luck but the same Grans come on here and spend their days attacking Sunak. It is time for a change and we do not need the same members here every day telling us about Sunak. We can all read but it is so repetitive that it becomes a chore to read it. I note not a word about Scottish politics and the goings on in the failing SNP. I hope Labour sweeps to victory in Scotland and be a poke in the eye to the Scots grans who never write about the situation there.

In the US the housing/mortgage market is shaky, rents have become astronomically high, food inflation is on the rise again, the political circuses are a never ending shitshow (as someone here already used the term…), add the horrendous impacts of dangerous weather events and devastation on top of all that… throw in mass shootings… chaos in other countries too, crisis after crisis. Extremely hard to stay positive. I sometimes wonder how we can remain normal?

Are we on the precipice of some new world order? I’m still clinging to This Too Shall Pass. We have to stop electing Idiots.
Deep breathes!
USA Gundy

A few years back, we arranged to pay our mortgage weekly, this reduced the total amount to be paid and it also meant that we paid it off faster than by paying monthly. Luckily, our income was pretty steady at that time.

Sorry forgot the link
Banking firm that owns Southern Water posts record profits
This article is more than 1 month old
Macquarie’s net profit is up 10% with top commodity trader landing A$58m through profit-share deal

Business live – latest updates
Alex Lawson
Fri 5 May 2023 14.50 BST
The Australian banking group that controls Southern Water, the utility company criticised for discharging sewage into the sea, has posted record profits after a boom in its commodities trading division.

Macquarie, which owns a string of UK infrastructure assets, recorded an annual net profit of A$5.18bn (£2.8bn), up 10% on the previous year. The profits outstripped analysts’ expectations of A$4.96bn for the 12 months to 31 March 2023.

A rise in profits in its commodities business – which trades oil, gas and electricity, largely in North America – handed its top commodity trader, Nick O’Kane, A$58m through a profit-share agreement, up from A$36m the year before.

The payout meant O’Kane earned far more than the group’s chief executive, Shemara Wikramanayake, who still landed A$33m – itself a payout putting her ahead of some of Wall Street’s best-paid bankers.

A surfer stands on a balcony at Watergate Bay, Cornwall
South West Water fined £2.15m for dumping sewage in sea and rivers
Read more
Macquarie owns a diverse collection of assets, including retail and investment banking activities, and is one of the world’s largest infrastructure owners.

In the UK its interests include Southern Water, the gas network Cadent, Southampton and Glasgow airports, and several windfarm projects along the east and north-west coasts of England.

Southern Water, which handles water supplies across the south-east of England, has been among the companies criticised for regularly discharging raw sewage into the sea. Campaigners accused it of “environmental vandalism” last year when data showed that Southern discharged raw sewage for more than 3,700 hours at 83 bathing water beaches during the first eight days of November alone.

Macquarie also faced political scrutiny during its ownership of Thames Water between 2006 and 2017 as it extracted billions in dividends while Thames’s debt soared. It controversially returned to the industry when taking control of Southern Water in 2021.

The group said the value of its assets under management had increased by 10% since the end of March 2022 to A$870.8bn. The group said 71% of its profits had come from outside Australia during the year, with 51% of its overall profit derived from its commodities business.

The oil and gas companies BP and Shell this week reported healthy profits, helped in part by improvements in their trading divisions that have benefited from volatile energy markets.

Wikramanayake said: “Against a less certain market and economic backdrop, the diversity of Macquarie’s activities and the expertise of our teams ensured we maintained strong performance during the year.”

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