New stamp duty rules Post Reply

[london_maman]

Mansion tax was also discussed by some ..
Anyway , just found out I'm rich according to maman
So I'm going home to my typical mid terraces Victorian house to celebrate

Different worlds... What can I say?

[TFP]

Mansion tax was also discussed by some ..
Anyway , just found out I'm rich according to maman
So I'm going home to my typical mid terraces Victorian house to celebrate

yeah, it depends.

if you own a £1.5m house outright then by any sensible metric you are exceptionally well off. £1.5m is about sixty times the national average wage of c. £25k.

if you 'own' a £1.5m house thanks to a £1m+ mortgage then i would put you as a very high earner who is by no means 'rich'.

[doubledaddy]

Here's something to cheer everyone up.......not.

http://news.sky.com/video/1385170/balls ... stamp-duty

I'm also wondering if this will lead to fewer house purchases/sales and more properties for rent, making it easier for renters to get within catchment areas (either for first children or siblings).

[london_maman]

You can't buy much in London for £500k anymore even
And as for wages
Londoners do earn more than the national average
What is regarded as a relatively basic salary is still top 10 %
Many who work in the city are basically top 2-5%

You can't buy for 500K anymore, that means loads of people can't even afford a tiny flat for their family in London and have no choice but renting. A basic salary, even if is top 10% won't buy you a house, or a flat. You have a house in London, yes you are rich.

[nuttymummy]

I do think this works better than a mansion tax as I cannot see a workable system for valuation in that scenario....the majority of houses in a particular street may be worth 2mil but if one has wet rot, dry rot, subsidence, needs a new roof, full re plumb & wire etc how are they going to take that into account? - it's not possible to value each individually and furthermore as we all know "a house is only worth what someone will pay for it"!
On the 'rich?' debate that has also been running through this thread.....Anyone remember a certain thread from a few years ago entitled something along the lines of "is it possible to survive on a salary of 100k in south west London"? Basically it started trending on twitter as the general public couldn't fathom some of the posts made. Annabel eventually locked and deleted the entire thread before it became a 'can you believe these ignorant wealthy whingers media story....let's not do the same here. Unless you have been extremely sheltered & privileged everyone must realise that to be in a position to pay £925k+ for a property puts us into the top few % in terms of wealth in the country? I do appreciate that it is 'relative' and being surrounded by as many 'super wealthy' as there are in London can sometimes blur it a little but the majority of the rest of the country would consider anyone able to afford this as really pretty rich irrespective of deposit/mortgage ratio.

[soph]

Great response nutty mummy!

[realworld]

Well said nuttymummy.

And London_maman, you are absolutely right in everything you said. I think Petal you are living in cloud cuckoo land.

I consider myself lucky to be able to afford a rental 2 bed flat in Clapham. However, i earn 60k a year. Well above the national average salary and i therefore consider myself to be doing pretty well. However even with a healthy deposit, i can't get on the property ladder in this area; even combining my salary with my partner's.

A 2 bed flat costs in excess of 700k around here so yes, moaning about stamp duty on £1m plus properties!! Come on... Get real!! What a lovely problem to have. Count yourself lucky you are able to own (mortage or no mortgage) in this part of London. Most would consider to be able to do so is only possible if you are rich. Ok not Russian billionaire rich but rich enough to buy a house that most in the uk would never have the chance to even dream about. Look even of you are unhappy Petal with paying so much for just a mid terrace house. It doesnt matter even if it was just a garage. The fact it costs what you suggest its worth means you are rich in world terms and in uk terms, and probably pretty well off in London terms!

[Seriously?]

There are a lot of valid points raised here, but I do not think you can call anyone buying a million pound plus house rich. You are probably not looking at first time buyers for a start, but people who have been on the housing ladder for a while and working hard at building up their equity position. They probably started in a modest flat and then worked up from there. Of course there are people who start at that level because they have the means, but I would think a large chunk of nappy valley wouldn't be in that situation.

I own a £MM+ house, and while we have good jobs and decent pay, we are hardly swimming in money. We also lived in a studio flat for 2 years to furiously save a good deposit to buy our first house, so I don't have a lot of sympathy for first home buyers who are complaining they can't get on the ladder. Suck it up and save hard, it's the only way if your parents can't help you.

[london_maman]

hahahhaha you guys live in another world!
"All of nappy valley is then rich" ... Errrr yeah!!
Rolling in cash is that the definition of rich for you?
I called another poster rich? Sorry for the insult!! Tough to hear indeed!
Ask the whole British population if they THINK you are rich when owning a £1M house and I am pretty sure the answer will be yes for 99% of them!
I think only people living in Chelsea/Kensignton and in Hampstead think Clapham/Battersea people aren't rich!

[BTCdad]

According to the GLA figures published this year Northcote Ward has the 10th highest mean household income in the whole of London (£86K per household). Compared to most of inner London there is little wealth diversity. While I can understand that people might not see themselves as 'rolling in money', there is no disputing that we live in a very wealthy area.

[london_maman]

And seriously? All I can say is that your last paragraph is just vulgar.

[Seriously?]

What piffle L-maman. You should try harder to understand the facts rather than make sweeping statements based on your own ill informed opinions.

[kiwimummy]

This post is the gift that keeps on giving!

Yes, it's was done with built up equity and moving up the ladder.
Getting a mortgage to buy a 1.7m house today is very difficult indeed.

Oh, the AGONY. The INHUMANITY.

[realworld]

hahaha...brilliant..well said Kiwimummy

And BTCDad...thank you for providing some of the evidence. We do live in a wealthy area.

Now I must find time to discuss with the mortgage advisor about my heartache and how unjust it is that we just cannot get a mortgage for that £1.7m house I've got my eye on

[livegreen]

Have those complaining ever thought to stop how much money their house has earned for them in the last 5-10 years?
Petal? Julien? £500,000 tax free? What did you do for this windfall? What contribution to society did u make for your windfall compared to others, like nurses, teachers who cannot afford to buy? When do you think you should pay your tax in this 500k windfall ? Never?
The wealthy never pay their fair share of taxes under any government, hence the inequality and sense of entitlement we see everyday.