[DemolitionRed]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

There's also this... Friends of ours have just bought a detached 4 bed house with "land", moving up from a 2 bed property (that was fully paid off). But they have stretched their repayment budget to the absolute maximum and also wiped out their savings. With things as precarious as they are, it seems like a massive risk.

Unfortunately most people don't buy as a necessity any more, they buy what they believe to be an investment. Back in the day, people bought houses to make into permanent cosy homes. A two or three bed terrace was a place they could start and raise a family and grow old together (its still like that in France thank goodness). Now most home buyers in the UK expect to be moving onwards and upwards after a few years because its all about investment, moving up the property ladder and making profit and because banks are willing to lend such huge amounts, the aspiring middle classes are more than willing to move on to yet another crushing mortgage.

Lets hope your friends have a fixed rate mortgage and not a standard variable rate. You should ask them and warn them because if they are on an SVRM, when the bubble bursts they will inevitably will be faced with unsustainable mortgage re-payments for a house with negative equity. Show them this http://www.businessforscotland.co.uk...ion-in-201617/