Aibu to think that "suspended adulthood" is going to lead to large problems?

[BlancheBlue]

www.theguardian.com/society/2016/sep/22/young-people-living-in-a-suspended-adulthood-finds-research

Just this really. There was a telling comment about this article with the ever increasing age profile of parents the chance of children knowing grandparents is going to be remote.

I think lots of the boomer generation really fail to understand this. Whenever it is said it is tough for young people que loads of "well I worked my arse off and owned a house by the time I was 21" type comments.

to TheSparrowHawk - and there you have it. And that's why houses are so expensive in London and the SE. Why can't people learn to make new friends for goodness sake. We did.

TheSparrowhawk

I will hire personally you as my logistics manager when I want to move

You can apply for jobs, interview for multiple positions, arrange annual leave to attend said interviews, potentially retrain if required (extremely niche job), visit potential properties to buy, deal with the aftermath of putting an offer in... I'm glad it's so easy for you

My point Jassy, which I keep making, is that it's not impossible for people to buy a house - they're making an active choice not to, in favour of other factors in their life. Which is absolutely fine, but whining about not being able to buy is then pointless.

My parents (we as a family) tightened their belts to buy too, but tightening belts these days won't allow you to save for the much larger deposit needed. My parents also had to pay massive interest rates on their mortgage but again it was doable. We still had a telly, phone and food (stews and beans but still food). So many today simply can't afford housing costs and living costs. Hence the rise in foodbanks. It's not all about iphones and tivo. It's about basic costs of living.

Bluesbaby - no thanks. Of course moving is hard but it's not impossible - people do it all the time. I've moved countries multiple times.

Problem is Jassy that sometimes you have to move away. I did at 18 to work in London, and from thence to the west country when we got married, so after 18, I never lived near my parents again; until my Mum moved down to be near us when I was 35 and she retired.

You also have to go where the work is at times, even if it does mean upping sticks to do that. Brussels wouldn't be my first choice, I'd prefer to be in our home in Cornwall, but Brussels is where dh's job was and is, so here I am, and have been for the best part of a decade.

I think people are afraid of change sometimes.

I would also point out that continental rental contracts are not all they are cracked up to be, and in fact, English contracts are far more beneficial to the tenants than Belgian ones. I speak as an English landlord and a Belgian tenant.

Sparrow

I totally agree.

Nobody is suggesting that you should move if you don't want to. But it's a sacrifice some people make in order to be a home owner.
When interest rates rocketed, we had the choice of being repossessed and having a half decent standard of living, not good by any stretch, or finding other ways to hold onto our house.
Friends and neighbours were being repossessed all around us and it was horrible to see people in such dire states. It was important for us to keep our home so we did what it took.
Eventually we gained, were able to move back up north to family and friends and gained much more for our money, but it took us 12 years of having absolutely nothing.
You have to do what it takes to get what is important to you, of course it's easier for some than others.
It isn't generational though as every generation has its risers and fallers.

the problem is house prices are TOO HIGH and renting is insecure
and it is not the fault of the older generations.
I bought my first terraced house in a market town in the 1970s for £8K with a salary of £4k pa (that was all the BS would lend me!)
I had second hand furniture and £2 left in the building society so we survived with coats on the bed instead of bedding.
I was a single parent paying for childcare - no tax credits or government help
At one time interest rates were over 10% and income tax rates around 30% and I had to have saved with a BS for at least a year for a 10% deposit.
It was tough - but it was not easy and just because these same houses are now going for £190K is nothing to do with me or my generation (I don't live there any more )
Some things that are not essential - cars, electric goods, insurance - are cheaper now but it is the cost of providing a roof over your head that is 'insane' whether buying or renting.

I'm trying to find data about cost of living in relation to wages over the years but it's not that easy to find. We need data that tells us:

• cost of housing across the country
• income across the country
• percentage of income needed for mortgage/rent
• deposit required and how long it would take to save it, factoring in thee basic costs of living (not inc iphones or other luxuries)

And then analyse it to see if it has changed over the years and whether it really is harder to save and then buy a home or if people are choosing to spend money on luxuries rather than save for a home.

I worry that what one sees as a luxury another may see as a basic need. For example, mobile phones - are they a luxury or are they required to function effectively in our society?

Mumsnet is so unquestioning sometimes.

Not everyone can just move away. If you have parents or relatives that need care, for instance. But more widely, for people born and raised in a place not to be part of that community because of house prices is an awful deprivation. I say this as someone who does live away from their family for work reasons, and yes, I own my own home.

House prices are not something that is unalterable - they are the outcome of a market, and that market is manipulable by policy and regulation - ultimately, by governments. There is a sound moral argument to say that cities ought to be diverse, and not accessible only by those who are wealthy enough to afford it. We can change house prices by building and regulating in the right ways, and we can make life a hell of a lot easier for tenants. I urge those of you who agree, and particularly those who find themselves on the wrong side of the divide, to check out "right to the city" movements.

