If you bought your house since 1979 I have attached a list of the relevant interest rates....

[EllenWaiteourkid]

Bank of England base rate 1979-2017

Bank rate at year end (%)*
1979 17

1980 14

1981 14.375

1982 10

1983 9.0625

1984 9.5

1985 11.375

1986 10.875

1987 8.375

1988 12.875

1989 14.875

1990 13.875

1991 10.375

1992 6.875

1993 5.375

1994 6.125

1995 6.375

1996 5.9375

1997 7.25

1998 6.25

1999 5.5

2000 6

2001 4

2002 4

2003 3.75

2004 4.75

2005 4.5

2006 5

2007 5.5

2008 2

2009 0.5

2010 0.5

2011 0.5
2012 0.5
2013 0.5
2014 0.5
2015 0.5
2016 0.25
2017 0.5
2018 0.75
2020 0.25
2020 0.10
2021 0.25
2022 0.5
2022 0.75

We purchased in 1991 and then years later moved north/south never a good idea financially 🙄and quadrupled our mortgage, the baby that it looked like we were never going to have came along after ten years, so that was us down to one salary.

They were ummmmmmmm interesting times, so that is why when some people in our social circle think we are on the pigs back I make no apologies for being finally financially secure.

I've been making this point for a while.

Its not about the value of a house. Its about the affordability of a house. Its a different measure.

And when you look at that measure, it shows that affordability HAS significantly decreased.

But yeah that doesn't suit the narrative of those trying to say, everything will be fine and sticking their heads in the sand and ignoring the growing poverty...

It really sure what the point is OP. Back then people had to really scrimp and sacrifice to pay off the house they bought. Today they can't afford to buy the house in the first place as the prices are many more times income and the deposits are completely beyond most young people 😕. interest rates being low is kind of irrelevant if you aren't able to secure the deposit. It's like saying "interest rates are low so everyone can afford to pay off a super yacht'. No. No they can't.

We bought our current house 3 years ago. We were stretched to get it.

A house on our street which is very similar to ours has just gone on the market.

Its 38% more expensive than we paid.

I'm pretty sure that wages haven't gone up 38% in 3 years. So of course thats impacting on affordability and who can buy around here.

Certainly people who grew up around here can not stay. That wasn't the case 30 years ago.

My parents got caught out by being missold an endownment mortgage. They nearly lost our home as a kid with the crazy interest rates.

And they certainly don't for one second think that its easier to buy now. They'd never have been able to get a house in the first place.

I bought a house in 1991 for 75k and my interest rate was nearly 18%. That was the best deal we could get because my husband was self employed. But, I was lucky enough to sell it in 2006 for 280k. We were able to downsize and gift our kids deposits to get them on the property ladder. My life insurance paid out 5 years ago when I was diagnosed with incurable cancer which enabled us to pay our mortgage off early.
I realise that we've been very lucky though and I know that young people have it much harder than we did to afford to buy a home.

I didn’t have it worse. Definitely not. I lived in a deprived area with a larger than average percentage of people in absolute poverty, shortly after pit closures. The institute of fiscal studies collect data on wealth / income and below is a graph of people in absolute poverty over time from a gov website.

It’s difficult to ascertain the figure exactly due to the nature of the graph but around 35/37% of people were in absolute poverty in the late 80s, early 90s. This year, the figure was cited at 22% with a reported 2 million adults unable to eat properly; undoubtedly both will rise.

According to the graph, the difference is who this is hitting. In the past, it was reportedly primarily pensioners, whereas today it is affecting more younger people, families and so forth. I definitely remember there being a lot of media coverage because pensioners were struggling and the government at some stage, probably in the 1990s, changed policies to close the pensioner poverty divide.

Hopefully those days will be back soon, that is the kind of wake up call people need.

You can't buy a house in my area without two decent salaries. We're getting to the point where owning isn't worth the mortgage repayments. Out salaries have been stagnant for 3 years me not getting a payrise and dh pay rises not reaching inflation over the last few years. This wasn't what we had planned
I think decades ago your salaries didn't erode to such an extent vs your mortgage repayments. Also you probably were able to have a house that suited your needs, we had to buy a tiny tiny house that was falling apart for 5x our salaries unless we wanted to move to a different part of the country which at the time our jobs were linked to London and the train fares in our area were much cheaper than anywhere else (mine were £300 pm and is cheaper than many areas, did you have that in the 1980's plus extortionate council tax electricity and heating bills?!)

Now at least we are wfh and finally can move out of the SE although my 9yo is upset at the prospect I don't think we will be able to stay in the SE without eventually only paying a mortgage/car and childcare costs with no life at all. Alright for some but the have no family so we are really noticing the hits coming our way

You are hoping thousands of people will lose their homes? Seriously? 🙄

I agree things need to change, but I think that’s possible without actively wishing people become homeless.

Gosh. You are actively wishing harm on people.
And I though life was meant to be about progress and making things better.
Give your head a wobble.

THIS.

High interest rates were backed up with inflation linked payrises. A lot of debt was inflated away very quickly.

My Stepmum worked in a Building Society my Dad was a Van Driver. The house they easily bought in 1982 (nice part of the South East) is now worth 600k.

My MIL and FIL talk about how hard they had it buying a house aged 21, in the late 60s at multiples of TWO times ONE salary. While I don't dispute some people struggled, the point they miss spectacularly is at least they were able to struggle buying that house with non skilled jobs. The same 21 year olds now, can't even get close.

