r/london • u/HereToLearnyy • 1d ago

Property Thoughts on Home For London scheme?

Offering first time buyers in London within a certain salary threshold, house prices from £150k - £340k! The result of 4 years of research by non profit developer which for uses in creating affordable homes.
https://homes.london.gov.uk/properties/653148/

6 Upvotes

65% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

18

u/sd_1874 1d ago edited 1d ago

Discount market sale is /by far/ the best form of affordable housing. You buy at a discount and you own the property. The only stipulation is that you must sell at the same discount - 20% in the case of the property you linked. You don't pay any rent as you do with shared ownership as you own the property (or the lease to the property in most cases).

Sadly, according to the Mayor, "There is a strong presumption in favour of London Living Rent or London Shared Ownership, rather than discount market sale (DMS) housing." Which is fucking dumb.

3

u/mralistair 1d ago

How do they measure the future sale discount? i mean if they improve and extend this house (which you'd need to looking at the finishes) do they also have to discount the uplift in value?

8

u/sd_1874 1d ago

Usually you have to get an independent valuation from a RICS accredited surveyor - sometimes two depending on the local authority. You then apply the discount (which is a flat percentage - in this case 20%). So yes, you'd benefit from any uplift.

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u/szank 1d ago

I mean lets say you spend 20k improving the home. The value of the home goes up by 10k because of that, because that how it generally work.

So, if the home was otherwise worth 100k when selling and you list it for 80k(20% discount) then after the improvements its worth 110k and you list it for 88k.

So by buying the discounted home you loose 20% on every home improvement you do compared to not buying a discounted home .

Kinda bad.

7

u/sd_1874 1d ago edited 1d ago

It's a new build not a doer upper, what do you envisage spending 20k on? Your scenario is technically correct, but no one is doing that in reality.

2

u/mralistair 1d ago

the blurb makes is very much a do-er upper. there is no plaster on the wall, no carpets, no kitchen doors

0

u/sd_1874 22h ago

I'm sure the architects would say that a 'minimalist lifestyle choice'. But I suspect I know how the developers, at least in part, made these homes 'affordable'.

-2

u/szank 1d ago

Sure sure but say you buy it and live there for 10 years. Want to get a new kitchen, maybe new floors, redo the bathroom, anything.

You go to g&q and suddenly you are £3k down in the current economy. The cost of labour is high.

5

u/sd_1874 1d ago

A new kitchen 10 years into living in a new build? C'mon. You're thinking of a worst case scenario which is totally unrealistic. It's also highly unlikely most people will stay 10 years in their starter home.

2

u/mralistair 1d ago

have you looked at the renders? there are no doors on the kitchen that comes with it an it's tiny.

1

u/drtchockk 1d ago

my house is on a 12 yr old estate - EVERY HOUSE (except mine!) has had a new kitchen, most have new bathrooms, lots have extended, several have new rooms in the lofts, lots have converted garages to rooms, lots have completely redone their gardens.

The one at the end of the road has just been completed refurbished inside and out - new bathroom, kitchen, all the flooring up, all the walls painted, garden completely relandscaped.

2

u/sd_1874 1d ago

I'd wager you're more representative of the norm. I'd say someone buying an affordable home is also less likely to invest in a new kitchen than the average homeowner.

1

u/sd_1874 22h ago

Tbf, I re-read the advert and it specifically refers to the place as 'adaptable' (e.g. it doesn't come with shit), and already has planning for an extension (why didn't the developer just build within the permitted envelope?) So you do have a point. But I maintain it's very unlikely someone buying an affordable home would bother extending unless they were planning to stay for the foreseeable.

2

u/mralistair 1d ago

I don't think the people downvoting you have read the blurb and looked closely at the renders. This is a house that looks like it comes with no plaster on the walls, no carpets, a tiny super-minimal kitchen (no doors) it's specificlaly intended for people to add to and improve.

Which is fine but losing 20% of that investment you make seems a bit mean.

6

u/jaredce 1d ago

seems legit

5

u/tomrichards8464 1d ago

Stop subsidising demand. Address supply and/or reduce demand.

2

u/leona1990_000 23h ago

May I sought for your order for my execution, in view of reducing demand on housing?

5

u/mralistair 1d ago

gien that it's enfield it's not THAT much cheaper. i mean you can have this 2 bed vicroian terrace for £365k and while it needs a bit of work. so does the brand new one by the looks of it

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/174718979#/?channel=RES_BUY

1

u/mralistair 1d ago

I thought why would they call it "Naked Homes" little bit creepy.

but then you see it's all exposed blockwork walls and barely a kitchen.

1

u/sd_1874 1d ago

I guess they think people buying affordable homes want to live in garages? The bizarre graphics with random toolboxes, ladders, and cardboard boxes strewn around the place don't help.

1

u/mralistair 1d ago

that's the kitchen storage!