The Generation Who Can't Afford To Buy

[Ben from Dover]

you can only hope that their efforts be rewarded when they come to retire and require the services provided by the generation below, who may not share the same view on care costs and levels. personally, if it becomes a tax burden to support them in the next 20 years thats gilded with the usual boomer unfairness, there will be an amazing exodus of both talent and taxpayers to the point where the country will be a sad shell of a former great place, that would rank amongst the very worst places to be as a worker and as a citizen. loyalty and contribution would be words lost in english history.

I think 'they' have pushed this so far that our generation's attitudes are not important we will simply not be able to afford the care they expect.

As a generation we are not going to be able to afford to both finance their care and buy their over-prices houses thus allowing them to retire in style. The way things are looking we will probably not be able to afford either

[amethyst]

you can only hope that their efforts be rewarded when they come to retire and require the services provided by the generation below, who may not share the same view on care costs and levels. personally, if it becomes a tax burden to support them in the next 20 years thats gilded with the usual boomer unfairness, there will be an amazing exodus of both talent and taxpayers to the point where the country will be a sad shell of a former great place, that would rank amongst the very worst places to be as a worker and as a citizen. loyalty and contribution would be words lost in english history.

Ahh, spoiled little didums – aren't we being the dramatic one. Still, we don't know any better, do we? 'Amazing exodus of both talent and taxpayers...' What talent?

I've got news for you: the country is already 'a sad shell of a former great place'. People like you have no backbone: you don't know how lucky you are to be living here and not going through a war or similar situation; having benefits paid by taxpayers whenever you are out of work or when you decide to breed; not having to worry about feeding yourself or about having a roof over your selfish little head, etc. You want everything handed to you on a platter.

I hope you will hear similar statements from the generation that comes after you when you come to retire after paying national insurance and other taxes all your life. Better still, why don't you just leave now. This country doesn't need people with your kind of attitude.

Edited March 22, 2010 by amethyst

[Ben from Dover]

Ahh, spoiled little didums – aren't we being the dramatic one. Still, we don't know any better, do we? 'Amazing exodus of both talent and taxpayers...' What talent?

I've got news for you: the country is already 'a sad shell of a former great place'. People like you have no backbone: you don't know how lucky you are to be living here and not going through a war or similar situation; having benefits paid by taxpayers whenever you are out of work or when you decide to breed; not having to worry about feeding yourself or about having a roof over your selfish little head, etc. You want everything handed to you on a platter.

I hope you will hear similar statements from the generation that comes after you when you come to retire after paying national insurance and other taxes all your life. Better still, why don't you just leave now. This country doesn't need people with your kind of attitude.

Actually that kind of attitude is exactly what this country does need. a re-working of the social contract into something that gives new adults a chance to achieve a decent standard of living.

I've got to say that I really can't stand the 'I've payed NI and taxes all my life therefore I'm entitles to looked after at the expense of the young while keeping hold of my over-prices 'assets' (read house) argument. Your contributions were obviously not enough because the government had to borrow massively to subsidize under-taxing you and is it us who will have to repay this.

Whether we want to or not we are not going to be able to afford your 'entitlements'. Certainly not if you also expect to sell your 3 bed semi to us for 1/2 million quid and have us pay back the money the government had to borrow to keep your taxes artificially low.

sorry mate - you have been paying into a ponzi and will soon find out that not only is there no money in the pot, but that Injin is right

[Sweetkiwi]

My friend told me ....

There is a cartoon in a real estate agents office of an old bearded man, bent over a walking stick with the caption " The man who is waiting for real estate prices to come down".

[Goat]

My friend told me ....

There is a cartoon in a real estate agents office of an old bearded man, bent over a walking stick with the caption " The man who is waiting for real estate prices to come down".

Did you keep that locked up throughout 2008?

[leicestersq]

My friend told me ....

There is a cartoon in a real estate agents office of an old bearded man, bent over a walking stick with the caption " The man who is waiting for real estate prices to come down".

Yes, originally that one came from Rome. 600 years that chap waited for prices to fall.

Had the last laugh though, prices then fell for a thousand years.

[Rigsby]

"My parents bought the house I grew up in at the end of summer 1980, three months before I was born. It was a semi-detached in a Surrey village, with three bedrooms and a big garden, and it cost them just £32,000"

Big fat yawn. Surrey schmurry. Rose tinted spectacle rubbish about parents and buying houses for half a sixpence in some long lost golden age of cheap houses, endless summers and not locking your doors at night.

I was watching an old Minder episode in ITV4 from about 1980.Some young kid was bemoaning that he couldn't afford a house cos they were so expensive, and he had to do two jobs blah blah blah. Sounds familiar.

Actually houses have always been expensive for first time buyers. Except when they weren't expensive. And then no one had a job or any money so they still couldnt buy.

[Si1]

My friend told me ....

