Woodgate smiles at his Spurs unveiling, in a snap presumably taken before he tried to buy a house. Photo: Action Images
The impact of years of booming house prices on potential first-time buyers has been much documented, but until today most of us had never paused to think about what it meant for multi-millionaire footballers. Jonathan Woodgate has changed all that.
Speaking about his recent move to Spurs, the defender has been bemoaning the high price of property in the capital.
Woodgate may not be as regular a commentator on the housing market as Fionnuala Earley or Roger Bootle, but he seems to have a good idea of how it should work.
You just want the right place for you and you want to get it at the right price. You don't want to end up getting ripped off in any way, do you?
It is expensive for everyone isn't it? You don't want to be blowing stupid money on a house.
Sadly, as many others have found out, things aren't that easy - particularly in London. According to Rightmove, asking prices are still rising, and in February the average price tag on a home in London broke through the £400,000 barrier for the first time.
This homebuying is an expensive game - even if you are reportedly earning £60,000 a week. Or, as Woodgate puts it:
You could buy 10 penthouses up north for the price of something down here ... House prices are a joke!
