To wonder how the next generation will afford a house?

[Housepricewoes]

DH and I want to move to what will hopefully be our family home, in 2 years. Work commitments means we can't do it sooner but I'm stressing about how much house prices might rise in that time.

That got me thinking about how today's children will ever be able to buy a home.

I know it's a very British thing to aspire to home ownership but rightly or wrongly it is the norm.

Many of my friends and extended family have only been able to get on the property ladder with a significant hand out from the bank of mum and dad, but unless their circumstances drastically change, they are not going to be in a position to do the same for their children.

What do you think will happen about houses with the next generation?

[Ifpigscouldfly]

That's lovely jasmine ! It's just a shame so many parents won't be able to do that for their children. Or even if they can the dc may not be able to get employment in the area. It's going to be hard for a lot of people.

[Ifpigscouldfly]

Gamer why are they unsustainable ? I'm hoping to use the scheme - I can easily afford the mortgage but just trying to get the deposit while renting is harder.

[Creamycoolerwithcream]

I used to worry about this for DS1 who is now 25, her earns 22k a year, if met a partner on similar money its doable. When he was younger and earned about 14k I thought no way. I think people can often find a way to buy if they choose a cheap area. Its rare to stay in your first property for your whole life.

[jasminemai]

Im same as objection I bought at age 18 with minimal help from anyone but I had saved up 10k myself by that age. The only help I had was 550 off my nan and my mum paid a couple of months council tax. I worked a lot though, and still do.

[Thomyorke]

The biggest problem is the divide it will cause between the have and have nots. I am one of the made good from the council house to good employment and a home owner. Now I am not qualified to do my last job it went from 5 GCSE to graduate when I left and I would not be able to save for a deposit that you need today, the path I took is closed. My DCs should be ok, I have trust fund for my disabled child and enough to help with university and deposit for my other children.

[namechangenumber5]

My oh and I will have two homes paid off by the time I'm 54. In sure that's been made possible in part because my ovaries don't work, thereby allowing me to. We are in the south with standardised government wages, meaning that out posts earn the same wage in other cheaper areas of the country. We're lucky, we got in early and focused our efforts on what we knew we wanted. We are now in the home we will live in until we become elderly, by which time we will sell both houses and live off that income. I know this it's a fortunate position

[namechangenumber5]

Damn phone!

[namechangenumber5]

AS You say op, like it or not this had been a part of our culture. It will be odd transitioning to a way of life that means this is not the aspiration of the majority.

[BearsInMotion]

I just think it's unethical that one generation bought security at the cost of the next - surely there were better ways to save that don't mean that use majority of the those who don't inherit will struggle to ever own a home?

[morethanpotatoprints]

My ds1 is 22 and like the poster above didn't have any financial help from us.
Since 16 he has supported himself, paid for uni and done several jobs to save for a deposit.
he and his gf 21 are house hunting now and have been accepted for a mortgage.
They will only be able to start off in a 2 up 2 down terrace with small garden, but this is enough for them. They aren't planning a family anytime soon so think the house will suit for at least 10 years.
Neither is afraid of getting their hands dirty and ds is good at DIY after helping dh since he was little.
I think it is possible, but maybe this generation won't have to be too picky.

[expatinscotland]

What if you can't get a job in one of these 'cheaper' areas?

[Creamycoolerwithcream]

I mentioned 'cheaper' areas with regard to a few miles from where I live but near to where my DS works.

[jasminemai]

I lived 300 miles from my first property for nearly 4 years and got a job that came with really trampy room and lived in that.

[GrassIsSinging]

I agree Bear .... Even though I have profited from it in sone ways. Its all fucked up. There is such a divide now in London between home owners and their future generations, and those who cannot andprobably will never be able t offer their children that kind if security.

morethanpotato, you dont live in London, I'd lay money on it. Thing is, London is where a sixth of the UK population live because of the employment market. Yet housing is now becoming unaffordable for many, and no amount of hard work or good sense can solve that problem.

[aermingers]

The thing is in other European countries the financial system is geared up towards renting. It is affordable to rent in retirement. Tenancies are more secure and you can be fairly certain if you rent a home you can stay there for most of your life.

In this country if you don't have a house by retirement and you're not a social tenant you're pretty much fucked. Also a house is a pension pot for a lot of people now. Plus renting privately is not secure, landlords are badly regulated, rented houses often poorly maintained.

We are going to be in a situation in 50 years where there is a sharply dilineated society. Those who bought property when it was affordable will be able to have a comfortable retirement and pass on their wealth to their families. Those who weren't will spend it in extreme poverty and their families will remain poor as they will not inherit.

There appears to be no political will to provide affordable houses because the baby boomers want their houses to be worth a bomb and they retain political control.

[Housepricewoes]

morethan, I know it is still possible to buy a house at a young age now but I'm referring more to today's babies.

In 20 years where will they realistically get deposits from?

If house prices continue to increase disproportionately to incomes and their parents don't have the means to gift them large sums, what will they do?

I understand the argument that renting in Europe is better for tenants than it is here but I'm not sure how they manage once they retire. Surely the point of owning your own home is that once the mortgage is paid off your outgoings massively reduce and you can hopefully afford to live when your income reduces.

[Laquitar]

Can i ask -genuine question- which countries do people mean? I keep reading that in europe people dont aspureto home ownership but the only country it is mentioned is always Germany.
Do you mean the Northern Europe too?
As far as i know in Eastern and in South Europe people are a lot more keen into owning their house.
It is not like only the British think like this and they are weirdos. I think most people wherever they live in the world aspire to have their own house.

The only thing i find different is that in other European cities it is normal for wealthy families to live in flats. And to live in that flat for the rest of their lives, they don't move from area to area like the Londoners seem to do.

[expatinscotland]

Retire? LOL!

[morethanpotatoprints]

grass

No, we live NW, we couldn't afford London and turned down work there because of this.
It was our plan when younger, to live in London. I'm so glad we decided against it now.
Saying that though, wages are much lower here in comparison to the South.

[Sleepwhenidie]

Bears I think you'll find that the individuals investing in buy to let are doing so to provide security for the next generation, typically their own children, same as any of us. There are plenty of other 'unethical' investments (Nestle anyone?) that people choose too...

[jasminemai]

Housepricewoes - Most will live with their parents and move their dhs/dws in until they have enough like lots of people do now. I have friends up and down the country and most have mortgages in their 20s due to this type of thing or doing what I did. Only the ones that arent too bothered or have been travelling havent

[JacktheLab]

They will have a hard time I think getting onto the property ladder, we are trying to save money for our DS so he might have a chance of getting some sort for deposit together.

[Housepricewoes]

Most will live with their parents and move their dhs/dws in until they have enough like lots of people do now

I just can't see how even that will work in 20 years.

Those parents whose children are doing that now were lucky enough to buy big houses which facilitate it- people are now generally having to buy houses/flats smaller than they'd ideally like.

If you have a 2 bed house now with 2 DC's, you're not going to be able to allow the 2 DC's and their partners live with you, ie 6 adults in a 2 bed house.

[jasminemai]

Yeah of course you can you can have your living room as a bedroom as long as the room sizes are decent.