Right boys 'n' girls, listen up.
I was born in Coventry.

I was actually born in a house on a 1958-9 built estate that my parents bought in 1959.The estate was built for the skilled men of the city (once upon a time Coventry was "the toolroom of the world"), it's a mixed development. No builder was allowed to build more than 20% of the houses so there's some variety in design. There's terraced, semis, detatched and bungalows, all mixed in. Loads of green spaces, trees, schools, shops and pubs.

I still live on the same estate, I bought my own house on it, my children grew up on it, they went to the local schools etc.

It was always easy to know how much your house was worth. The local rag used to produce a list of "Toolroom average" pay across the city. The terraced houses were a shade under two years worth of a skilled man's salary, the end of terraces about two years' worth and the detatched about two and a half years' worth.

When you needed a mortgage the banks knew how much you could afford and lent accordingly. I bought my house on my basic wage alone, without overtime etc, because we wanted children and I knew that if we bought including her wages, we could never afford it.

Today, if I was a toolmaker in Coventry, I'd have to be earning £77,000 a year to buy the same house.

Genuine question. Where did this massive price hike come from? The house is no bigger. It has no better amenities, it's not been encrusted with diamonds with hot and cold running nyphomaniacs in every room yet it's now three or more times a toolmaker's salary!

Lending became irresponsible. How can a bank lend 125% of an asset's market value, unless they're relying on a housing market bubble, THAT THEY THEMSELVES CREATED FFS!

They fucked up and we're bailing them out.

No hummus. Just remember, next time you see a banker, terminate with extreme prejudice. It's the only language they deserve.


Cunts.
(Captain Placid 24/7 ball gags, brownie mix and clown porn, Fri 23 Jan 2009, 13:29, 5 replies)

Perfect Answer!
Absolutely agree, 125%
(Pork2311, Fri 23 Jan 2009, 13:33, closed)

Brilliant reply!
hehe
(powervator and NONE SHALL PASS, Fri 23 Jan 2009, 13:39, closed)

ah ha!
When I worked in a conveyancing practice five years ago, there were far, far too many people getting "self certifying" mortgages. These are only supposed to be used for self-employed people, and as the name suggests, you sign a declaration that this is, indeed, what you earn, so that the lender can calculate (think of a number and treble it) a suitable amount for you to borrow. I was convinced at the time that the criteria used by the lenders was far too slack, and there were many, many clients that were not self employed and were using self cert mortgages to lie about their earnings, in order to borrow enough to afford a house. They were always encouraged to do this by unscrupulous mortgage brokers, who in turn were collecting the commission from the lenders, and laughing all the way to the bank. The clients would then immediately remortgage the house upon purchase, in order to clear other debt, and would telephone in to complain if the whole thing went through too slowly to keep the bailiffs out..
I can't see how it can have suddenly stopped in the intervening years.
(Beer Elf Thought this was like a campfire, anyhow, on, Fri 23 Jan 2009, 13:44, closed)

.
move to Beduff
(kebabking - salad and garlic mayo pls, Fri 23 Jan 2009, 14:12, closed)

hah!
I'm clicking just for the line "hot and cold running nymphomaniacs in every room"!

And an extra click because thou speakest the truth, good captain.
(The Empress it seems you CAN polish a turd!, Fri 23 Jan 2009, 14:14, closed)