Buying a House in Brighton - Possible/Sensible?

[Herr Tubthumper]

Mental isn't it. I bought my first flat, a 2 bed, in Queens Park Road in about 1992 for £36K. When I sold it in 2001 to move in with my other half, I got £120K for it, and when we moved last year I happened to notice it was on the market again at £220K !!

Very nearly £200K increase in 11 years

Unless you have multiple properties this is of no real benefit to anyone. Why do we allow it to happen?

 

[maltaseagull]

Some lenders will do 4.5 x joint incomes at 90%. It is down to affordability and dependents and credit commitments. All I can say to people who want to buy or re mortgage is do not have any children ! PM for help

Is that for advice on contraception?

 

[beorhthelm]

Not strictly true. A few years ago my brother and I had a property development business. We'd done quite a few successfully properties and so had backing from our bank with a substantial credit line.

due respect, the small private developer is not going to solve this. we need to effectivly double the rate of house building, and that means large scale development. it means govenment led new towns and existing towns and villages having 10-20% increases in size - with associated infrastructure. but the locals never allow it, they dont want development on their doorstep and dont want local house prices to drop or even stall. even if that helps their own children. its very, very odd. the planning system, council regulations and taxation of new builds needs tossing out and start again from scratch. its bizarre that we hear today about subsidising property purchase (again) from the Tory's with no word on how to address the supply side of the market.

 

[jimbob5]

Really new to this subject and have been looking at houses and prices around Brighton for the past few months.

With house prices so high in the area, is there much sense in a younger person/couple looking to buy in Brighton?

House prices in the areas we are looking at are approx £250,000 - £275,000.
We are a couple on approx £40,000 - £45,000 (combined) so we have no idea if we're financially ready/able to buy.

Her family are based in Gloucestershire, mine in Brighton.
We can get the same sized property up there for approx £175,000 but obviously the work (£££) is all down here.

What's best?

Clarify by what you mean by what's best? Are you saying best area? Whether you should wait? Get a smaller place? Place to do up? Rent?

 

[jimbob5]

Unless you have multiple properties this is of no real benefit to anyone. Why do we allow it to happen?

Not so much 'allow' it to happen but contrive for it to happen!

 

[jimbob5]

Mental isn't it. I bought my first flat, a 2 bed, in Queens Park Road in about 1992 for £36K. When I sold it in 2001 to move in with my other half, I got £120K for it, and when we moved last year I happened to notice it was on the market again at £220K !!

Very nearly £200K increase in 11 years

Which begs the question how much further can it possibly go in the immediate future.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

due respect, the small private developer is not going to solve this. we need to effectivly double the rate of house building, and that means large scale development. it means govenment led new towns and existing towns and villages having 10-20% increases in size - with associated infrastructure. but the locals never allow it, they dont want development on their doorstep and dont want local house prices to drop or even stall. even if that helps their own children. its very, very odd. the planning system, council regulations and taxation of new builds needs tossing out and start again from scratch. its bizarre that we hear today about subsidising property purchase (again) from the Tory's with no word on how to address the supply side of the market.

We need both. The large developers for the new towns you mention and the small developers to create homes in the small pockets in the city that large developers wouldn't touch with a barge pole. If we had gone through with our plans there would be five families with new builds and a dozen people with flats that wouldn't have had previously. Agreed a drop in the ocean for the overall problem but multiply that up by the number of numerous small developers in the city and it can make an impact.

 

[jimbob5]

Just going to say Shoreham myself. Great place to live.it is a bit cheaper and has good travel links. There is a good pub and restaurant scene and schools are good.you have the sea on one side and the downs for a good walk. I love it here.
Funnily enough one of the first things that I noticed was how flat it is out this way having lived on the hills of Brighton.

? Mill Hill, The Drive, etc!

 

[GypsyKing]

Unless you have multiple properties this is of no real benefit to anyone. Why do we allow it to happen?

Agreed. We bought a three bed house in Poets Corner for £250k exactly 5 yrs ago. Houses now going for between £450k - £500k. Great except we would now like another room/bigger garden in same area but the cost of stepping up is so prohibitive especially when factoring in stamp duty. We're looking at c. £800k which is nuts for a terraced house.

 

[drew]

Ooop north you can still get value. My house is on the o/s of Halifax on the borders of the hills. Top
Notch schools, 30 mins from Leeds, 40 mins from Manc so loads of jobs etc. 4 bed detached in quiet area for £240k that would cost a fortune in Brighton!

That said, it's a bugger to get to the Amex!

If you are a young couple then one of the things to consider is the patter of tiny feet in a few years. If so, whilst moving up north might get you more for your money, the benefit of having family nearby when you have a young family cannot be understated. Obviously not impossible but a massive benefit. Best bet would be to stay within 10 miles of the family whether that be in Sussex or Gloucestershire.

 

[wakeytom]

true, but no one in Brighton, or the south east for that matter wants to address the problem and build more properties.



so you pay more out in your mortgage. and it rather depends what your line of work/skills is, and whether the "work (£££)" is actually in Brighton. alot of the money in Brighton is of course in London, so you factor in £4-5k a year travel. in which case you start looking at the alternative commuter towns within 1-2hrs of London where you can get more property for your money than Brighton. and then consider if north of london might work for you. to be honest, on 45k combined, i dont think you have much hope of a sussex size mortgage unless you look at either small, flats, unfashionable areas. you might find you'll be better off in suburbs of London with the dramatically reduced travel costs, paying the mortgage instead.

