Friday, Feb 09, 2007
An assault on the unaffordability brigade!
Citywire: Housing not affordable for first-timers? You must be joking
Fings ain’t what they used to be are they? In the old days you could buy a two-up, two-down terraced house, take the wife out to the films, have a nice steak dinner and still have change from a tenner at the end of the evening.
Or so the myth goes...
Posted by webmaster @ 11:22 PM (119 views) Add Comment
7 Comments
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1. enuii said...
An article written by two lunatics who live in the big smoke, the first uses carefully selected figures to support her article, the second is a nutter who thinks a broadband connection is a licence to print money. If your on the minimum wage you cannot buy anything anywhere, even if two of you club together unless your'e gifted a big fat deposit approaching 30% of the asking price.
2. Bosscat said...
That's right, if these FTB morons gave up luxuries like...food and heating and spend all their income on a mortgage they could borrow huge amounts of money and buy the home of their dreams......
And as for rural workers the answer is...."Provide more high-paying jobs and local people will not be priced out of the market". Of course, how could we have been so blind! if we pay the cleaners, blacksmiths and gardeners 150k a year they will of course now be able to buy whatever property they like.......
....and next weeks financial advice will be brought to you by the letter p and the number 5.......
3. sovietuk said...
"£25 a week or £1,300 a year would support mortgage borrowing of £18,000 … cut out cigarettes at £5 a packet or £35 a week and that would support another £25,000 of borrowing.’
What a load of tosh. It's amazing somebody can justify paying people to write such sh***te
4. nearly30 said...
What an odd article to publish by CityWire.
Doesn't make any account to the real costs of 'starting out' for a young person or FTB.
Many articles have been written about personal inflation, esp. the young graduates that incur the 'grad tax'.
Even someone on a good income (say £1,200 take home per month) would need approx. £700 (not inc. rent) to 'survive' these days.
Saying someone doesn't 'need' cigarettes is correct - but the amount of servicing of stuff is costly - these are immediate costs.
Take mobiles and the internet - do we really need them - my answer is yes - as someone who is a short-term contract worker - I use personal emails and mobiles very heavily when job hunting - these are cheapest when on contract - which is long term (12 to 18 months).
So, that's equivalent to nearly 1 month's take home pay per year just for that.
Put on the debt servicing, utilities, food etc and it's getting pricey!!!
Higher multiples for couples is the de rigeur these days - and indicates a minimum level of earnings to support people/families.
Yes affordability is an issue - but these days - access to capital or use of capital drives home ownership - not lifestyle or perhaps even the ability to pay - esp. when you consider the slow manoeuvring world of the FTB - deposit to find / capital to grow after expenses - hey if you have the capital or liquidity the 'World's Your Oyster - in house buying terms.
"The problem seem to be a combination of unrealistic expectations by first-time buyers, lack of financial budgeting skills and advice, but overwhelmingly, young people’s refusal to cut back on their lifestyle and make sacrifices in order to own their own home." - CityWire
How is this achievable - any saving for a deposit doesn't match real inflation (inc. House Prices) - house prices going up £1,000 a month reduces your deposit potential immediately - that's when you have the 'disposable' income.
So how do the youth cope - forget the saving or investment in your life - don't get married - don't even think about having a family - use your savings when your 'job contract' runs out - cane the credit - spend any spare cash to 'cheer' yourself up - and when it all goes wrong - bring on the IVA.
This Is Britain!
5. nearly30 said...
P.S. My current job ended yesterday - nothing sinister - just end of contract - but have interview for new post soon (2 weeks time) - fingers crossed - hey may even turn perm!!!!
6. Retired Banker said...
nearly30 said- " good income say £1,200 p.m. take-home".
You must be joking; that's not even a good pension.
As you yourself admit it would take approx. £700 p.m. to cover basic living costs, not including rent. When I received early retirement
13 years ago the same thing was happening to many others in my age group from many different working backgrounds. We had all
done our financial calculations, and coincidentally £700 p.m. was the figure that everyone seemed to think was the sum necessary
to cover essential living costs with nothing left over for house repairs,capital goods replacement, holidays, or luxuries.
There has been considerable inflation since then.
7. Michael said...
I Sence a recession just around the corner.