Well I have done it so I guess we will see what happens!!
Great read, thanks for all the points thus far. Here are some more London-centric points that I've been thinking (but hopefully are relevant to a few people):
1. Are government backed schemes just throwing helicopter money (available finance) up in the air without addressing the supply & demand issue of real homes (plenty of BTL investor properties, not enough 'homes')? Hence we have a generation priced out of the housing market, & shedding out a high percentage of income on rent. Because of the shortfall in housing in the capital it seems like if you own a property, at the very least the rental value will be high for a while.
2. The recent residential building trend for 'affordable' properties seems to be for new build 1 & 2 bed flats (with modest square footage), & prices around £450-£600k in zones 2 - 4 of the city. If you're lucky the developer will throw in a fridge freezer. Although, that doesn't seem like a future family home to me. I wouldn't want to buy at this peak & be living there in a decade or so when the new build guarantees run out. So I guess in this case first time buyers are gambling on some growth within a few years to get out & move up the ladder.
3. The current London mayor campaigned on building 50,000 new homes per year & making 50% of them 'affordable' ('affordable' is undefined so far). That won't be easy but it could be disruptive at the bottom end of the London market.
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