Bought in Polegate - great travel links for Brighton and London on the train plus straight on the A27. Prices very reasonable and very quiet area for a modest 2 bed bungalow.

I personally would never buy a flat wherever it is, generally very close to neighbors, often no land and the main thing is that there is often a monthly fee to the freeholder for the building which could be £100+ a month which is a lot to find after buying and having to take in to account in how much you can borrow (additional outgoing)

 

[Official Old Man]

Just helped my Daughter (25) on to the ladder. Bought a flat in Cardiff, two beds lounge large kitchen and lots of little storage rooms, for £81000 with bank of Dad putting up the 20%. Same flat here in Brighton £200000 or more.

 

[Nigella's Cream Pie]

Really new to this subject and have been looking at houses and prices around Brighton for the past few months.

With house prices so high in the area, is there much sense in a younger person/couple looking to buy in Brighton?

House prices in the areas we are looking at are approx £250,000 - £275,000.
We are a couple on approx £40,000 - £45,000 (combined) so we have no idea if we're financially ready/able to buy.

Her family are based in Gloucestershire, mine in Brighton.
We can get the same sized property up there for approx £175,000 but obviously the work (£££) is all down here.

What's best?

I've been told that it's possible to find work outside of the Brighton area

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

I personally would never buy a flat wherever it is, generally very close to neighbors, often no land and the main thing is that there is often a monthly fee to the freeholder for the building which could be £100+ a month which is a lot to find after buying and having to take in to account in how much you can borrow (additional outgoing)

Some good points, but not the case for all flats. Myself and my partner bought a flat nearly 3 years ago in a private court in Shoreham/Southwick area, there's ample parking, large maintained gardens and every flat has a garage and most have a balcony. The service charge is over £100 pm however I think it's not bad value. The grounds are well kept, the common ways are regularly cleaned and are due to be refurbished soon, the outside of all 4 blocks were recently refurbished too and all garages just received updating and replacing of any rotten frames.

 

[Notters]

Bought in Polegate - great travel links for Brighton and London on the train plus straight on the A27. Prices very reasonable and very quiet area for a modest 2 bed bungalow.

I personally would never buy a flat wherever it is, generally very close to neighbors, often no land and the main thing is that there is often a monthly fee to the freeholder for the building which could be £100+ a month which is a lot to find after buying and having to take in to account in how much you can borrow (additional outgoing)

This + leasehold.

 

[Weststander]

Not strictly true. A few years ago my brother and I had a property development business. We'd done quite a few successfully properties and so had backing from our bank with a substantial credit line. We started to look at new builds and conversions - funding no problem and finding sites no problem - what made us back off was the ridiculous numbers of hoops the council planning department made us jump through. We spent a fortune for no gain. So we went back to "do uppers". More housing is needed but until it's made easy to do the small property developers will not do it and to build the number we need small property developers have to be involved.

Very true. I won't bore us with the detail of those hoops, but new home builders (as well as those converting commercial to resi) face a massive array of laws, regulations and costs these days, many before planning permission is given and almost all before the first unit goes on sale. This has squeezed out small home building entities due to the cash required, hassle and a lack of those specialist skills.

Adds to the impasse of new homes coming on stream.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Slightly O/T but every time I'm down at the Marina I can't help but think how much boat you get for your money. OP's £250,000 would get him a floating palace. Half of that figure would get him something eminently liveable-in. Reckon mooring fees wouldn't amount to much more than maintenance charges on a flat. Assuming you're allowed to live year-round on a boat in the Marina, that is. Anyone ever tried it?

 

[Dr. Notthenineo'clocknews]

Unlikely except perhaps if you have a huge deposit. You'll only get a very small house for that dosh in Brighton too.

We've just bought a place in Newhaven (for the price of a 1 bed flat in Brighton) and absolutely love it.

Feel free to PM me if you want any more info as it sounds like you're in pretty much the same position that we were.

I know people will say either "yeah but it's a dump" and "it's not in Brighton"... and I would've agreed with both those points before I moved there but would probably dispute them now. OK obviously it isn't in Brighton, but it actually seems to be quicker to get to a lot of places in Brighton from Newhaven, strangely, than it did from Fiveways. E.g. to get to my friend's place in Hove Park always used to take 20 minutes from Fiveways, primarily due to the number of traffic lights, but from Newhaven there are no traffic lights and it's doable in 15 minutes, off-peak.

I'd love to live in Brighton but I've got, what I'd call, A nice house and garden. Say what you like about my manor, but its a fraction of the price, nice and peaceful with a low crime rate

 

[LamieRobertson]

Some good points, but not the case for all flats. Myself and my partner bought a flat nearly 3 years ago in a private court in Shoreham/Southwick area, there's ample parking, large maintained gardens and every flat has a garage and most have a balcony. The service charge is over £100 pm however I think it's not bad value. The grounds are well kept, the common ways are regularly cleaned and are due to be refurbished soon, the outside of all 4 blocks were recently refurbished too and all garages just received updating and replacing of any rotten frames.

Sounds as though that £100 per month is good value

 

[LamieRobertson]

Has the OP poster considered a caravan and 4by4 ...u get to see lots of different places in Brighton often with a large green area