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 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.

Their house wasn't worth £400k then, so you are not comparing like with like.

You bought a maisonette for twice your salary - you could have bought a house for 3.5 times your salary and the value would have increased over 20 years while the mortgage was paid off at historically low rates. If your husband had bought his own place you would be in an even better position, without ever needing to face high interest rates. I just don't think our generation has much to complain of.

This thread, and the "does anyone actually live in Central London" thread have triggered me to Google the two London houses I grew up in.

House 1, Zone 1/Pimlico/SW1.
Parents bought it for £7K in 1970. Sold 1986 (both sales on my birthday by chance).
Last sold in 2013 for £1.9M, currently valued at £2.3M. 3-4 bed/4 storey/2 baths/leasehold terrace.

House 2, borders of Zones 2/3, Battersea/SW1
4 bed/2 baths terrace (now 5 bed, 3 baths)
Parents bought it for £85K in 1986.
Sold in for £299k in 1999

Last sold in March this year for £1.5M, with significant improvement. Utility added in cellar. Kitchen widened out over side return. Loft conversion to add bedroom and bathroom. En suite added to master bedroom.

These prices are eye watering to me in my Yorkshire newish build! We were not particularly flash people. We didn't have holidays (other than staying with rellies) to afford the SW1 house because my parents so wanted to live in central London. It was pretty cool going to school in S Ken and being able to bob up to Kings Rd and Covent Garden though!

[the SW1/SW11 move was to generate capital after a significant event much reduced income].

Letting people get into decades worth of debt for basic shelter is the biggest harm that was done to the UK population, you might need to give your head a double wobble and wake up.

1989... ouch

Nobody will be homeless, the banks will just extend people`s mortgage debt to 40 and 50 year loans and milk them for longer, I suspect only a tiny proportion of the people handing back the keys actually became homeless and slept on the streets, most just went and rented or stayed with friends/family. The sooner the UK property debt bubble bursts and people smell the coffe the better.

This. Interest rates are only part of the story