There is a cartoon in a real estate agents office of an old bearded man, bent over a walking stick with the caption " The man who is waiting for real estate prices to come down".

oooh - the professional side of the property business shows it's face again

[Si1]

"My parents bought the house I grew up in at the end of summer 1980, three months before I was born. It was a semi-detached in a Surrey village, with three bedrooms and a big garden, and it cost them just £32,000"

Big fat yawn. Surrey schmurry. Rose tinted spectacle rubbish about parents and buying houses for half a sixpence in some long lost golden age of cheap houses, endless summers and not locking your doors at night.

I was watching an old Minder episode in ITV4 from about 1980.Some young kid was bemoaning that he couldn't afford a house cos they were so expensive, and he had to do two jobs blah blah blah. Sounds familiar.

Actually houses have always been expensive for first time buyers. Except when they weren't expensive. And then no one had a job or any money so they still couldnt buy.

presumably that's why the banks didn't go bust lending money to people who couldn't afford to pay it back?

[lulu]

"My parents bought the house I grew up in at the end of summer 1980, three months before I was born. It was a semi-detached in a Surrey village, with three bedrooms and a big garden, and it cost them just £32,000"

Big fat yawn. Surrey schmurry. Rose tinted spectacle rubbish about parents and buying houses for half a sixpence in some long lost golden age of cheap houses, endless summers and not locking your doors at night.

I was watching an old Minder episode in ITV4 from about 1980.Some young kid was bemoaning that he couldn't afford a house cos they were so expensive, and he had to do two jobs blah blah blah. Sounds familiar.

Actually houses have always been expensive for first time buyers. Except when they weren't expensive. And then no one had a job or any money so they still couldnt buy.

In previous generations it was the norm to either rent council housing or be able to buy for something in the region of 3/4 times salary (generally a family home in which there was a single income as someone stayed back to look after the kids). The problem no doubt came from the requirement to have a deposit which I am sure took some time to build up.

Now there is little, if any Council housing and even the crappest properties are well over 4/5 times a single workers salary instead single people are forced into sharing and couples both end up needing to work full time hours simply to pay the mortgage to keep a roof over their kids heads.

[pete.hpc]

I must say, I'm so pleased there is now an abundance of media articles about the priced out generation and how bad rental law is in this country, how it favours BTLers over "hard-working families"

In the warm afterglow of the initial crash, it's nice to see such mass revulsion and anger at the practice of BTL mortgages

BTL addicts be warned; if this plague is going to end, it's going to end soon. No-one is sticking up for you anymore.

Sleep tight

[headrow]

What were the mortgage rates in 1980?

I bought a house in 1992 for the same price as they did in 1980 yet my rate was 9.5%.

[Goat]

Nothing new here, nice to see a bit of coverage however

TBH I don't find these sort of articles particularly helpful. They spin the current situation as an intergenerational conflict between greedy boomers and lazy want it now twentysomethings which in reality is some way from the truth.

It's simple, it's not an intergenerational conspiracy, it's a f***ing huge housing bubble blown up by years of easy credit which is temporarily being kept inflated for political reasons by ultra low interest rates.

It’s 13 years of grossly incompetent government and chronic mismanagement of the public finances; it’s massive recruitment and pay rises for public sector workers funded out of tax revenues reliant on the continued boom, but the money has now run out.

To try to spin it as an intergenerational issue is to deflect attention from the architects of our misfortune, the cretins who’ve been in charge for the last 13 years.

[pete.hpc]

TBH I don't find these sort of articles particularly helpful. They spin the current situation as an intergenerational conflict between greedy boomers and lazy want it now twentysomethings which in reality is some way from the truth.

It's simple, it's not an intergenerational conspiracy, it's a f***ing huge housing bubble blown up by years of easy credit which is temporarily being kept inflated for political reasons by ultra low interest rates.

It’s 13 years of grossly incompetent government and chronic mismanagement of the public finances; it’s massive recruitment and pay rises for public sector workers funded out of tax revenues reliant on the continued boom, but the money has now run out.

To try to spin it as an intergenerational issue is to deflect attention from the architects of our misfortune, the cretins who’ve been in charge for the last 13 years.

I find your views intriguing, and would like to subscribe to your newsletter

[Rigsby]

In previous generations it was the norm to either rent council housing or be able to buy for something in the region of 3/4 times salary (generally a family home in which there was a single income as someone stayed back to look after the kids).

Not previous generations, not as going back into the mists of time generations. No. For most maybe at a push two generations, many just one. It was unheard of to own your own home before that, at least where I lived.

And since when did singles ever get their own place, en masse like today. You used to bunk up at home until you got wed, or shared with your mates. It's that massive sense of entitlement young single folk have about getting their own place that's reduced supply and pushed prices up. And single women getting their own places too.

[pete.hpc]

Not previous generations, not as going back into the mists of time generations. No. For most maybe at a push two generations, many just one. It was unheard of to own your own home before that, at least where I lived.

