Teenage reality hitting home

but not many 18 year olds would expect or want to get onto the housing ladder in the near future?
the average age now of 1st time buyers is 34, by the time he's that age it will likely be higher. He already has a large amount saved, in twenty years he could be on a good salary even if he stays in retail. He could meet someone else, if they also have a £30kplus deposit and a decent salary they'll be fine. Why are you a) equating his life happiness with owning a house and b) so convinced this is an impossibility?
Owning a house has never been the perogative of the vast majority. The absolute peak of ownership was in 1991, and that was 57%.
I appreciate it's harder for young people now in some ways, but in other ways things are better than ever before. When people are comparing lives of previous generations, how far are you wanting to go back to?

Yes my parents (born in 60s) bought their first house in their early 20s, but neither of them stayed in school past 16, they didn't travel abroad until their honeymoon, my mum didn't have an indoor loo until she was in school - not an easier life than mine.
Yes my grandparents (born in 30s) inherited a house and could run a household on one manual workers salary - but my gran grew up with 4 siblings (the same house with no bathroom!) in a 2 and a half bed house and didn't have her own bed until she was 12. My grandads mother died when he was young of something that would have been curable today, and he had to do conscription. Neither of them were educated past 15 - not an easier life than mine.
Great-grandparents (born 1900s) left school before 14, bought up 4 kids (and had 2 that died of things that would have likely been curable today), in same tiny house with no bathroom, lived through WW1 and 2, never went abroad, no chance of 'careers' - not an easier life than mine.

Exactly. He's only a teenager so PLENTY of time to buy a house! And with a £30k deposit then much better off than other teenagers!

Is the 30k inheritance money or did he actually save it up himself?

I'm guessing you haven't rented recently?

All the properties my Dc has rented over the last few years have fitted this description in some way or other. That hasn't stopped her paying through the nose for them.

£18k isn't minimum wage for a teenager working part time.

£18k means he is on minimum wage and working part time so not comparable to your teaching salary.

Full time over 21 on minimum wage is nearly £21k a year.

And on £21k plus a £30k deposit that gives him £110k to £130k budget which in many areas will buy you a nice property.

There was a thread on here recently that was looking at where and what you could afford to buy for 100k and in many parts of the north, Wales and Scotland you can still get a decent terraced or semi-detached house for that in a not too shabby area.

I remember seeing an article 20-30 years or so ago that was tracking the houses generations of the same families were living in/ able to afford when they started off with great grandparents living in very large houses/country estates - it was definitely all downhill!

Sorry but your ds had his head in his hands due to only having a 30k deposit???

Meanwhile in the real world...

A large number of under 40s I know and work with are renting. The rents are extortionate but they have no hope of buying. We are talking people on decent wages here who are struggling to rent. It was not like this 10 years ago. The whole system is broken now. If people earning a good salary cannot afford to live, we are in deep trouble.

Well I hope all these parents bemoaning how fortunate they are to have bought a house for peanuts are ready and willing to give their DC a substantial financial helping hand now things are tougher?

But in all seriousness if your dc can go abroad I would encourage that. The ageing population and the lack of planning for it is going to mean even more of a rough deal.

At the end of the day it's not handed to you on a plate. Move abroad, move North.

Yes all young people abound move abroad

I am twice your son’s age. At 18 none of my friends and I had £30,000 saved or were earning £18,000 a year. Most of us bought our homes in very late 20s or early 30s.

It feels like a premature thing to be worrying about.

My DS is 25 and autistic. He's unlikely to ever move out or earn much more than min wage part time. In a way the current situation evens things out for him and makes him less of an oddity to be living at home in his 20s.

Totally agree its depressing for that age bracket!!! Get so tired of the "we had it tough too" brigade when house prices/salaries are so far out of reach for so many now 😭

Am encouraged that your DC want to vote tho!! The more under 30s vote the more parties will have to gear themselves towards them (hopefullt!))

Yes, my son said “we are not the same as you. The earth is dying, there’s going to be a war, everything is hopeless, what do we have to live for.”

^

I'm sure a few young men said this in 1939

At the end of the day it's not handed to you on a plate. Move abroad, move North.

No it’s not just you. I really feel for our youngsters. It’s so much tougher now. Our only hope is to get a Labour government in and try to redress the balance a bit.

Soon there won’t be enough young people to impact the vote! The average age is 40 I think and there are already more over 65s than under 15s.

In the nicest possible way why at 18 has he decided to settle on an 18k a year job with no prospects? What about learning a trade or doing an apprenticeship, thinking about careers with a few more options to move up the ranks?

It’s a bit worrying that young people have been so ignored. What happens to those generations as they age.

Social mobility has gone backwards & really the most important thing now is if your parents own their own home &/or can help you as opposed to job/salary. No wonder birth rates are so low.

One of the reasons they are forgotten is they tend not to vote.

Yes, you're absolutely right. It's shocking how hard things are now. I would still encourage your son to think of the substantial advantages he does have - a 30K deposit at that age. An obviously supportive parent. A job, even if it's nothing special right now. He has more going for him than many his age. Obviously that doesn't help the wider issue, but it's sad to think he's despairing (though understandable!)

He's 18. At that age I wasn't remotely interested in a mortgage. I just wanted to go to uni, have fun and travel which I did and had an amazing time like you're supposed to in your youth. We rented till we found somewhere we wanted to settle in our early 30s and bought then. I'd be encouraging him to lighten up and enjoy himself. He's immensely privileged to have 30k in the bank. There's a lot he can do with that. Buying a property isn't the main ambition he should have in life, especially at that age.