get kirstie allsopp off the tv
With precious little else to do last weekend I thought I’d do what most of the privileged south appear to do most of the time, I invited my local (one of eight within half-a-mile) estate agent round to give me his worthy opinion of my humble abode. Following much chin-rubbing and brow-furrowing he declared the important figure of worth, £450,000. Wahay. Considering I bought the two-up-two-down twenty years ago for less than a quarter of that, I’m a rich man! Only I’m not, as we all know it’s not real and everything above this is both out of my reach and desire.
The property market is by its very nature exactly that, a market, and as such, its movements and fluctuations are largely determined by the forces of supply and demand. Somewhat simplicitly perhaps, the theory states that when you increase supply (building more) you reduce/meet demand, which declines and the price follows suit. Except it doesn’t. And the bubble shows no sight what so ever of bursting. IMHO, £450,000 for my pile, 25 miles out of London, with no parking and no opportunity for ‘development’, is nothing short of ludicrous. So, let’s all play the ‘I want to be Marl Carney’ game and here are my top-ten suggestions:
1. Cap income multiples for mortgage applications at three-times first income and one-time second (if indeed there is one). As a fresh-faced 23 year old I remember being turned down by the Nationwide for a £46,000 mortgage on my £7,500 salary, and they were right to do so! Crazy multiple lends are not the way to go to encourage a mature, healthy & sensible property market.
2. Limit mortgages to 30 years. Traditionally, 25 year mortgages have been the norm but I fully appreciate and accept that we’re all living longer and working more, so I do feel a slight extension should be permitted. But 40, 45 or 50 years? Nah, behave.
3. Raise capital gains tax on second properties to 100%. Ouch. That’s gotta hurt, but wouldn’t it stop the expansion of multiple house owning and buy-to-let.
4. Speaking of buy-to-let, why not introduce formal and enforceable rent controls, and positively encourage long-term tenancy agreements a la Europe?
5. Whilst we’re on the subject, junk Help to Buy. Now. It’s doing nothing to increase supply and is purely maintaining the high prices by allowing those who can’t afford the properties, to buy the properties! If nothing else, please at least cut the threshold for eligible purchases from £600,000 to £300,000.
6. Raise stamp duty, across all prices. Ouch. But use the tax to good effect on the building of affordable and local authority housing.
7. We already charge 15% stamp duty on Jonny Foreigners’ UK house purchases but let’s put it up to a level that really dissuades the influx of Chinese and Russian ill-gotten gain!
8. Yeah, OK, build more. But that ain’t going to impact anything, anytime soon. It’s what we do with our existing stock now, that matters.
9. When all else fails why not simply whack up interest rates? Oh, that’s why not, an imminent general election. Why didn’t you say in the first place you didn’t want anything to change. Doh, silly me!
10. Take ‘Homes Under The Hammer’, and ‘Move To The Country’ off the tele. Please. Pretty please. Non-negotiable. Now, we’re talking!