And since when did singles ever get their own place, en masse like today. You used to bunk up at home until you got wed, or shared with your mates. It's that massive sense of entitlement young single folk have about getting their own place that's reduced supply and pushed prices up. And single women getting their own places too.

We learnt our sense of entitlement from our parents. They never tire of telling us how they all slept in the same bed and ate bread and dripping whilst now sitting on their decking of their detached homes.

LIFE HAS CHANGED, we have no intention of living how you did when you were our age, same as you have no intention of going back to those times.

Edited March 22, 2010 by pete.hpc

[bomberbrown]

I was watching an old Minder episode in ITV4 from about 1980.Some young kid was bemoaning that he couldn't afford a house cos they were so expensive, and he had to do two jobs blah blah blah. Sounds familiar.

I saw that episode recently. And ironically, I also saw an episode of The Sweeney from the 70's where Denis Waterman playing George Carter was complaining about the same thing!!!!!

[Rare Bear]

What were the mortgage rates in 1980?

I bought a house in 1992 for the same price as they did in 1980 yet my rate was 9.5%.

I suspect that in 1980 it would have been somewhere in the 10% region.

[Rigsby]

I saw that episode recently. And ironically, I also saw an episode of The Sweeney from the 70's where Denis Waterman playing George Carter was complaining about the same thing!!!!!

Yeah. Man about the house. 2 dolly birds renting sharing a flat with a randy young git. 1970s.

On the buses. Randy old git still living with his mum, cant get his leg over cos his sister & brother in law lve ther, cant afford his own place

rising damp. renting in the 70s. randy young gits + they can't afford their own place.

etc etc.

Nowts changed much.

You'd think everyone had their own detached bought for half a sixpence in the past.

[Si1]

I saw that episode recently. And ironically, I also saw an episode of The Sweeney from the 70's where Denis Waterman playing George Carter was complaining about the same thing!!!!!

in times of economic strife when the standard of living is low, yes, it is usually expensive to buy a house. The 70s and early 80 were examples of this. And then prices crash, in real terms.

[Si1]

Yeah. Man about the house. 2 dolly birds renting sharing a flat with a randy young git. 1970s.

On the buses. Randy old git still living with his mum, cant get his leg over cos his sister & brother in law lve ther, cant afford his own place

rising damp. renting in the 70s. randy young gits + they can't afford their own place.

etc etc.

Nowts changed much.

You'd think everyone had their own detached bought for half a sixpence in the past.

indeed - last labour govt made us poor and unable to afford to buy houses. Who'd a thunk.

[Goat]

I was watching an old Minder episode in ITV4 from about 1980.Some young kid was bemoaning that he couldn't afford a house cos they were so expensive, and he had to do two jobs blah blah blah. Sounds familiar.

Highlighted the important words for you.

These days substitute "young kid" for pretty much anyone under 40.

And of course they did have housing bubbles in the 70's, they just weren't as big.

[Dorkins]

"My parents bought the house I grew up in at the end of summer 1980, three months before I was born. It was a semi-detached in a Surrey village, with three bedrooms and a big garden, and it cost them just £32,000"

Big fat yawn. Surrey schmurry. Rose tinted spectacle rubbish about parents and buying houses for half a sixpence in some long lost golden age of cheap houses, endless summers and not locking your doors at night.

I was watching an old Minder episode in ITV4 from about 1980.Some young kid was bemoaning that he couldn't afford a house cos they were so expensive, and he had to do two jobs blah blah blah. Sounds familiar.

Actually houses have always been expensive for first time buyers. Except when they weren't expensive. And then no one had a job or any money so they still couldnt buy.

I think this post perfectly captures the mindset of a pretty big chunk of the over-50s. No need for statistics or arithmetic, just a blank statement that things have always been hard and what the young need to do is shut their traps (and their eyes) and just sign that 4x joint salary mortgage contract. Sad thing is, plenty of young people took that advice.

[Si1]

I think this post perfectly captures the mindset of a pretty big chunk of the over-50s. No need for statistics or arithmetic, just a blank statement that things have always been hard and what the young need to do is shut their traps (and their eyes) and just sign that 4x joint salary mortgage contract. Sad thing is, plenty of young people took that advice.

this unfortunate view that all mortgages are the same irrespective of the size of the loan. foolish in the extreme.

[Rigsby]

I think this post perfectly captures the mindset of a pretty big chunk of the over-50s. No need for statistics or arithmetic, just a blank statement that things have always been hard and what the young need to do is shut their traps (and their eyes) and just sign that 4x joint salary mortgage contract. Sad thing is, plenty of young people took that advice.

But they have always been hard. It's just that you've been lucky enough to have been brought up by loving caring parents who have shielded you from all the nasty horrible things and bogeymen out there in the real world.

And when you finally fly the nest, the harsh reality is then such a culture shock for you, that you just can't bear the terribleness of it all. And you have to blame someone because you can't have all those nice thing your mummy and daddy worked hard for, you can't have them straight away. Oh dear, how sad, never mind.