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?

*"I know a young couple (26), want to buy. They however want a three bedroom with large kitchen diner for dinner parties. They are not prepared to move into an ex HA flat (one bedroom)"

Just the mention of dinner parties tells you they're not average young people.*

But regardless of the dinner party thing. Presumably at 26 if children are something they want in the future it will only be a few years down the line so where is the sense in ploughing all their money into a one bed flat when in 2-3 years theyll be needing something bigger. And as tinsel states the jump between a starter home and a family home isn't small even in the cheap northern town I live in.

I am a bit worried that she has early onset dementia
I don't wish to be rude about your grandma but after reading your post I thought that maybe you should have her assessed by a doctor because a sudden change in personality can also be a symptom of things like dementia.

I hope I haven't upset you by saying this.

delete I could have written your post.

and buy even in a really grotty area with dreadful commute and it tends to pay off

no. it USED to pay off. When we bought you could buy in an "up and coming" area, rubbish homes in rubbish areas still increased in value, and any property was a stepping stone to the next rung of the ladder.

It's not the case any more.

If you buy today, it had better be in somewhere you're happy with because you're likely to be stuck with it and you can't count on value going up and not down

plenty of pensioners rent and exist on a low state pension. they are not all jetting round the world on luxury cruises. There is more similarity between the less well off older and younger people than between old and young in general. Nobody's disagreeing with that, however I commute on public transport, and I regularly hear older people bitching amongst themselves when they see a random young person on their phone "… they have all these gadgets and then they complain that they can't get a house.." . I have never, not ever, once, heard someone young loudly bitch to their friends about "that older person over there, probably just back from a cruise!"

I don't even agree with the current bedroom tax
Why not?

In private rented the minute your child moves out you have to make up the shortfall in rent between a 2 bedroom and a 1 bedroom property.

Why on Earth shouldn't those who are lucky enough to be in social housing not have to be on an equal footing??

Also don't forget that bedroom tax doesn't apply once you reach state pension age.

Yes I mentioned about pension age because effectively what the poster was suggesting was a bedroom tax on home owning old people when the same doesn't apply to social housing renting older people.

I don't agree with the bedroom tax in the main because here are t enough smaller properties for people to move into. Some people are desperate to downsize their social hosing home but they can't because nothing smaller is available and yet they still get hit by the bedroom tax if they are on hosing benefit.

Persiancatlady

I know, it's desperately worrying, she's so together in many other ways, quite a formidable character and point blank refuses to go to the Drs. We have mentioned it to her but she gets very aggressive about it so we back off.
I think we need to have a family meeting about it but not sure how to do it respectfully and without her feeling like we're going behind her back or ganging up on her.
Whole other thread really.

I have several friends who bought into the "property ladder" / "foot in" / "starter home" thing and fell foul of it because they missed the boat, and did it when "any property is good property" began to no longer apply:

A couple bought in a commuter town, a long commute, terrace new build.
They're in negative equity in the middle of nowhere! The town had a bit of a development boom just before the crash.. and then stagnated without any new buisinesses or services. There's kinda nothing there. They don't have a support system because everyone there commutes long hours to the city, they're now paying interest only and can't sell or move or do anything. There is a ghost estate across the road that never got finished and loads of the ones that did get finished are still up for sale. Even if they weren't in negative equity, they'ld have no chance of selling theirs.

Another single friend, again bought a starter flat in a commuter town. The commute is a killer. It's too far, she actually semi-lodges near work midweek now (pays half a weeks rent on a colleagues spare room). Flat is also in negative equity. When she bought everyone was climbing up the ladder so a flat was where most people started in their 20s, now, buyers are more likely to be in their 30 and needing a house not a flat with no outside space and only one parking space near no decent schools.

Everyone is basically "frozen" where they were in '08. Those of us who were lucky enough to get a decent house in a decent area before that can sell/move. Anyone who wasn't that far up the ladder by then are trapped where they were because the ladder no longer exists.

Stop recommending that people buy "starter homes". It's terrible and outdated advice!

sixis
I linked to the house in Catford because Teachers and Nurses and care assistants are expected to be able to find places to live round there on frozen salaries

my first house was a 3 bed terrace
it cost me £30k

I think we need to have a family meeting about it but not sure how to do it respectfully
However you tackle this it is going to be hard but I think that you know that it needs to be done.

Have you tried contacting adult SS (maybe anonymously) to ask for some advice on the situation?

Maybe a charity that works with older people could give you some advice or maybe a dementia charity??

I don't agree with the bedroom tax in the main because here are t enough smaller properties for people to move into
That is a fair point but I cannot agree with you but I do respect your opinion.

The reason that I cannot agree with you is because bedroom tax finally made PR and SH tenants be treated equally with regards to spare rooms.

Ideally as soon as SH tenants are at risk of bedroom tax they should be able to be allocated new suitable housing but right now there is not much chance of that happening.

