There's nothing to stop any company implementing a fixed gap - ie a = b + £x (or even mixing a variety of scales). But that also has it's drawbacks doesn't it? As £x can become worth more or less (normally less) - ie £500 in 1950 isn't the same as £500 now. It wouldn't bother me either way as long as it was transparent - not just a case of '..oh, the boss got 10x the poorest paid...' and then omit to say that the boss also got a share option that gave him an extra £250k pa that was 'hidden'. It's ok in a small company to work with individuals, but it becomes impossible with 300,000 NHS nurses or whatever doesn't it to work increases on a per person basis? So which option do you use?
Property value isn't the rebuild value - the rebuild value is prone to different forces than current market value isn't it?
It would probably cost you somewhere between £2500 and £3000 per metre squared to build a house from scratch. So a typical 2 bed would cost about £200k. The volume house builders do it cheaper than that, the same house probably costs them about £150k or less if they are someone like Persimmon. But the big omission from that is the land price.
@WonkyWomble the averages don't tell you much about the day to day experience of any one person, but the errors remain fairly constant (e.g. London wages, London property prices) so although the numbers are distorted, everything is wrong all the time by a similar amount, so you can see a trend - and the trend is for the gap between wages and house prices to widen from about 3 to 1 back in the day to about 10 to 1 now. And you can also see 'out-liers'; in Cornwall, wages are lower than the UK average and house prices are higher. Logically that suggests there are some places in the UK where house prices are lower and wages higher. I'm guessing that where you live isn't one of them.
Sell it? I'm referring to the house we live in which is not a huge mansion, it's a 1930 semi. Where do we live if we sell the house?
I'm not making the argument, just explaining it. A 1930s semi is a nice family home; you could move to somewhere smaller and release some equity to pay for your care home costs. Or you could get an equity release mortgage and stay where you are. Either is basically selling your home to pay your own way, rather than expecting a 30-something with a young family to raise and no way to even dream of renting a 1930s semi, let alone owning one, to find money from their salary every month so you can sit in a house they can't aspire to live in.
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
So not far away and it confirms my thought as the build cost alone with two people at (£30k + £30k) x 3 pushes the limit. I dread to think what the costs will be at the end of this year, as building materials appear to have taken a bit of a hit.
One thing seems to be ignored in the argument that this system is making the young pay for the old. We old farts were once the young who are being made to pay for the old. I've paid NI for best part of 50 years thereby contributing to the needs of older people. If it served OK then why not now?
As for selling the house and downsizing - if I downsized it would be to a bungalow due to my chronic hip and knee problems and there would be little to no capital released by so doing. My neighbours looked at doing exactly that and said the cost of moving, plus the costs involved of getting the property as they would want it would eat up all the price difference.
If it’s implemented, and the tough find themselves paying for the old, they should remember that the whole point of it is to prevent their parents having to sell their offsprings’ entire inheritance to pay for care.
The money has to come from somewhere.
The triumph would be if the ones who don’t stand to inherit something didn’t have to pay for their parents’ care …
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
One thing seems to be ignored in the argument that this system is making the young pay for the old. We old farts were once the young who are being made to pay for the old. I've paid NI for best part of 50 years thereby contributing to the needs of older people. If it served OK then why not now?
numbers. (from the DWP website) Under five million pensioners claimed a state pension in 1952 compared to around 11.5 million today, with a further million living overseas. People live longer now, and often with more health problems as a result. And 'working age' used to be 16 to 64, but in reality that's no longer true, with 50% of school leavers going to university. The ones in the middle are fewer in number supporting bigger numbers both above and below them
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Since furlough many Londoners have sold up and moved to the country, sold a 1 bed flat and bought a huge country house. Pricing local people out of the area. Maybe London wages should only apply if you live there!
Since furlough many Londoners have sold up and moved to the country, sold a 1 bed flat and bought a huge country house. Pricing local people out of the area. Maybe London wages should only apply if you live there!
The whole notion of London wages has pushed up prices there for decades. If folk earn less / can afford less, then house prices / rents might not be rocketing the way they have for decades.
Posts
How will we know where to go to get ripped off for overpriced food?
@WonkyWomble the averages don't tell you much about the day to day experience of any one person, but the errors remain fairly constant (e.g. London wages, London property prices) so although the numbers are distorted, everything is wrong all the time by a similar amount, so you can see a trend - and the trend is for the gap between wages and house prices to widen from about 3 to 1 back in the day to about 10 to 1 now. And you can also see 'out-liers'; in Cornwall, wages are lower than the UK average and house prices are higher. Logically that suggests there are some places in the UK where house prices are lower and wages higher. I'm guessing that where you live isn't one of them.
I'm not making the argument, just explaining it. A 1930s semi is a nice family home; you could move to somewhere smaller and release some equity to pay for your care home costs. Or you could get an equity release mortgage and stay where you are. Either is basically selling your home to pay your own way, rather than expecting a 30-something with a young family to raise and no way to even dream of renting a 1930s semi, let alone owning one, to find money from their salary every month so you can sit in a house they can't aspire to live in.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
'...What are the typical build costs for a self-build project?
To give you an idea of what your project might cost, here are some price ranges:
These costs are for typical builds and can fall outside these ranges if you choose an unusual design....'
Edited to add - and this is not an advert - just saying where the above came from: https://extensionarchitecture.co.uk/new-builds/ideas/how-much-does-it-cost-to-build-a-house-in-the-uk-in-2020/
So not far away and it confirms my thought as the build cost alone with two people at (£30k + £30k) x 3 pushes the limit. I dread to think what the costs will be at the end of this year, as building materials appear to have taken a bit of a hit.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
(from the DWP website) Under five million pensioners claimed a state pension in 1952 compared to around 11.5 million today, with a further million living overseas.
People live longer now, and often with more health problems as a result. And 'working age' used to be 16 to 64, but in reality that's no longer true, with 50% of school leavers going to university. The ones in the middle are fewer in number supporting bigger numbers both above and below them
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
If folk earn less / can afford less, then house prices / rents might not be rocketing the way they have for decades.