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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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

582 replies

BlancheBlue · 22/09/2016 12:13

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.

OP posts:
WhiteDraig · 01/10/2016 11:50

I'm very nearly 40 - even as a teenager we all knew that we'd be priced out of the rural village we grew up in - (though I never wanted to live rurally again if I could help it).

All people I grew up with left to live in towns and cities - we are now all worrying about how our children are going to afford anywhere to buy as everywhere is expensive. Many of us have moved north - and it's still hard.

Took 8 hard years saving and paying rent to save a deposit obviously I was earning a decent wage at the time as well.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23234033

We have wage rises since I actually last used this but at one point we could only afford to buy in 35 % of the UK now it's 62% but unfortunately not near DH work so he has a long commute.

WhiteDraig · 01/10/2016 11:50

The link is to a calculator about where you can afford to buy or rent based on deposit and amount you can pay a month.

MuffyTheUmpireSlayer · 01/10/2016 11:57

Wow whitedraig that's a really good calculator, thank you for sharing. I still can't afford to live locally but according to that I wouldn't have to move as far up north as I thought. (I still feel like I shouldn't have to leave London though!)

Me2017 · 01/10/2016 13:05

Very good calculator. I put in £10,000 deposit (not unreasonable for a couple yet to have children who both work full time to save £5k each) and can afford 1200 mortgage a month and going for the cheaper 2 bed places - children can share until they are 10+ as mine have.
That gives 78% of the UK affordable and just exclusives a bit around London.

Prices of entry level 1 - 3 bed places have risen in places where there are jobs on the whole. They have also risen because base rate is very very low and many mortgages only 3% interest rather than the 12% some of us used to pay. My mortgage was £90k a year interest a year at one point (not fun).

If you wanted no passing of mnoey between parent and child you would need to stop transfers during life times. I am giving the children what I can now in my 50s as I would much rather they had help now in their 20s then in 30 years' time when otherwise the state might take 40% in inheritance tax. There is no tax on life time gifts although we used to have it I think decades ago - capital transfer tax. If you could not make a gift to anyone without paying 40% iof the gift to the state that would be a bit complicated to enforce.

Also you could say those parents rich enough to have a spare bedroom could be penalised eg I don't charge my adult son rent so he is probably saving about £12,000 a year. You could change the law to say those who house adult children or their parents should pay 40% tax on a nominal rent from them even though no rent is paid. That would remove the unfairness of some parents housing children and others not.

You could also limit spending my parents on things like tutors for the children to get rid of that kind of advantage as that also tends to ensure the children get better paid jobs which is unfair on those children whose parents put no effort into them at all.

It is very hard to iron out disadvantage in practice.

WhiteDraig · 01/10/2016 13:48

Getting a mortgage approved is another issue of top of being able to afford repayments.

We had to have 40K and 5 k for fees saved before we could get a lender - despite no debt and good credit rating.

Last move looked like we could borrow 60 K more than we'd need. Came to properly apply we were going to be about £400 - £450 better of a month after move -( we'd fixed first mortgage at high rate of interest, local bills were lower, and transport and no weekly away accommodation needed) - kept getting turned down. Went back to old lender who did accept us.

I'd take the calculator as a guide and be a bit more conservative than it suggests and it once you start looking at areas when you factor in schools and catchments/distances you can find your choice even further restricted.

Me2017 · 01/10/2016 19:24

Yes schools complicated. In fact I say to everyone if you possibly can buy before you have a baby you have such a much better chance. My grandfather had my father at nearly 50 in order to afford to buy a house first. My parents were married and both working full time for 10 years before having children so they could afford to buy a house first. We bought our first proeprty together before our daughter was born. It can mean putting off gorgeous babies for ages and working hard as a couple in 2 full time jobs but it does making buying easier particuarly now your spending on things like childcare, meals out and all the rest of poured over item by item by the lenders.

Stillwishihadabs · 01/10/2016 23:04

It was soo much easier ( bought in 2001 aged 25) 3 bed flat zone 2 172K 100% mortgage. We spent our savings doing it up. We have never spent more than 1/4 to 1/3 of our take home pay on housing and are now sitting on a 600K 4 bedder in zone 3. Or dh's brother bought a flat on Clapham Common for 150k in 1998 he is now mortgage free, the flats worth 0.5 million he is 43. The 20 somethings I work with now just can't do this-so unfair.

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