Well he wasn’t going to run/feed them of the back of me !

Did you tip him a drink for all his hard work.

Yes I said have a drink on me and give him a teabag.

Nice one.

Good to have you back Neil.

Last time I looked the Tories were still in power and I don’t think Boris is done just yet.

And from me.

Just passing through.

Looks like the combined wisdom was correct.

I’ve had mortgages since the age of twenty, I’d have killed for the zero interest rate since 2008 …. I suspect some thought the interest rates would never go up so in the world we live in some spend up to their eyes with no slack for negative eventualities .
I’m just amazed at the so called ‘experts’ wailing about interest rate increases, they seem pretty tame for some I experienced, when we dropped out of the ERM in the early 90’s they went vertical overnight…..no cavalry came over the hill to help then.

I remember 15% mortgages, not sure if MIRAS was already in place or if it was brought in as a response.
Can't remember for sure who abolished it but it might have been Thatcher.
The thing is right now everything is going up so fast too, apart from wages.
Those in power are pretty much immune as fuel bills are paid, expenses paid for almost everything, and even subsidised scran and booze in Houses of Parliament.
It must be tougher now for younger families than at any time since the last war.

One problem now is everyone wants everything now……from houses to cars.
No one works up anymore.

Well yes but house prices have gone up massively more than wages have since then. Its not the fault of those wanting to buy a house for their family to live in.

On the other hand, I see a lot of decadence in society. Many things have crept out of the realm of luxury into a realm of near expectation/routine necessity. There are lots of nice shiny cars on the roads and I'm hearing the airports are getting busy. There's money being spent that instead could be saved.

Back in the day remortgaging loans were for doing up the house..Nowadays, half is for the house and the rest is for a new car,i phone,botox,turkey teeth,hair extensions and a exotic holiday ..

First mortgage and subsequent mortgages were on the basis my mortgage was 25% of my monthly income or forget it ….so it’s all relative despite what appear to be high prices nowadays seemed the same to us then. We couldn’t afford a car till we turned 30, but oddly enough we managed.
In those days mortgages were not easy to come by at times….my biggest dread was to come in and see the wife had been around the estate agents and you just knew it wasn’t going to end well. Seven houses later I told her this was the final one in 1996 and so it was ..thank F@#k.

My first end terrace house (1974) in Buntingford (Hertfordshire) bought with £8k mortgage through local Council. 3 subsequent moves all through Company promotions entailed a move to Norfolk, then back again to Hertfordshire and finally in 1991 to Staffordshire.
This last move I bought a show house without the wife even seeing it. I had a Company bridging loan and literally bought the house after viewing it, there and then.
It now is hard for the younger ones to get on the property ladder with my youngest son, 34, and his wife still living at home with Mum & Dad. My other 3 children rent the properties they live in so I think they are all waiting for Mum & Dad to pop their clogs and get a nice inheritance.

first bought my noose around my neck in 1973. one of a number of new properties about, new and detached. it was easy to buy once you did the hardest thing just securing a mortgage on it. borrowd up to double my yearly wage. just sold a lagonda car for the deposit and replaced it with a vauxhall pa cresta. should have binned the house and kept the car.

Similar I had Capri, replaced with a Mk 3 Cortina which refused to start in the cold weather, it was automatic so you couldn’t push start it, albeit the house a new one doubled in value in a few years. Best piece of advice the manger in the building society said always try and buy new property as they increase more in value than old properties.
Over the years he proved that theory correct, I had an older property later on which was a drain on my pocket.

Third property we bought, much against my better judgement and reluctance to leave the Fens was an older house…we moved in the Friday and was away on the Sunday…arrived back a fortnight later from the delights of Luton, went to the toilet, pulled the chain and the high level cast iron cistern committed suicide, fell on the toilet and smashed it to pieces….and it got worse a complete and utter money pit.

My ex always wanted an older property, I give in eventually, from the day we moved in it was spend spend, every thing was rotten, new kitchen, bathroom, windows, doors culminating in woodworm. We traded it in for a new house years later, we received a decent price albeit over the top price was built into the cost of the new house. Like buying a car, they give you a decent trade in but increase the new/used car price accordingly.

