House prices in your area

Our house is up for £145,000 and we have accepted an offer for £142,500 however since we are in a chain we are waiting for the folks who offered to sell THEIR house. We're still acceping viewers hoping to get an offer from someone in a better postion to buy. Last week we were offered £135,000 from a first time buyer which I have to admit sounded quite sweet simply because there wouldnt be a chain involved but £10,000 under the asking price is just not enough. I HATE being in a chain!! How does anyone in this country move? In the meantime we put in two offers for houses we liked and both offers were declined. So we're still looking.
We noticed two days ago the house across the street from us was for sale. Just a normal 3 bed, semi. They're asking £189,000!!!! They have a prayer in hell!! 

oh, now you get to go through the fun part 

oh, now you get to go through the fun part 

I know! My friend told me she actually moved out of her house and rented for a few months just to get out of the chain. I don't reckon we'll be going anywhere too soon. 

all the more power to ya pebbles... i've purchased one home here and as a first time buyer... there was no chain.  and it was still stressful & too long for my taste.

i have vowed that next time i move, i will first move to rented and then start looking.  i think i'd rather live with my in-laws than sell/buy in a chain!

I know! My friend told me she actually moved out of her house and rented for a few months just to get out of the chain. I don't reckon we'll be going anywhere too soon. 

fortunately we had DH's parents to stay with for the month between leaving the flat & finally moving into the house. totally missed getting to see them every day when we did move, though.

chains blow goats.

A more likely restrictor to the housing market heat is the next 2 maybe 3 interest rate rises !  lets see what happens there!

Dennis, you may be right about the rate rises, however, I recently read somewhere that rates would have to be around 8.5% to really restrict house price growth.  At the current 1/4 rise regime that is unlikely to happen anytime soon!

I was thinking in relation to stamp duty, why isn't it progressive like income tax?  The 1% rate could be on anything from £120K to £250K, then the 3% rate kicks in above £250K and the 4% rate above £500K.  This would be beneficial to all home buyers, first time or not.  The gov't would lose some money but they've gained such huge amounts over the past few years from so many houses hitting the 3% mark that it shouldn't be too bad of a hit.

This would result in a £300K house being taxed £2800 instead of the whopping £9000 currently imposed.  It's a real cheek that the gov't charges so much especially as they get that everytime each houses changes owner!

chains blow goats.

i'm gonna try my hardest to use this phrase in a sentence today.

i'm gonna try my hardest to use this phrase in a sentence today.

excellent. i shall be honoured.

and somewhere, a goat-blowing faery will get its wings. 

and somewhere, a goat-blowing faery will get its wings. 

I think quite a few farmers' ears perked up at that thought  ("I didn't know we could get wings for that!" says the first farmer, to which the second farmer replies, "I didn't know that's what you called us!")

I was thinking in relation to stamp duty, why isn't it progressive like income tax?  The 1% rate could be on anything from £120K to £250K, then the 3% rate kicks in above £250K and the 4% rate above £500K.

Matt, unless I'm missing something here, this is exactly what happens currently!

Any property with a value upto £60,000 there is NO stamp duty. If the value falls between £60,000 to £250,000 Stamp duty is 1%. From £250K to £500K stamp duty is 3% and anything over £500K is 4%.

The only difference with that and your figures is that you've put the lowest figure as being £120K before stamp duty gets charged, this wouldn't happen as there are many many properties that are valued at less than £120K all over the country, the government is about to let that revenue disappear!

However, with the rabid price rises, many homes which are 'typically' in the 1% bracket now find themselves pushed over the £250K threashold (ours included) so a shift of that figure is something that could be done say up to £275K or maybe even £300K.

Some more bits of info

The HIPs thingy - it may well be that the HIP introduction will cause prices of houses to rise even higher! potential sellers may be put off selling their place (as they like to test the water first by seeing how much nearby properties sold for) and as such will not put their house/property up for sale - this will reduce the supply of properties which as we know, will push up prices of what is available.

Next week - Be prepared for a 0.5 % increase in interest rates!!!!  - there's talk of a bigger than anticipated half a percent increase in interest rates next week when the MPC (Monetary Policy Committee) sit down to discuss interest rates!

You heard it here first! 

Cheers! DtM! West London & Slough UK!

The only difference with that and your figures is that you've put the lowest figure as being £120K before stamp duty gets charged, this wouldn't happen as there are many many properties that are valued at less than £120K all over the country, the government is about to let that revenue disappear!

I'm 99% sure £120k is the threshold for 1% stamp duty.

I think it's 120-250 1%, 250-500 3%, and above 500 4%.

Hiya Lola,

I did a quick search through some of my faves and found this

http://www.1stop-finance.co.uk/glossary/stamp_duty.html

it may well be out of date - so later on I'll look for somethign which is time/date stamped !

Cheers! DtM! West London UK!

Looks like it doubled from 60k to 120k back in 2005:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4353609.stm

Dennis, Gordon Brown raised the stamp duty threshold to £120K in the 2005/06 budget, anyting under £120K is no longer liable to stamp duty.

I think you misunderstand my point about progressive taxation.  With income tax, you have your initial £5K+ tax free, then 10% tax on the next portion, 22% on the next portion and 40% on the next portion (I can't remember the threshold amounts although I think the 40% rate starts at around £38K).  So if you made £45K/year, for example, you would not be charged 40% on the entire £45K.

But with stamp duty, which is not a truely progressive tax in that sense you are charged 4% of the entire house price if you bought a house for £550K.  Same goes for £250-£500K where you pay 3% on the ENTIRE house price.

Don't you think this is outrageous?  My point is, why not pay 1% of the £120K-250K range or £2500.  Then pay 3% of the £250K-500K or £7500.  And, in my example, pay 4% above £500K or £2000.  In the true progressive tax method, the £550K house would be taxed £12,000.  But with the current stamp duty setup, the buyer pays £22,000!  £10,000 extra, and every person who buys that place in future will have to pay this amount - talk about an absolute goldmine for the Treasury.

Gotchya Matt,

Whilst in essence what you say is correct, I'm afraid it's the usual answer for now...

You think any government do what's better for it's citizens over the fact it'll lose ALOT of revenue first?!  - ok slightly over dramatic, but hey, that's essentially what will happen!

It boils down to the fact that government, any government is 'clever' - they'll generate revenue anywhere they can for which they can get away with and push the 'tax payers' up to what they are willing to pay.

This really is what happens across the board - and is especially visible on the goods and services we buy everyday.

I've said it before, the 'real' reason everything is expensive here, is becuase the Average Consumer is Willing to pay that much.

The government is doing the same, they're raising revenue to get the maximum amount out without being seen as being completely unfair. The overriding fact the vast majority of UK citizens want to buy a property and will do so (currently) almost disregarding it's associated costs, means the government can rub it's hands in glee with the prospect of money coming in so easily.

When the 'majority' of potential purchasers dont buy, and that revenue stream starts to dry up, then the government will 'do something' to a) entice them back or b) increase taxes costs elsewhere to compensate.

much more to it all than just this of course, but you get what I'm mentioning here!

Cheers! DtM! West London & Slough UK!

Anyone know anything about Houses365? Is it a con or a good thing?