Big J on radio 4..

[Chalgravesteve]

So, bigj, you reasonably expect people to pay your prices for your products/services and you cover your costs and make a profit. 

 

How does that differ from the house builder then ? 

[tree-fancier123]

7 minutes ago, AHPP said:

Building land is artificially inflated at the moment.

only in the same way that all assets are currently artificially inflated  - by the effects of quantitative easing and historically record low interest rates. The easiest way to crash house and land prices would be to put the base rate back to a more normal 5%

[Chalgravesteve]

And the problem with a decent %age of “affordable” housing is that it’s “afforded” through housing benefits! 

 

I dont have an answer to the problem but it can’t be s solution to give people free money to live in sn affordable house! 

[Chalgravesteve]

15 minutes ago, tree-fancier123 said:

only in the same way that all assets are currently artificially inflated  - by the effects of quantitative easing and historically record low interest rates. The easiest way to crash house and land prices would be to put the base rate back to a more normal 5%

Base rates won’t return to 5% in the next decade in my view. Rates have been so low for so long that the short term benefit gained when interest rates dropped for those that were borrowing, and that is a vast number of small businesses, has long since been absorbed by increases in other areas such as fuel etc. 

 

So the return to 5% interest base rates would crash the economy quicker than Brexit ever could.....

 

 

note: under no circumstances should thus become a Brexit thread, I’m considering deleting the above post because of that 

Edited August 31, 2019 by Chalgravesteve

[Big J]

31 minutes ago, Chalgravesteve said:

So, bigj, you reasonably expect people to pay your prices for your products/services and you cover your costs and make a profit. 

 

How does that differ from the house builder then ? 

My profit doesn't amount to 50% of turnover and I provide a quality product. UK housebuilders build shitty little rabbit hutches and charge as much as possible for them. This is because we can't be arsed getting involved in the construction of our own houses, with the self build rate being just 8%. It averages over 50% in Europe, with Austria seeing almost 90%.

 

We've a marvellously contradictory attiude towards new housing. Communities fight it (understandably so, because almost without exception, all new house builders build terrible houses to the absolute minimal standard regs will permit) but don't collaborate to instigate owner/occupier led self build projects. 

 

I'd be interested to hear people's thoughts on why the UK is so dependent on Developer housing, but my theory is that it has been culturally programmed into us since the start of the industrial revolution, when the industrialists provided wide scale housing for the workers. We've not traditionally built our own houses for 2 centuries, whereas the advent of the industrial revolution occured later in other European countries and not to the same extent. 

 

I really, really, really, really hate developer houses. They are simply appalling and we desperately (as a country) need to kick this industry into the long grass. This is going to take a substantial policy shift with planning though, as large developers are given preferential treatment.

Edited August 31, 2019 by Big J

[Stubby]

57 minutes ago, tree-fancier123 said:

If a gardener keeps their machinery in the garage do they have to apply for a change of use for their house from purely residential, as they are now operating a commercial enterprise from their driveway?

I don't know . That's why I was asking .

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

1 hour ago, Big J said:

Not at all. If we were to buy an existing house, not only would we have to settle for something that is likely to be of shoddy construction, but I'd be paying literally double the actual construction/complete project price. The only distinction is that someone in the planning office has decided to grant permission for a dwelling to be built, and as a result of this decision, the value suddenly increases by hundreds of thousands of pounds.

 

Given that the rules regarding planning consent are inconsistent, unfit for purpose, discriminatory and arduous, there is huge scope for reform.

 

An interesting point aside, but the Class Q exemption that allows a barn to be converted to a house I would wager has been exploited tens of thousands of times nationally. I wonder how many of those houses could be considered affordable? My point is that it's the most significant shift in rural planning in the last decade and it exclusively benefits those with much higher than average wealth. 

So far as I’m aware, stand to be corrected of course, there’s no link between Q and ‘affordable.’

 

There are other limitations associated with Q but not insurmountable. 

 

 

[aspenarb]

37 minutes ago, Big J said:

I'd be interested to hear people's thoughts on why the UK is so dependent on Developer housing, but my theory is that it has been culturally programmed into us since the start of the industrial revolution

Its been made very easy J. Most of the bigger developers will buy your old house, arrange a mortgage ,help with legals,stamp duty and the move. None of this is available from smaller builders or private sellers.

 

Bob

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

1 hour ago, Big J said:

But the increase in the perceived value of land is only serving to accentuate the wealth gap and inequality in the UK. Small holdings are a long standing tradition, and economically viable when correctly managed. For instance, if I planted 10 acres of hybrid poplar, I could realise an annual return of around £9k from thinning operations every 3 years. That is more profitable than many farms operating on the same area. There is also ample potential for income diversification, in terms of forest schools/nurseries, camp sites, glamping etc. 

It’s easy to over estimate the net return on those so called diversification opportunities J. 

 

For 1 - Everyman jack is doing it and supply is in danger of exceeding demand. 

 

For 2 - it’s easy to underestimate the Labour (and patience) intensity of these ventures. Customers are horrible, demanding, self opinionated twats and can very easily sap your will to live or sue the ass off you when THEY do something blatantly stupid. 

 

(Maybe it’s just me, I’d want no part of that scenario)

[Big J]

12 minutes ago, kevinjohnsonmbe said:

So far as I’m aware, stand to be corrected of course, there’s no link between Q and ‘affordable.’

 

There are other limitations associated with Q but not insurmountable. 

 

 

Which is unjustifiable, if you think about. It would mean that 100% of newly constructed rural housing is essentially luxury housing, with zero provision for the affordable sector. 

 

Just our lane has 2 Class Qs, with a third at the planning stage. That's out of about 12 houses.