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Oh Dear: First-time buyers on poverty 'knife-edge'

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    Oh Dear: First-time buyers on poverty 'knife-edge'

    Not really an "oh dear", more of a "hardly surprising". Still interesting to see yet another new definition of poverty, that of being unable to afford multiple pairs of shoes.

    Many would-be first-time homebuyers consider getting on the property ladder a passport to prosperity but, it seems, it can also be a financial millstone condemning some to poverty living.

    Runaway house price inflation has helped make many homeowners' fortune, as long as they have timed their house purchase and sales to make the most of the boom.

    But there is another side to the homeowners' tale and it is a million miles away from the sunny picture of instant profits painted by so many TV property programs.

    According to official government statistics nearly six out of 10 people defined as in poverty are homeowners. Many can't afford what many people consider to be essentials such as a second pair of shoes or keeping their home in proper decorative order.

    In this instance being in poverty is defined by social scientists and the government as earning below 60% of average incomes. [LB: Excellent, another tail chasing government measure]

    Read on: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4081596.stm

    Worth it just so can have a chuckle at the tear-jerking real life stories of fools who thought that buying a house would magically make you rich.
    I know this is a bit of a break from religious threads, but I'm getting a bit nostalgic for the property threads of old. Feel free to discuss, abuse Chico and/or Franco, poke holes in evolutionary theory, whatever...

    #2
    "Many would-be first-time homebuyers consider getting on the property ladder a passport to prosperity but, it seems, it can also be a financial millstone condemning some to poverty living."

    Oh well, if you consider the rental market of London, you have your ensured pension as long as you leave blighty and go to leave somewhere cheaper like Malta or Portugal where your London flat rent is a very decent salary. What other government can give you a pension after only 25 years of work?
    I've seen much of the rest of the world. It is brutal and cruel and dark, Rome is the light.

    Comment


      #3
      hello
      is someone hear me
      i am hostage for terrorists in iraq
      they look in my bottom
      allah akhbar

      Comment


        #4
        Lucifer: Is it not your work to define poverty as something that can never be irradicated?

        Or is that just the socialist way?

        Or is that but another name for the same thing: evil?
        Insanity: repeating the same actions, but expecting different results.
        threadeds website, and here's my blog.

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by threaded
          Lucifer: Is it not your work to define poverty as something that can never be irradicated?

          Or is that just the socialist way?

          Or is that but another name for the same thing: evil?
          Demarcation, eh?

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            #6
            Yeh gods! Property price threads! Sooner have CL's interminable religion threads anyday. Hey, I done jus seen what purgatory like! Sho nuff.
            bloggoth

            If everything isn't black and white, I say, 'Why the hell not?'
            John Wayne (My guru, not to be confused with my beloved prophet Jeremy Clarkson)

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by xoggoth
              Yeh gods! Property price threads! Sooner have CL's interminable religion threads anyday. Hey, I done jus seen what purgatory like! Sho nuff.
              Praise de Lawd, massa.

              Comment


                #8
                Hello

                Originally posted by xoggoth
                Yeh gods! Property price threads! Sooner have CL's interminable religion threads anyday. Hey, I done jus seen what purgatory like! Sho nuff.
                Hello Xog, how are you? you old w***er
                Let us not forget EU open doors immigration benefits IT contractors more than anyone

                Comment


                  #9
                  There was no help from the state
                  be better off had they not bought their homes and lived on benefits
                  to get the level of benefits that will enable us to survive.
                  and my employer did not provide any help with moving costs.
                  and was gutted at the lack of help I received after years of paying my taxes
                  it's the one illness your insurance doesn't cover
                  we'd be better off if we lived in council accommodation and on benefits
                  the benefits department suggested I sell up and rent instead!
                  Owning a house requires serious financial planning, including ensuring you are covered with the relevant insurances. If you can't afford them then you must take the risks.

                  When my father ran into difficulties, he sold the house and we rented. Yes it was a distruption to our lives but we carried on regardless. Then many years later when my father had saved enough money, he managed to buy again.

                  The impression you get from people nowadays is that they are desperate to own property as either "a right" or a belief that they will make money on the "guaranteed" equity. When unexpected things happen that they haven't insured/planned against, they immediately expect their employer or state to support them. The option of selling and renting doesn't even come into it. Financial planning... should be taught in schools. Yes, tulip happens, life's not fair etc etc by why bleat to the state all the time?
                  If you think my attitude stinks, you should smell my fingers.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by hyperD
                    life's not fair etc etc by why bleat to the state all the time?
                    Unfortunately, that is the inevitable consequence of this government's social policies, which are breeding a generation of people dependent on the state for virtually all of their needs. There are children growing up who know no other life beyond handouts from the state. This is hugely dangerous and will take a lot longer to correct than to institute.

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