Don't go for a new build though. Many many horror stories of awful horrendous build quality, snags galore, small gardens, thin walls and floors, zero character, spiralling estate fees. Plus if you buy off plan, your mortgage offer can expire when construction goes loads slower than they promised and your new offer is on a much higher rate. New builds are dearer too as its all brand new and shiney.

New houses are built to a higher spec, great insulation, the walls are standard cavity with insulation, internally the walls are thin but why build internal brick walls ? Spiralling estate fees, what fees are those, I have bought 3 new houses never had a problem, all shiney and brand new, yes you select what you want during the fitting out. Buy an old house and you are buying other people’s problems, the first thing you do is rip it to bits and fit out to your taste, having bought old and new I know what I prefer plus new houses in general increase in value than older houses.

I think you need to visit a few owners social.media sites. The nightmare stories are numerous. Mine included.

I agree with you 100% Mr Imp.
The house we live in now was built in 1948…. Unlike the rabbit hutches of today it’s got generous gardens and is top spec….even the internal doors are hardwood as opposed to a papier-mâché pressing churned out today, all internal walls are brick, even the upstairs walls and even the copper pipe work was retained in place when we did the inevitable modifications all houses receive because the quality was so much better then present day wafer thin copper piping they churn out.
When I see present day estates getting constructed with the wooden structure exposed the elements for far too long in my opinion I cringe, the decorative brick shell a joke.
I’ll stick with my ‘old’ house despite experience with neglected old houses as at least they’re basically just that strong.

old, new and inbetween they will all cost you money and time in the end that could have spent on enjoying yourselves. some will not agree but moving over to the rented section in the late 80,s certainly gave me more spare cash to spend. any problems you just got on the phone and the job was fixed in the same day if it was serious and quick as possible if not. rent is called dead money but so is mortgage repayments if you snuff it before its paid off and those who are left cannot afford the repayments.

Snowy the young uns don’t want gardens, I wish I had a pound for people asking on Bishop Cuthbert for people to do their gardens or turn it into a non maintenance area with decking, paving etc.
The standard house is still bricks and mortar, designers realise that all the timber they used before is not required on the roof area either, never seen a new house fall down over the years.
They don’t use copper piping now it’s all plastic which is just as durable and contains the heat better than copper, it doesn’t oxidise either.

They still want outside space, whether they put plastic grass or real grass in it. There is still a desire for BBQs and trampolines and kickabouts. Good luck with that with the postage stamp courtyards you get with many new builds.

The previous house I was in was 12 years old. The plastic pipe connects were causing all sorts of issues.

The show house I bought in 1991 has carpet on the garage floor along with plaster board walls as this was the sales office.
The house was carpeted throughout and much of it is still in use, it was really a top quality finish on everything, with internal fittings, like lighting. curtains etc.
The garden had been landscaped with 2 apple and 1 pear tree in the rear with many plants around the borders of the large grassed garden.
So new build I was very happy with, and still are and this small estate, in a cul de sac is so very quiet and we have found in all these 32 years there have not been many house sales, people being very content to stay.

It is very nice to be settled and content. The house we live in is the longest we've stayed in any home and we would take some shifting, although I do hanker after the sea.

Most young people don’t want gardens they don’t get a choice, they get a postage stamp size patch, that way the developers a can get more matchboxes on their site ..Kerching ££££££££££££.
As for copper pipes, They…don’t use it, I do, spent most of my life with the bloody stuff.
As for the gardens themselves… they don’t do it because there’s room for a conservatory and trampoline and that’s it full up.

Everyone started jumping on the plastic pipe bandwagon because it was push fit, no soldering or compression fittings, so saves time (in theory) but the weak point is the long term durability of the push fit connections and the heating and cooling effect of the water on the structure of the plastic …copper is a known quantity, I like known quantities.

Say I sell my house before its paid off or I kick the bucket and I've only paid half, at least I'll own half a house and theres half the money in it. If I rented for the same period I would own ZERO house but will have bought half a house for someone else. Repairs though..... can't argue with that.

do think most people want some outside space but not the size of some pre war houses where a garden took a bigger space up than the house did. gardens that size are a burden for many and is not a good selling point for the house as it used to be. given the choice of a big garden front and back or no garden at all its the latter everyday i,d jump for and its not age either.