My parents say this.

2 issues. One, scrimping for no visible gain is miserable.

Two. Student loans

raise taxes on those living alone in massive properties to incentivise them to move somewhere more appropriate.

Ummmm no thanks, I already pay high enough taxes and I work damn hard to get the money I've got, and I've chosen to spend it on a 4 bedroom house with 3 spare bedrooms.

I fully agree EnormousTiger. One of the reasons I work my arse off is so I can help DD to buy in the future. I also believe in aiming for jobs that pay. I researched jobs before I chose my degree. I would've liked to do music production but the chances of me making house buying money were small and I never had the kind of parental financial cushion to allow me to follow my heart and learn for learnings sake. I had to make the degree pay. I can have music as a hobby instead. You've got to play the long game.

One, scrimping for no visible gain is miserable.

yes yes yes yes yes

Scrimping and saving is actually very gratifying and enjoyable when you can see your goal getting ever closer, because you're saving for something achievable.

Why go without treats to save for a goal you can never get close to? That makes no sense.

When I bought, 100% mortgages were very common, we saved for a deposit anyway, but it was achievable because we basically set our own goal safe in the knowledge that we'ld get a good mortgage deal for having saved something towards a deposit. It was FUN! in a satisfying, watching the numbers edge towards our goal kinda geeky way. We have even kept the scruffy £10 fake tree we had because we have fond memories of working together to save up and reach our goal and now it has sentimental value because of that even though it's really cheap and tatty.

There's no fun or gratification in saving for something that's realistically out of your reach.

Oh and not only that, but interest rates were fab back then, our savings actually grew!

"Ummmm no thanks, I already pay high enough taxes and I work damn hard to get the money I've got, and I've chosen to spend it on a 4 bedroom house with 3 spare bedrooms."

Um. The aim would not be to be popular with people like you, it would be to help the housing crisis. Do you have an economic argument against my idea other than you just don't like it.

frikadela01 - they are really. One is call centre admin, one is a shop assistant in ASDA (joint income, prob less than 30K). Lovely young couple, but not realistic in what they can actually afford (and watch too many property shows where couples have a 600,000 budget and want to go on Come Dine with Me). They could buy a one bedroom flat around the corner from me for £160k but want three bedrooms. Why?
They continue to live with parents instead.

Well I don't spend money on tech ( just refused phone upgrade to keep bills low), fancy holidays, expensive food ( all from scratch, veggie, lidls) etc but I barely get by on my low paid job. I had an inheritance of 30k but most of that had to go on rent as my badly paid job in education and zero hour contract didn't allow me a mortgage esp as a single mum. Tax credits stopped.

I have just landed my first permanent job in ages bit now have no deposit and child dare will ear most of my wages. I am certainly not spending my cash on phones etc but will have very little left over even with universal credit.

My dad today told me that I was living the life of Riley on universal credits. Says he with the mortgage paid off, loads of hols and no financial concerns

Umless I can move from my lovely home into something equally pleasant but smaller, it won't happen. And until such places exist, then we won't move. Yes, we need to downsize for old age, and we have a lovely family home to sell in a few years, but I don't want to live in a council bungalow with rooms too small to swing a cat. I will find a big living and entertaining space with two decent bedrooms, or not move.

Do you have an economic argument against my idea other than you just don't like it.

Not an economic one, more of a; I don't believe in large punitive jealousy taxes being applied to people, just because certain other people don't agree with or don't like something that they are doing. I don't believe that's anyway to run a society.

The idea that all baby boomers could buy cheaply is also not the case - this is a generation where woman's wages weren't taken into consideration, so it was harder for a couple to buy, then when the wife's wage was taken into consideration in the early 70s (and had to be wife, it was very hard to get a mortgage unmarried), house prices jumped.

The big jump in house prices means you can't just buy a flat and then pay down the mortgage for 2/3 years to get your deposit for the next size up, and given the huge costs involved in moving, it does make more sense to rent and save for another year or two for many people.

Oh yeah... All my furniture I inherited from my nan including the white goods and the flat screen tv when she died. I have no idea why I'm so brassic all the time. Child are just wipes me out.

Child care even.

Just for interest I looked up the Cyber Monday deals and :

Carphone Warehouse, Vodafone
Apple iPhone 7 Black 128 GB 10 GB Data (4G)
£58.00 per month + £29.99 Up front cost

Sky Sports + Broadband Monthly cost with offers
£101.15 then £114.90 + One off cost £74

Total cost for 5 years £10,313 (unless my math is wrong)

Add in all the unnecessary foreign holidays, daily Costa, fashion updates, new car finance and all the other luxuries that are put on credit these days... I think its VERY possible to save up at least half a deposit living with your parents. Meet a partner who has the other half and your on the housing ladder. Bingo.