Tag: Buy to Let

A Knight’s Tale (48: The Housing Market)

In those days I was able to buy our first house together for £5,000. It is not just inflation that has meant that the, albeit refurbished, house sold for £1,200,000 earlier this year.

In 1968, 76 Amity Grove was a small semi-detached three-bedroomed Victorian house with one bathroom and combined WC added through a door in the kitchen – an arrangement which would not be permitted today. The first of these images is from 2014 when it was sold for £745,000; the second from 2020 when it was again on the market to be sold in 2021 for the price mentioned above. The still extant picket fence is a rarity in this suburban street because perhaps two thirds of the front gardens have now been sacrificed to the ever advancing motor car.

When we were young it was only possible to obtain a mortgage on the basis of one salary. Once two salaries could be taken into account it became inevitable that prices would increase; and as a consequence, for ordinary people this meant two incomes were needed. This was one contributory factor in a radical change in family life during the 20th century. When two parents both worked child care was required to be found, and often funded from extra earnings.

We could only obtain such a loan for a house purchase if it was to be our permanent residence. Later in that century buyers were permitted to borrow such money under “Buy to Let”, which effectively meant that tenants were paying the buyer’s mortgage costs. My son, Michael, was a beneficiary of this system. This has pushed up the price of rentals and made most young people unable to save for a purchase deposit.

In the case of our first house, Estate Agents raised the social image by changing the name of this side of the railway line from Raynes Park to West Wimbledon – a much more salubrious address for the high fliers who could commute to London’s Waterloo in 18 minutes by train. The addition of a Waitrose helped promote the uplift.

When, in 2008, I was seeking rental accommodation in London after my return from Newark I discovered that the tenancy of 29a Stanton Road, the maisonette in which I had grown up, was on offer for £1,400 per month. I am not sure what my parents’ rent amounted to, but I don’t expect that in the 1950s it was much more that £1 per week.

Up For Auction

Yesterday’s mystery print was of a brass steam dome reflecting the rest of its engine.

This morning I watched part of my least favourite television programme. There I was, minding my own business upstairs while Jackie was watching one of her choices, ‘Homes Under The Hammer’, when she called me to come and watch it. Some of my American and continental correspondents have commented about how crazy are the real estate prices in UK. One of the reasons for their escalation is the ‘Buy to Let’ practice which enables people to buy homes specifically for the purpose of renting them out. After the exposure of Peter Rachman’s exploitation of tenants in the 1950s and ’60s, various rent acts have protected tenants, and for a time it was not possible to obtain a mortgage on a property bought for the purpose of letting it. Since the late 1990s, however, the practice has burgeoned.

‘Homes Under The Hammer’, follows the progress of largely neglected dwellings through the auction houses to their refurbishment or demolition and redevelopment of the site. The programme focusses solely on profit, bringing in local estate agents to weigh up the benefits for developers of resale as against rental. Some people, of course, make the improvements to turn dilapidated houses into family homes for themselves. That is a different matter.

‘You’ll never guess what’s in ‘Homes Under The Hammer’, Jackie cried. She was right. I didn’t. But as soon as she told me, I was down the stairs like a shot, pausing only to grab my camera from my desk.Homes Under the Hammer Derelict house 1Homes Under the Hammer Derelict house 2Homes Under the Hammer Derelict house 3

In several posts, including ‘Derelict’, during our time in Morden, I wrote about an uninhabited dwelling. This boarded up house suffered more and more graffiti and vandalism whilst we lived in Links Avenue. Today it featured in the programme, which, following the normal formula, began with the presenter investigating the property on offer.Homes Under the Hammer PresenterJPG

Normally, the young woman would have toured the inside of the building, but access was denied her by the measures taken to prevent people from sleeping, or worse, in there.Homes Under the Hammer AuctioneerHomes Under the Hammer Auction 1Homes Under the Hammer Auction 2

Viewers are the taken to the auction rooms to watch the sale, hyping up the escalating bids and pointing out by how much the guide price has been exceeded. The packed Savills venue demonstrates both the popularity of this method of sale, and the multi-cultural nature of this part of London.Homes Under the Hammer Buyers at auctionHomes Under the Hammer BuyersHomes Under the Hammer Buyers and presenter

At the end of the proceedings the camera focusses on the successful bidders who are then congratulated by the presenter who discusses their plans with them on site.

Homes Under the Hammer Plans

The original intention had been to demolish the wreck and replace it by four new attached buildings. After two unsuccessful applications to the Council’s Planning Department, the buyers settled for one larger, more luxurious, dwelling. Letting this out was not in their minds, as they intended to sell what they built.

Allowing a reasonable amount of time to elapse, the film crew return to see what has been achieved. In this case, after two unsuccessful applications to the Council’s Planning Department, who had paid attention to neighbours’ objections, the developers had settled for one larger, more luxurious, dwelling.Homes Under the Hammer Buyers outside newbuildHomes Under the Hammer NewbuildHomes Under the Hammer Buyer indiside newbuildHomes Under the Hammer Inside newbuild 1Homes Under the Hammer Inside newbuild2

Although not yet finished, it was now possible for the filming to take place inside.

This new build has been estimated by local estate agents on completion of the work to be valued at £800,000 – £850,000. I imagine, looking at what’s on offer, my readers from abroad may be rather shocked.

This evening Jackie produced a dinner of succulent Muscovy duck breasts roasted in redcurrant jelly, crisp roast potatoes, and crunchy carrots and cauliflower, with a tasty gravy. I began the excellent 2010 claret from Fortnum and Mason given to us in a hamper by Luci and Wolf for Christmas 2013.