Cyclemonkey

We did indeed!

John - try putting in an offer below the asking price - we routinely knocked 10% off the asking price when putting in an offer. Some vendors were of course outraged and rejected us out right but you know what - some of thoese are still hanging round on RightMove a good few months since they first went on to the market.

It is my experience that prices have fallen as well - we got an offer accepted that was ?14,000 below the asking price that had already been reduced. However i don't think prices have fallen as such more that prices were artifically inflated and agwnts were encouraging vendors to put things on at unachievable prices. Buyers have now experienced a collective reality check and are not desperately offering over the odds for ordinary flats and houses in ordinary London suburbs.

I think at the moment things are cooling off and settling back to normal prices for the area rather than falling. We started looking for a place in January this year and quickly gave up as it was madness - queues out the door, places under off the moment they went on Rightmove, people offering tens of thousands over the asking price. Fast forward to October and we started looking again in the same area with the same budget. Things have changed - plenty of reductions, properties hanging around, buyers actually chasing us. I would say it is a combination of lack of buyers - MMR rules kickigng in/people worried about rising interest rates, properties stillvalued as it is was earlier this year, a glut of properties comming on to the marlet as people saw an opportunity to cash in on rising house prices.

Absolutely Penguin - that's my experience as a Union official at my workplace. In the main we work very well with management and i think for the msot time they appreciate our involvement.

Unison are actually supporting carers to take action over the unpaid travelling time issue - arguing that it is being used as a loophole by employers to get out of paying minimum wage. Carers should also be paid decently but that doesn't diminish my support for the Ritzy strikers. One of the reasons i have been so supportive is that union membership is declining in the private sector and the accusation from the Right is often that collective action is a luxury only available to those in the public sector. The Ritzy strikers have shown people that employees in the private sector can take action and get a better deal for themselves. It takes a lot of strike and put your head above the parapet when you are on a zero hours contract and working for an employer that is not very receptive to unions. Also don't forget workers do not get paid when they are on strike so people have been willing to sacrifice days and days of pay in order to try and get a better deal for all their colleagues.

Jeremy - you are a bit behind the times - in London most first time buyers ARE in their thirties!

I inherited a 50s wardrobe and some plates from my grandparents and ?1000 that went towards the blackhole of my student loan debt.

I'm buying at the moment and i think there are a lot of hopeful vendors. The market has definitely slowed down from the peak of the madness earlier this year. You need to be honest with yourself and look at your property objectively. Is there anything that would put buyers off - oddly shaped rooms, poor DIY, shabby appearance, issues with neighbours? If you were feeling brave you could post the Rightmove link and we could give honest opinions.

Perhaps the price is wrong - houses will sell more or less anywhere if the price is right.

miga you can get a three bed in Peckham for ?300,000 or less if you are prepared to buy an Ex LA place in a less fashionable part of Peckham.

I suppose what comes around goes around. I grew up in a small coastal village in Kent and was priced out by Londoners downsizing or seeking second homes. So i moved to London for better work prospects. Not many of us are lucky to fidn work and affordable hosuign where we grew up.

I think the problem is that there is little else to monetise. There is no space for a cafe/gym like at Brockwell or other Lidos. If i was lookigg at it as an investor i woudl not put any money anywhere near it as i cannot see how it would survive as a private enterprise.

Dulwichgal we had that problem. Our neighbours had Virgin media installed and the workmen added cables to our flats and strug the cables across the front of our flats without asking. Our Landlord was furious with them.

I don't think it will work either. Lidos are notoriously difficult to manage and finance. They can only be used for a few weeks of the year (except for a hardcore of swimmers) The one in Brockwell has had a very difficult history and only really makes money now as they invested a lot in the Gym and cafe and sell membership. There is not the room on that section of the Rye for an accompanying cafe and gym. Nice idea but i would prefer the council spend moeny on other much needed things in the local area.

Powerplants generally pay much more than living wage jeremy :)

Dave that's the point the workers are asking for more than the minimum. Cedges what an odd post. You won't support people pushing for better pay because you don't get paid enough. The cinema workers are taking action to improve their pay, just as legitimate as leaving for a new job. How do you think most of the rights we all enjoy at work were won?

I'm not suggesting everyone in a low paid job should be able to afford to rent a one bedroom flat, i flatshared well into my late 20s on higher wages. Some of the Ritzy workers may live with parents but i expect many do not. There is a reason why it is called the London Living wage as that is what has been calculated as the minimum needed to live in London.

If you work a 36 hour week it is less than ?17,000 p/a before any deductions. Fancy living on that in an area where one bedroom flats are often ?1000 a month in rent.

I would imagine most of the Picturehouse staff would work locally. Put it this way - how far would you commute for a job that pays less than ?8 an hour and may knock off after midnight for some shifts. Here's an experiment for you, ask the bar staff and waiting staff in East Dulwich pubs and restaurants where they live, i'll bet you the majority of them are local.

Thanks for this Hannah. We spoke to some of the striking workers at Lambeth Country Show on Sunday. I really admire the Ritzy workers, striking when you are on a zero hours contract on a low wage is a brave decision and the Ritzy workers should be supported for their stance. I'll happily email the directors about this. We need to stand firm with them and get them to pay their staff a living wage. Looking at the cost of rents and living in East Dulwich it is a disgrace that a successful chain there will not pay their staff enough to live on.

That story has been doing the rounds for a while.

"money for the meter" scammers are easily dealt with. If it is between 6pm and 6am their electricty meter will not go off -the vast majoirty have "non disconnect" periods at night. If you are genuinely worried offer to help them phone their energy company for a "wind on" rather than giving them the cash. I last had a electricity meter scammer when i lived in Camberwell, the story was her husband was out and she needed ?10 for the meter as her son was on a dialysis machine. As we were very near to Kings College hospital i offered to go with her to the hospital where they could help her son. Unsurprisingly this was declined.

I'm seeing a few reductions recently or places hanging around. I'm hearing of sharp practice in other parts of London by agents such as requring the buyer to agree to pay the vendors agents fees - has that sort of nonsense crept in here at all yet?

Average income in London is around ?35K a year but it is distorted a lot by some very high earners. 40k is still a decent middle to upper income for a lot of people. Also don't forget many professionals in their twenties and thirties have been paying back thousands of pounds in student loans since the late 1990s. There is at least 18k i had to pay back that would have been saved for a deposit if i was only 5 years older.