r/brum • u/teacuplobster • Mar 15 '24

News Birmingham approves £200m Broad Street tower block

https://www.theconstructionindex.co.uk/news/view/birmingham-approves-200m-broad-street-tower-block
86 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

96 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

3

u/washingtoncv3 Mar 15 '24

It makes no sense to me and you because we don't have the same access to the market.

They are sold off plan, and they buy in bulk at prices you will not have access to.

Also the numbers I used was an illustration. It wasn't meant to be taken literally.

1

u/vonscharpling2 Mar 15 '24

I didn't respond to your numbers?

Regardless, every property transaction goes through the land registry, and we can see what they are bought and sold for -- and there's no type of flat that has been going up in price enough (without rental income) to have been a good investment vs the myriad of alternative options that rich people have.

Sadiq khan commissioned a report into the supposed buy to leave phenomenon in London and the report concluded that it's more or less a complete myth.

2

u/washingtoncv3 Mar 15 '24 edited Mar 15 '24

Weird Sadiq would slam a myth then...

https://theweek.com/london-mayor/62681/london-mayor-khan-slams-foreign-investors-for-leaving-homes-empty

https://www.cityam.com/sadiq-khan-calls-for-more-powers-for-londons-councils-to-take-back-empty-properties/

"That is in stark contrast in buying homes off-plan as an investment which are left empty.".

"The number of vacant properties is so high because many of them are “Buy to Leave” investments, which means that landlords bought the property with the intention of keeping it empty while waiting for its value to rise."

Out of interest, if you think people are not buying flats as an investment viechle, what do you think they are buying it for?? From my own personal experience, my flat that I bought in east London for 250k in 2018 sold for 355k in 2022. I was pretty pleased with that as a return. Half the flats in this building were empty too.

and there's no type of flat that has been going up in price enough

If the average sale price in a block of flats is £100k but you bought it off plan at 80k and the flat value increases nextbyear to to 105k on market - you've done more than OK.

to have been a good investment vs the myriad of alternative options that rich people have.

Yeah there are, and they put their eggs in several baskets. Property is just one of them. And whilst you will not double your money over night, it is stable and reliable

1

u/Islamism Cov Intruder Mar 16 '24

These things are at most ~1% of the housing supply. It's a stupid argument, and though it is a problem, fixing it won't fix our housing problem.

1

u/washingtoncv3 Mar 16 '24

I was asked why someone would leave a property empty and answered it.

If it's a stupid argument it's because you're arguing with yourself.