Last week, I went up to Lancashire/Manchester to see my grandson’s brand new house that he and his partner have bought. It is a three bedroomed good sized house with an en suite and bathroom upstairs. Downstairs was spacious too and a detached garage. It cost only £173,000!
I live in the Midlands and a similar house here, would be nearer to £400,000.
I love fish and chips and champagne. A piece of Cod from the chippy down here is now £7 plus. Up there it’s just £4 and it was delicious. (The champagne isn’t cheaper though!)
My youngest daughter is buying a house in London for nearly £500,000 and that’s cheap for London
I don’t think it’s fair how prices vary from one area to another. Shouldn’t they be the same across the board?
With these varying prices, is this what they mean by the ‘big divide’?
The price of things has to be competitive Arty. Property prices and fish and chips are two completely different things. Property prices reflect the number of people wanting to live there, i.e. perhaps work is a consideration, or a desirable place or neighbourhood to live. London properties have mostly been bought up by the rich and price the ordinary John or Julie out of the market. As for other consumables, cheap will always attract business. You only have to look at the growth of supermarkets and charity shops. Even supermarkets are being priced out by the likes of Lidl and Aldi because they do things differently and can afford to cut prices.
As money and wealth diminishes people will be less fussy about where they shop and look for the cheapest. High end clothes shops are taking a hit in favour of primark and Matalan, especially round here.
Charity shops aren’t really charity shops anymore. They are big business.
Once they put proper cash tills with receipts in the shops, they became proper businesses. Before, it was someone putting the money in a drawer.
Surely, builders pay the same price nationwide for their building materials, yet the prices of property vary from area to area. Why should it be based on location, location?
I am noticing, less people are shopping in the supermarkets. There seems to be more yellow labels than ever before because they can’t shift the stuff.
On Saturday l was in M&S in the town. I wanted milk (4 pints) it was £1.30. I thought, l would leave it and get it in Tesco up the road. I couldn’t believe at £1.45 for 4 pints, Tesco would be more expensive than M&S.
Building materials can sometimes be cheaper up noth .
My son bought a door from up north it was cheaper than an identical model locally and included delivery .
I suppose it’s inevitable that property in desireable areas will cost more than properties in areas where you have to keep your door locked all day, and its not safe to venture out after dusk.
Also it depends on what ‘conveniences’ are available, too. Someone who works in the City would want to live near a convenient railway connection no doubt, while some wants shops, schools, or night life on tap.
Others (like me) could happily bury themself in a quiet rural place in the middle of a field! So my place would probably be cheaper than somewhere with all the mod cons laid on.
In my road here, prices are all very different, but some have loft conversions, or big extensions added at the back, or nice spacious conservatories. We can’t see these additions from just driving past, so might wonder why two houses right next to each other vary in price so much.
Then there’s the decor itself. This makes a difference too, let alone the size of the gardens.
What bugs me more, is why petrol prices vary so much at flippin’ garages all in the same area!
I guess it’s just that everything is worth what people are prepared to pay for it
Less work in the north, maybe, and lower wages?
So people prepared to pay more for a home somewhere they can get a better paid job, to afford to pay for it. And that creates competition for houses in those areas and pushes the prices up?
Same with fish and chips. If it’s out of peoples price range, they won’t buy it, so that controls what they charge. In areas where people have more disposable income, they can put the prices up and people will still buy
There are hundreds of developments in progress throughout the borough and thousands throughout the county. Objections went in and got lost or chewed up by the system. Some of the most beautiful (and ancient) villages, including ours, now have acres of appalling new-builds on their outskirts …
erhm I think it’s called capitalism when you live in the capital or near you pay capital prices when you live in the hinterland they don;t give you a hint into the total bill is counted?
Interesting. My son’s house in London and, of course, it is expensive there but it is where his job is. My sister is in around Harrow to not quite as expensive. My younger daughter loves in Nottingham so cheaper. And my older daughter is in Cumbia so less expensive again.
By way of contrast my dear wife has a property with several acres in GA and the land tax is peanuts.
House prices are set according to supply and demand - what people are willing to pay.
I think you’ll find that not all houses “up North” are cheap - I live in the North East (in North Yorkshire) and my fella lives in the North West (Lancashire) - houses in my area cost more than twice as much as comparable properties in his area.
You have to consider all the things that drive the property prices - employment opportunities and average wages in an area, whether the area appeals to the wealthy retired sector, the high earners and people with plenty of money - these will all drive the prices up in desirable areas.
I have also noticed the cost of many products are cheaper in the shops in his area of the North West than they are in my North Yorkshire town - market forces affect local prices.
Not quite. Capital is uncommitted wealth that is made available as a loan to a third party who pays for having access to that wealth. In the case of a country it’s the town or city that is the seat of government.
Market forces are one of the contributing factors. In Oxford, when you apply for lottery grants you get turned down because it is assumed to be an affluent area. This is not true, my partner used to manage a playgroup for under-privileged families. Getting a grant from private companies was out of the question. Oxfordshire County Council social services were a Godsend, and were a great support financially and physically. Prices in cafes are extortionate. I pay £7.50 for an all-day breakfast, but on holiday in the East Midlands I am charged £3.50. Both from similar local establishments.
