A recent report from UBS Wealth Management’s “Bubble index” looking at the state of the property markets has found that London has the second most over-valued property market of any major city around the world.
At the same time, official figures from the Office for National Statistics tell us that the average wage in the UK is £28,105 annually. If we were to consider that a small one-bedroom flat in London costs around £472,163, a simple calculation shows that an average salary earning person looking to buy needs a multiple of 16.8 times their salary!
As a 20-something professional living in London with a salary below average, my chances of saving up to buying my own property anytime soon look very close to zero. Unfortunately, most young professionals nowadays share the same fate. Millennials, also known as ‘generation rent’, are expected to pay much bigger multiple of earnings to buy a home than their parents.
I have lived in London now for over six years and I have moved four times. I remember dreading to move every time. House hunting is never pleasant, especially when you are broke. I have seen box rooms, mouldy walls, and dirty kitchens, for rents up to £700-£800 per month! It’s just London, they said…
What if the days when you had to live with strangers, fight over dirty dishes or the electricity bill are over? Here is a thought…
The revolutionary ZEDPod system aims to shake the homes market by providing low cost, ready-made quality homes on stilts that stand over the bays of ground-level parking. They are not big, but the fully installed homes cost just £65,000 and can be bought outright if air rights are signed over or can be installed and then let for about £650 a month. By comparison, a large double room in London in a shared house with other 2 or 3 flatmates (zones 2/3) starts on average around £750pcm*. Well, how about having your own house for yourself (or you and your partner) in London for less than a double room in shared accommodation?
Moreover, it has low running costs, because it is sustainably built with super insulation inside and out, integrated roof-mounted solar panels that charge a battery store, heat recovery ventilation and large triple glazed windows. ZEDpods also have the potential for zero net annual energy bills and for providing zero emissions electricity to charge points integrated in parking spaces.
Does it sound too good to be true? Trust me, I’ve seen it with my own eyes. It sits on the BRE Innovation Park in Watford, so if you don’t believe me, come and take a look yourself. As Simon Jenkins said in a Guardian article once – Crisis, what housing crisis? We just need fresh thinking…
As the house prices have been soaring for years with no looking back, we could be very close to a tipping point… I will be watching intrigued the evolution of the house market and wait for the bubble to burst. Until then, I might look into these ZEDpods…
*spareroom.co.uk