Fuck! Apparently I'm The Elite!!!

[hopefullyhelpfully]

Genuinely a bit confused. At a Halloween party tonight when a friend of a friend who I know vaguely said that I was part of The Elite and so would automatically be biased towards maintaining status quo. She was sort of joking but not IYSWIM?

This is news to me. Do I get a badge? Is there a T-shirt? A handshake?

I suppose I'm interested in other people's opinions. Does the Elite now encompass the well off middle class whatever their background? I don't know anyone with any influence nationally....
In context I'm from Manchester, went to a bog standard Comprehensive. DH from Luton. Our parents are respectively a printer, teacher, nurse and warehouse manager. We both benefited enormously from free university education (Oxbridge and Imperial) and the house price boom (we're late 40s) and are in lucrative jobs London living in an expensive house. We privately educate both children for secondary but not for primary.
This makes me the poshest person I could ever have imagined as a child BUT surely not this nebulous Elite???
I'm honestly interested in how other people see this...
(DH just laughing. He's now drinking a cup of tea in his dressing gown and a bow tie!)

@Janeymacaroni how do you afford all that on 65k?

Debutantes and suchlike

Was this a very long time ago, Pumpkin? I didn’t think debutantes still existed.

@chippychip1 I know lots of people who have acquired property through the years who are not high earners. Doesn’t mean anything in terms of social standing imo

We have 3 properties, all mortgage free and one property in the Lake District. We don’t rent them out, they are for our use

You are part of this country's housing shortage problem.

Yup. Kitchen islands are a mark of the elite: 'cause if you've got one you've got a shedload of floorspace you ain't using for aaaaanything else. Which means a big house. Which means lots of land, which means elite.
Also! Other markers: having enough of a financial cushion that inflation doesn't matter to you... having a home big enough to host a dinner party with more than 6 people on attendance, shouting at servants.

I have a kitchen island in a 960sqft 3 bed semi

Def very, very well off!

@Passthecherrycoke Why doesn't it? Particularly when in parts of England today a child's future economic security may depend on whether their parents were on the housing ladder on not regardless of said child's job. Plenty of people I've met stress the importance of owning over renting & a second home in the country or abroad seems to be considered very desirable.

Stealth boast

I'm definitely not elite. I do love houmous though. Or I did until I realised that they houmous I ate the other day has a salmonella recall on it
Also, I know what a kitchen island is, and a breakfast bar cos I have one but what is a kitchen peninsula??

Kitchen islands are a mark of the elite: 'cause if you've got one you've got a shedload of floorspace you ain't using for aaaaanything else. Which means a big house. Which means lots of land, which means elite

Or it could mean that you put an extension on your easily affordable 2 bed semi because the existing kitchen was the size of a postage stamp and you got a virtually interest free mortgage because you took a tracker out just before interest rates plummeted and then spend 10 years dithering about either moving or extending, so saved up most of the money to pay for it without really noticing. Because that's how we got a kitchen island.

Because they’re just normal chippy. Owning more than one property isn’t unusual at all

And I don't understand why people think hummus is posh. It's just about the cheapest food you can eat, especially if you make it yourself.

Humus was posh 30 years ago. They’re just behind the times. Also see people who think their children are adventurous for eating it

Because they’re just normal chippy. Owning more than one property isn’t unusual at all

Imo that depends on your generation.

I think a lot people don't recognise their privilege.

@chippychip1 we each had a property before we met, I didn’t always work part time. At most we made 85k. Dh is very good with investing and I worked in our favour. We don’t go on foreign holidays every year though.

@saraclara I didn’t say all of the properties were in the uk!! So thanks for your trying to pinpoint the uk housing crisis on me...

Yup. Kitchen islands are a mark of the elite: 'cause if you've got one you've got a shedload of floorspace you ain't using for aaaaanything else. Which means a big house. Which means lots of land, which means elite.

My island houses my sink! And my dishwasher! And quite a lot of other things! Not sure where you got the idea that they're just a box taking up a lot of space.

Chippy my in laws (pre war) and my parents (baby boomers) both own more than one property. From collecting them or inheritance. Many of my friends also do, and these properties were gained by remortgaging one to buy another. Also frequently they were gained through relationship break ups.

You’re right that it’s a privilage, of course it is. But being privileged doesn’t make you elite

Apparently I am 'traditional working class'

I would have said solidly middle class myself, parents were owner-occupier teachers, am a home owner and have a post-grad degree... eat hummus but don't have a kitchen island.

But on the basis of the BBC quiz, I shall start saying 'luxury' a lot with a northern accent

we each had a property before we met, I didn’t always work part time. At most we made 85k. Dh is very good with investing and I worked in our favour. We don’t go on foreign holidays every year though.

Well with the average household income for ftbs at 54k with an average deposit of 38k & an average age of 33 I think you would need to be earning & investing as a child to afford that these days.

Private education is quite elite what with 93% of children being state educated.

Chippy my in laws (pre war) and my parents (baby boomers) both own more than one property. From collecting them or inheritance. Many of my friends also do, and these properties were gained by remortgaging one to buy another. Also frequently they were gained through relationship break ups

Yes that's why I said it's generation specific. Very common for older people when lending wasn't so restricted for either own properties or buy to lets & tax was more favourable.

Younger generations are struggling to just own one.

You’re right that it’s a privilage, of course it is. But being privileged doesn’t make you elite

No it doesn't but it may make them keen to maintain the status quo & their privilege. I presume they are not all in favour of changes to inheritance tax or capital tax thresholds or selling their properties to tenants?

Are you a tax dodger?

Do you let out substandard overpriced properties?

Do you use your power to influence people for nefarious means?

If not, you're not the elite. Or at least, not the elite that people have issue with.

Well @chippychip1 you know how an “average” is calculated dont you?! I don’t need to go into the nitty gritty of our finances on here but I’ll give you a little insight. I bought a house myself as an NQT and overpaid from the beginning. My dh bought his house at the age of 19 and worked abroad while renting it for about 5 years. Before he met me. We have earned less at times as I gave up when we had our dc (4 years out) and dh did work abroad tax free for a period of 3 years. We had one inheritance with which we bought a campervan, the rest is savings for the dc. We sold my property as I had the most equity and bought our family home with the money. DHs old property is in another city and country so we use that for visiting family etc (too awkward to rent it out!)
The property in the Lake District we bought approx 7 years ago... we visit it once a month and plan on retiring there. We are both 37.

@Walkaround I actually have no problem with there being an 'intellectual elite' because everyone is different. And we should all look to other people's expertise in whatever area. Some people are academic, some arent. When socialism starts to suggest all people are the same, it becomes communism. If I need my plumbing fixed, I'll ask a plumber because they are the expert. If I want to know about GDP predictions post Brexit, I'll ask an expert in that.
I'm not too keen on the term 'elite' because it implies higher value to those with PhDs etc, which I don't agree with. Cleaners are as valuable as lawyers. But that's the language politicians are using, so I'm also using it to make my point.
Don't worry, in real life I argue pretty intelligently :)