The reason young people can't afford to buy houses

[GrabtharsHammer]

Is because they all have iPhones and Sky telly.

So sayeth my mother.

Nothing at all to do with the ridiculous house prices then? They are baby boomers and bought their first house for a few thousand quid on my dads modest salary.

Apparently the youth of today just need to get rid of their gadgets and telly subscriptions and then they will easily afford a deposit and mortgage.

Are everyone's parents this judgemental and out of touch or am I just particularly lucky?

(Fairly lighthearted) AIBU?

How have you worked that one out Churchill?

I think it boils down more to 'I refuse to see that other people may have different circumstances to me and I believe everyone has the same opportunities as me therefore if everyone made the same choices I did there wouldn't be a housing issue.'

Maxwellthecat, that's really sad.

53rd I know! It breaks my heart, on one hand I'm made up that she has access to people online and that she's not lonely, I'm also really proud of her that she has learnt to use the internet at her age. Then on the other hand I'm really concerned about what it's doing to her grip on reality, I am a bit worried that she has early onset dementia as she says things that happened online as though it was real. So for example my husband had posted something on a friends wall about the referendum (he works in European recruitment so was bricking it) and she got really upset saying that he'd rang her and said it to her, he most definitely hadn't but no persuading worked and she's convinced to this day it happened.
She also has no concept that everyone can see what she's posting so there was an article about a woman who was living her life as a cat and she posted in the comments 'well if that's what she wants that's fair enough but she should be treat like any stray cat and get neutered' and she couldn't understand why lots of people she didn't know were saying she was being nasty.

It's totally new territory, and I have no idea what to do!

The Median household income in the UK is £26,000
that means
half of all households (not individuals, households)
have income BELOW £26,000

"averages" are skewed by the super rich.
the Median does not lie.
Houses are utterly unaffordable due to the ponzi like nature of debt.

peace according to the ONS that median income is actually the median disposable household income which is not nearly the same as just income.

My 29 year old bro can't afford a house. But he can afford Thailand three times plus Vegas once a year 😅 But it's the government's fault of course. He also still lives at our parents (rent free).

sixis
sorry, yes, my error it is after tax
BUT as the tax threshold is now £11,000 and average rates are around £1600 per year
it means the pre tax income (the one for mortgages) is still under £35,000 per household
which does not go far when house prices are ten times that
visual.ons.gov.uk/uk-perspectives-2016-personal-and-household-finances-in-the-uk/

By disposable income, they simply mean after tax and Council Tax has been taken off. So for most people their wages minus Council Tax.

I have loads of friends and members of my family who have very different views to me but this is totally different, it's like a personality transplant.

^this! relatives who used to pride themselves in being a liberal progressive generation who got involved in causes in the 60s are now so right wing I can't bear talking to them! They have photos of themselves with "Ban the bomb" posters and went on anti-vietnam protests, and now they're sitting there sayng how they think that national service would do young people good!

How did it happen? they weren't always like this, it's scary.

They aren't 10 times that everywhere though. We are several rings up the ladder and our house is much less than 350k. The 3 bed terraced house I bought in 2000 for £25k is now worth an eye watering £120k which is affordable for a family with a household income of £35k but a lot of families on that income wouldn't want to buy that house because it is not in a desirable area. There are some sensible people who would happily buy that house and be able to afford it comfortably. But there are those who would rather say they can't afford to get onto the housing ladder, whilst sitting in their rented house planning their next long haul holiday with their 2 shiny newish cars sat outside. That house would just be beneath some people.
I know in many areas people on median or even average incomes just cannot afford to buy anything, no matter how hard they work and how many things they sacrifice because house prices are ridiculous in comparison to wages in some regions but that isn't the case in my region and many people do have household incomes around the median here.

Tinsel because they are set and want to protect what they have?

And I've just done a calculation and realised that our household disposable income is significantly below the Uk median.

Another problem causing a generation divide in my immediate circle is that none of us milenials would deny the BBs their pensions, their deal is as it should be for everyone! The problem is that we are finding it increasingly insensitive on their part to constantly tell us that they deserve to enjoy their retirements because they worked hard for them. It's insensitive because A. we're not going to have the opportunity to retire while we're still able to be active, and B. because sure, they did work hard, but they had career progression, no zero hours contracts, never had to work a bank holiday in their lives unless in emergency services or hospitality.. yet their (literally) pointing their fingers in our faces and saying "we deserve this", so what is your point? that we the melenials DON'T? Where's the humility and acknowledgement that they are the last generation to have those opportunities and to have an active retirement.

It's the insensitivity, none of us would like to see them lose their pensions, just some humility/sensitivity when they're talking to people who won't have those chances. When I retire I'll most likely require care, I won't be able to travel and tend my garden and take up hobbies!