Oh my.. such negativity expressed toward people who live in London.

Glad I don't have to mix with you provincial hillbillies.

House prices have gone up because of buy to let. Before that, if prices went up too high for first time buyers, they naturally fell. This cycle used to happen regularly. Buy to let changed that.

Yeah - and I'm also the child of two parents who moved significant distances for work so I fully understand that. I also witnessed the depression first hand at being so far away from all their family and friends, their support network. They had no one in my town. I don't want that.
I don't want to be 40, all alone and isolated. If that makes me spoilt, so be it. The fact is, it's a reality that it is not easy - I'm not saying it's impossible, not at all - but it does come at a great cost, and not just financial.

Buy to let and "accidental" landlords have wrecked the housing market.

toptoe - that data is available.

Summary in simple language here: www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/sep/02/housing-market-gulf-salaries-house-prices

I worry that what one sees as a luxury another may see as a basic need. For example, mobile phones - are they a luxury or are they required to function effectively in our society?

Exactly. We took ds back to uni at the weekend in the UK, and had to sort out a new phone contract for him. I do PAYG and don't have a smartphone, as I don't see the need for one, I just stick €50 on when I need it (and it's a phone my Mum bought but couldn't deal with), whilst we are paying now £50 per month including insurance for a Samsung Galaxy S7 (?) for ds with a contract from Three.

I think he would do just as well with PAYG and a non smartphone, but he tells me that one is essential to his existence, despite having a laptop, iPod and digital camera, all of which do what the smartphone does.

My parents are in their early 70's. They were able to get a council house- as could pretty much anyone.
They could buy a 3 bed house very easily on one teacher's salary. Inflation then went through the roof so the value of their house went up massively.
University was free.
There was full employment and jobs were secure ie no zero hours or temporary contracts.
It was possible for someone in a skilled manual job to buy a family home and for their wife not to work.
They could retire at 60 with generous pensions.
In comparison, my children will not be eligible for social housing so, if they want to leave home, will have to privately rent at a massively inflated cost.
If they go to university, they will leave with around £50,000 of debt. If they want to buy a home, they will have to save tens of thousands of pounds whilst probably on a low income, at the same time as trying to pay off their student loan.
They probably won't get to retire until they're 75 if they're lucky and there won't be a state pension.
I know every generation has its own challenges but it's stupid to try and deny the issues that young people face.
I was listening to a R4 programme the other night saying that retirement is 'over'. People are living too long and the sums simply don't add up for future generations to stop working.
And as for all the 'just move' advice, what if all the teachers, social workers, nurses and firefighters 'just move?' Who is going to teach the children and care for patients?
It's wrong that ordinary people on decent wages are being priced out of a large area of the country.
And it's ironic that nobody can criticise baby boomers but it's fine to describe a whole generation as greedy and lazy.

You don't have to tell me that bluesbaby - my entire birth family is in a different country. It would be nice to be near them but in my home town there just aren't enough opportunities for us. So we made a choice.

Here is the main graph you need tho - house price to earnings ratio. Bear in mind that this only covers from the mid 80s - those who bought earlier were in an even better position.

Scaryteacher - £50 per month??? Fuck me, that's a total rip off.

If I move, we would then also need to find £££ a month in care costs as my parents would need someone paid to help them

Just move, it isn't that easy

gilly i disagree with you. The previous generation was less Linley to move out the area where they grew up than people do now.
The fact you did dies t mean everyone did! But somehow the number of people owning their house was higher than it is now.
So the relationship between 'not wanting to move' and 'not having g a house' isn't clear IMO

I ansi do think that blue is raising a good point. Owning a house is great but at what cost to your quality of life? I'm not talking about 'sacrifices' and struggling fur a while financially. I'm talking about the overall wellbeing of the family, aka the social side, tenstionshis with the family, having a support network etc etc. All the things that are making life much easier. It's hard to put a price tag on that but it has a cost that needs to be taken j to account t when you are moving.

Smallfox there is life (and very nice it is too), outside the M25!

BlancheBlue, ads an accidental landlord (HM Forces posted abroad, wanted to keep our house), how have we 'wrecked' the housing market? My place is our third house, and not FTB stuff at all, being large, detached and old.

No, it isn't easy Artanco. Sacrifices and choices must be made. That's life.

Before the 1980s, there were very strict controls in getting a mortgage. Women struggled to get a mortgage on their own, lots of checks were made and many banks asked for character references. Anyone talking about their parents getting a mortgage in the 70s, 60s or 50s, needs to understand that. And many middle class jobs like teachers or bank managers were much better paid then, so it is not comparable to now.
It was in the 80s that mortgages started to really open up.