I'm nearly 50. I've had mortgage of some kind for 20 years, with 12 left to go. I think it's the assumptions from my parents' generation that bothers me.

My father in law talks to us like we're 20. Saying when he waa newlywed he just overpaid the mortgage (he worked in a factory, MIL did not work, 3 kids, no childcare. House now worth 400k) to get it paid off.

We both work, in professional jobs. We try to overpay, but it's impossible to pay it off quickly like he did. We were also hit by the 2008 crash which sent us into negative equity.

I'm not sure he understands. He has very comfortable retirement and just goes on about high interest rates back then, attributing his good fortune to simply working hard to overpay his mortgage on one salary.

i try to explain we're not young and just starting out with no kids and in need of advice. We simply can't overpay to the extent it's paid off, because we still have 100k left on our mortgage.

My parents worked in minimum wage jobs, yet moved up the housing ladder like ILs to afford a nice house now work 4-500k. That's just never been doable for us on two professional wages.
We still feel lucky, seeing what our own kids face.

You knob! What does this even mean?

There are lies, damned lies and statistics. In this case, using one set of statistics whilst totally ignoring other (e.g. house prices) is nonsense.

You knob! What does this even mean?

If anything, it should serve as a warning that it is possible for interest rates to climb to 15%.

It has happened before.

My parents worked in minimum wage jobs, yet moved up the housing ladder like ILs to afford a nice house now work 4-500k. That's just never been doable for us on two professional wages.

In fairness, if you are nearly 50 then it absolutely has been doable. You are a little older than me and my friends/siblings, and house prices 20 or 25 years ago were low and affordable on one average income (this is the only reason I own). Also interest rates have been low - I think people our age have been exceptionally lucky tbh.

i honestly think there’s more to it than houses were cheaper in the past but interest rates were higher versus houses are now far more expensive but interest rates were low (obviously rising now). There’s the insidious Jones’s creep now caused by social media.

In the past it was a lot more acceptable to have a pub wedding and second hand crockery in your new house. Drive around in an old car and slowly build your family life across the decades. Now the expectations are so much higher!!! Everything has to be top of the range including cars, kitchens, DIY and making do is out the window. The cost of life and keeping up with your peer group has changed so much.

Mine too , I had to get a second job .

25 years of pumping cheap money into Western economies came to an abrupt end earlier this year. It’s going to get much harder for everyone to achieve what they want to achieve now, whether that is houses, savings or building a business.

72% of our take home pay went to the mortgage payment when ours was at its highest.

We had not overstretched, interest rates just rose and rose and rose. God, the relief when they dropped.

I feel for those who will be on beans on toast and ramen noodle soup if rates continue to increase.

Did not feel "lucky". I think every generation has their own issues.

@Mummyoflittledragon how sure are you of £2 an hour? I started my first job waitressing in a local pub (definitely not a fancy one) in 1998 when I was 15, I was paid £4.31 an hour plus tips. I know this because I recently found an old wage slip in amongst some old photos. Seems odd he was working a proper full time job a few years prior for less than half the wage of a 15 year old waitress.
My parents bought their first house in 1981 two bed end terrace for £16k

Who are these people you refer to? And what's the wake up call they deserve?

My parents bought a 4 bed nice family home but nothing extravagant on one wage 30 years ago for under £200,000. It's now worth over a million. There is no way either my husband or I could afford not to work to pay our mortgage on a much smaller house. That's a wake up call of sorts.

I bought my maisonette 20 years ago for 56k. My salary was 28k. But on one salary I still couldn't have now owned a 400k house like ILs did on one salary though.

Even with 2 salaries now, our house isn't worth that. We took a big hit in 2008 too.
As acknowledged in my post, I have been very lucky compared to my kids.

But it’s sustained low interest rates that have fuelled growing house prices. Low rates lead to people borrowing more compared to their earnings.

100% positive. It wasn’t a permanent job for him. He was a temp and went through an agency. Some of the other people were temps, others permanent staff. Perhaps the permanent staff were paid more. Perhaps the agency got away with paying him a pittance as he was forrin. Idk. In any case, he still laughs at the pay rise to £2.20 for a different job and absolutely working his arse off at that one as it was very physical!

For context, I earned more in a different location a few years prior whilst still in my mid teens. He didn’t stick at the jobs long as he soon found better paid work once he could speak better English. But it wouldn’t have been the case for a lot of the other people as they weren’t likely to have had university qualifications.

The house my parents neighbours bought in 2964 for £6500 is currently on the market for £500,000 yes wages have gone up, but nowhere near the same percentage.

my parents worked bloody hard before they had us & when they had us my Dad worked days full time with a long commute & came home to bath & put us to bed, when mum went out to work. I know it was bloody hard for them. Things were tight (but as a child I never knew that, we were clothed, fed, warm & loved).

I remember the black outs & things like that, we made candles from old crayons & they made wine from blackberries, as a kid it was just enormous fun!!

but it's no longer the '70's & it's harder to live like that, people don't share stuff or time with neighbours as much (whichever Dad was home first would sort all the kids until the other got home so the mums could share one car to work, saving petrol).

it is pointless comparing apples & bananas.

im glad you became financially secure, but gloating is deeply unpleasant.