Siouxie

That really depends on which Hydro company you receive your electricity from.

Who pays the most — and the least — for power in Ontario? Hydro One, Toronto Hydro among priciest | Financial Post

Davita

When I grew-up in UK we lived in 'council houses' which were purpose built by local governments to house the lower-income on a 'need' basis.

This plan lost favor in South London and they sold most to the tenants...my father was one and, when he subsequently died, my youngest sister inherited it. She made a killing when she sold and moved out of London.

Have any Canadian local municipalities considered this 'council housing' program as 'affordable housing'?

Novocastrian

http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/co...0071d60f89RCRD

I don't suppose it's unique.

BristolUK

Are you describing where Thatcher's government brought in the right to buy whereby local authority tenants had the right to buy council accommodation at ridiculous discounts (as if past rent counted as installments) and people only bought up the better properties leaving the inferior stuff behind and used all sorts of scams (eg family purchases) to avoid penalties on the inevitable resale at enormous profit, while at the same time preventing the LAs from building new homes thus causing a shortage of affordable accommodation and legions of families being housed for extended periods in B&Bs because there was nowhere else for them?
(and breathe)

That wasn't the system losing favour in south London, it was forced on LAs all over the country.

Novocastrian

Yes. He is.

dbd33

In rural Ontario Hydro One is the only choice. How expensive it is compared to other suppliers depends on how much you use. Hydro One charge a large fee for delivery but not very much per unit so, for example, our typical bill is $210 of which $10 is related to the power consumed and $200 is fixed cost. I expect that, for heavy users of power, rural power is cheaper than city power.

Souvy

You're paying close to double what I am.

Hydro Quebec recently reduced our monthly equalised bill. We'll probably pay for it in other ways though, given who owns Hydro Quebec.

I was stunned when I was in Wimbledon and looking at house/flat prices. No wonder my younger colleagues all rent or still live with their parents. They haven't got a chance of buying.

Caribou Jones

I have been looking at this calculation for a short while in preparation for moving to Calgary next week and renting from 1st Dec.

It might not help you feel better though. It would seem that 30% is the after tax figure and that the pre-tax figure is suggested to be 25%. I also recall reading that these recommendations came from a time that is some decades ago as well and that, as has been discussed earlier, any percentage is relative of course.

For example, a multi-millionaire is exceptionally unlikely to be spending anywhere near the same percentage as someone in the day-to-day world that most of us live in, much less in that case.

I'm working on that 25% of gross to 30% of net range, but they're also not especially clear on whether that is just property or including running costs as well. In Calgary I'll be able to get a one bed place, but reading the reviews, there's not much confidence in some of the landlord companies.

The other thing to consider with renting is that if you do go "cheaper", there's 6-12 months to decide what happens next and you might learn a lot more from constantly reviewing what is really out there and taking a nosey around. Sometimes "small, but comfy" is not a bad place to start from

dbd33

That's why I emigrated. I couldn't afford to buy where I lived and, as long as I was going beyond what's now the M25, I thought I might as well go somewhere with really cheap houses.

scrubbedexpat091

If we had to rent based on the 30% of income the financial people always state should be the max, we would be homeless.

Currently monthly income vs rent, the rent eats about 60%, earlier in the year is was around 50%.

Luckily BC Hydro has low rates and doesn't tack on BS charges like delivery fees and what not. So our bill stays low around 40/month.


And we are not in a good area, and not in one of the lower rent buildings. Local vacancy rate is at all time lows, so not much rental stock to choose from.

Davita

I don't have much detail on the buying of my dad's council house in S. London as I lived in Hong Kong and had never lived there.
My mother had already passed and my dad was taken care of by my youngest sister (unmarried). I found out about the scheme and told her I'd buy on Dad's behalf and they'd pay no more rent or expenses, as I saw the potential investment.....but said I'd sell when dad died.
My sister was furious and said "where will I live?" I told her when dad died the council would kick her out anyway.
I then persuaded her to buy and I'd provide her buying capital fees but she'd need to pay the mortgage...which she did.
Three years or so later dad died. She sold the London house and made a huge profit which allowed her to move to Brighton where she married and had a daughter.
The street where dad lived blossomed from dull-grey fronted terrace style abodes to multi-colored and spectacular modified frontages ...it was rejuvenated as were the homeowners...everybody smiles and wishes each other good morning.....and my sister is a very happy Brighton homeowner.

Souvy

How did it come to this, though? People in the UK don't make multiples of what people here do. Why should property be valued at multiples of what they are here?

Caribou Jones

Deposit and value of the GBP to CAD (if you have something to bring in) is one consideration. I'd agree with you that earnings and cost of living are relative to each other though.

If I have £10k in the UK as a deposit it won't go as far as the equivalent $17k deposit in Canada. For example, Calgary has a population of over 1 million. For a comparable UK city the prices are much higher for a city of that size. You become affected in two ways, needing a larger deposit and the mortgage multiplier does not offer as much either.

Reports in recent weeks show that UK mortgage multiples of 6 times are needed to match up to say 20 years ago.

dbd33

I think mass property ownership is an historical blip, society has generally had a few people who owned all the land and a lot of tenants. Exceptional conditions existed in the UK during the 20th century and exist in empty countries such as Canada. The UK is just returning to the status quo; people who have parents who own houses and have few children can have one, people who choose their parents less well cannot. When the population density in the empty countries reaches that of the UK the ownership distribution and possibilities for social mobility will be similar. Competition for "desirable" immigrants, rich ones, will mean that in immigrant friendly locations property prices will keep rising.

In the meantime, someone wanting to buy a property can move to a place where houses are still cheap or they can resign themselves to renting long term, as is common in Europe. Since many people will choose to rent, or have the choice of renting forced upon them, government policies should reflect this reality; big cities need some form of rent control and a revival of the "sitting tenant" laws (in a form allowing for brisk eviction when rent isn't paid or damage caused).

Property, btw, in the UK isn't generally valued at multiples of the price of property in Vancouver, Toronto or even the satellite towns of Toronto such as K-W or Barrie.

Souvy

Interesting points. I was basing my thoughts of my recent experience, which involves Wimbledon. I heard a lot of non-English voices in the residential neighbourhood where our office is.