I think the baby boomers had some things better than the younger generations, but certainly not all. As a woman I am very glad I was born in the 1980s and not 30 years earlier. My aunt had to resign from her job when she got married!

OP, I think your mum is being very unreasonable. But I am sure most baby boomers don't see it as black and white as that. Just like not all people my age will only accept a four bed new build with a pool like the example quoted a few pages back!

We bought a flat in London last year without any money from family. I find I get surprisingly irritated when people assume (as several posters on this thread have done) that anyone who buys these days got the deposit from their parents. We saved for years and it was bloody hard.

There was lots of luck involved as well of course; two of us on full time salaries, both in jobs where it is possible to do paid overtime, being in the right place at the right time when it came to finding a flat to buy. But that doesn't mean we didn't have to make lots of sacrifices (although actually we did both still have iphones ). So I can empathise with baby boomers who get frustrated at younger generations claiming they had it easy. Arguably they may have had it easier (on this specific issue) but that doesn't mean it was easy.

I'm not doing that calculation - It would be too depressing

Childcare costs are the other thing crippling us now. I know, I know, I should have bought a house before having kids. Well, DH had a pub business and went bankrupt in 2008 - so it was 6 years before he would even be considered for a mortgage after that. So we had kids. Cost of childcare for 2 children, 3 days a week, is £800 a month, and that's with the free hours for DD being over 3. Now, if we weren't paying that, we might get somewhere in saving for a deposit.

I don't understand this either. My goddaughter and her boyfriend have just bought a house in Berkshire for about GBP 300,000. They are late 20s and have been planning and saving since graduation.
I expect a wedding invitation within 12 months!
Both have "good" jobs, whatever that means.

Haven't read the full thread but just wanted to point out that even with a deposit you're not guaranteed a mortgage - I have a 20k deposit, earn 26k and am a single parent to 2DCs. In theory I can get a mortgage but the reality was that when the underwriters looked at my circumstances (I have after school childcare costs) via my bank statements my disposable income was only about £250/mth so they said they couldn't lend me the 125k I needed to get a 2bed semi in Scotland - this was in case the interest rates go up the calculators say I won't afford it. the house is not in a great area (mix of council and ex council so has some "colourful" people living in the area). I could potentially move but then because we are in small town my DCs would have to schools, etc and my transport and childcare costs would go up because I would have to commute.
What annoyed me the most about this whole situation is that I have been in rent for the past 5years paying £800pm and I've never missed a payment, my mortgage payments would be less at about £650 but the affordability calculator says I can't afford it - no logic at all. We have scrimped and saved and lived poorly for years on basics all in the hope of buying but there's no point really for us personally. Property prices here continue to rise and I can't save fast enough to keep pace.
Basically I'm saying that a lot more factors are now taken into account when getting a mortgage, my dad only had to speak to the local bank manager who knew my dad was good for the money and that was pretty much it. BB had it much easier in my opinion and I agree with all the posters saying that you love the yolo life when there's no productive endpoint to your saving - my sister with a job tied to London does this. She knows she will never afford to buy there so has many lovely holidays, good food all the time, gadgets, designer stuff, etc instead

Oh and to PENDANT I can bet you anything that your god daughter and her partner are either getting help from somewhere eg an inheritance, family, etc deposit wise or they are high earners because the income multiples and deposit size required to get a mortgage like that are huge -- so that in itself shows the issue with BBs not realising that housebuying was easier for them.

Flood the market with cheap prefabs

There are supposedly around half a million empty homes across the UK. Bring those back into use and we wouldn't need to build so many on green field sites. Lots of people would rather live in a characterful property in a city than in a modern box anyway.

I don't know what the rules are around empty properties but my mum has a friend who is house-wealthy - he owned three until recently. He has sold one, lives in one and the other is empty because he says letting is too much hassle but he does not want to sell it. Interestingly he had a visit from his local council who said they could force him to let it. I was surprised about this but I can see the value in making sure empty houses are used.

NotCarylChurchill it's one thing to make your life choices, it's another to make them and then complain that choosing 1+1 gives you 2 when really you want 1+1 to give you 5.

Half a million empty homes

Half a million plots ready to build that the developers are sitting on

One million second and holiday homes

Millions and millions of spare rooms in the large homes of babyboomers (that could be filled tax free under the rent a room scheme)

The housing shortage and the rising prices are both the result of political decisions not reality

It's infuriating. Even if people insist your £ goes on "gadgets" etc.

Iphones-£30 a month
Sky-£40 a month
Large tv, £300?
iPad £100 second hand

Etc etc

Adding that up doesn't give you a £30k deposit.