To disagree with my work colleagues in thinking that the cost of living is a potentially serious social problem?

[Livingtothefull]

I was having a discussion with a few work colleagues, they were all 50-60 somethings and own their own properties, only small mortgages left etc. We are based in one of the major cities in the UK.

I said that it was a big problem that a lot of people, despite working hard & having good jobs and/or professional qualifications, couldn't afford to buy property and much of their salary went on rented accommodation which left them very little disposable income….also many jobs were insecure which left them worrying about being able to afford rent or to save.

I have previously talked to a few (mostly younger) people who are in this position. One person who is a police officer in his 30s complained that he had been a police offer for 12 years, been promoted but still couldn't get on the housing ladder.

I suggested to these colleagues that there was something intrinsically wrong when a police officer - doing a difficult, sometimes dangerous and necessary role - couldn't afford to buy himself even a small flat.
They all quite vehemently disagreed with me; their response was, that rather than complain about the cost of living, people should just go wherever the work and job security is and where housing is more affordable, and if that means moving away to a cheaper area then so be it (one or two of them pointed out that they had had to do this when they were starting out).

I was really quite surprised at their response: is it just me who thinks this way? How are people with personal/family ties to where they live supposed to just up & move? What about essential workers like nurses/police officers who are needed everywhere, not just in affordable areas?

I do feel that the 50-60s are a luckier generation (I belong to it btw) & I was surprised at their response, some of them have DCs? I do feel things are tougher for the younger generation & it can be difficult to get ahead, I think I have quite a lot of anecdotal evidence from them (no massive student loans in my day either). I just felt that the colleagues I spoke to weren't aware of how much the world has changed - but would be interested to know what others thought about this.

The house we just sold for £3.3 was a 5 bed Victorian semi - the kind of house you see in pretty much every city for probably a fraction of the price, I imagine.

As another poster just said large family homes are so expensive (they don't build them anymore which doesn't help) that even with a fantastic job they are out of the reach of many. I'm not sure how it's sustainable.

I'd lover know where in the country people are paying 70k for a 3 bed semi in a decent area as one pp claimed. I love in Bradford (voted worse place to love on the UK on 2015) and 70k would get you a small 2 bed terrace in the not that bad bbut it surrounded by 3 grotty council estates area I currently live in.
And good luck selling said house when you need to move up, BBC did a report last week about how there are certain areas of the country where there is basically no housing market because prices never recovered from the crash and Bradford was specifically named (and I'm living that reality now in a far too small house that won't sell for 20k less than it was bought for in 2008).

So yes millienials come to Bradford where housing is cheap, crime is high, unemployment is high, commuting costs to the nearest big city (leeds) are high, schools are largely failing and you too could live the dream life .

Live not love I friggin hate Bradford

Yes, poor transport links don't help. People don't always realise how poor they can be in the north and how this may prevent people from being able to get to somewhere like Leeds or Manchester where the job market isn't so bad.

Here in Manchester we have our own version of the housing crisis brewing. Meanwhile, in Burnley not too far away there's no shortage of housing. The bulk of it is below 100k, and even if you leave out the 10k doer uppers next to crack dens, there are still lots of cheap properties. But the rail service to Manchester is appalling, and the job market there is crap. If the trains were better, quicker and more reliable, it would be a more viable option for Manchester overspill. There's extensive social deprivation there, but that's also true of plenty of areas of Manchester that have seen a great deal of growth lately. They, however, have reliable transport links to get into Manchester city centre. Burnley does not.

"I'd love know where in the country people are paying 70k for a 3 bed semi in a decent area as one pp claimed."

Yes, me too. I got a decent 2 bed mid-terrace in an ok-but-not-great area for 120 5 years ago and that was a bargain because the sellers were divorcing and wanted a quick sale.

Yes, poor transport links don't help. People don't always realise how poor they can be in the north and how this may prevent people from being able to get to somewhere like Leeds or Manchester where the job market isn't so bad.

I don't think people realise bow bad it can be. I live a 15 minute drive to work, however I don't drive so on public transport it's more like an hour because I have to get a bus to town then another to work (I appreciate that to some people that's a short commute, I used to do 2 hours on public transport each way). I live very close to the city centre so it's not like I'm out in the sticks.

They're total hypocrites. Almost all the people I know of that generation were able to work, own property and live in the community they grew up in.

user Not all of the people you know of that generation, surely? You must live in rarefied circles. I know plenty of people of that generation who found themselves discriminated against in the field of employment, unable to take up any of the 'advantages' of that generation, and not owning their own houses.

I'm actually really fed up with this inter-generational conflict thing and am firmly with Anatidae and her analysis.

Almost all is what I said. No, I've lived a pretty impoverished existence myself.

Take a look at Liverpool. You can easily buy a home for less than £100k with public transportation links to parts of the city with jobs.

The Wirral too. Schools are not bad and there is so much to do. Places like new Brighton on the Wirral are looked down on by others but I think it's a fab place to raise a family if your income is going to remain low.

I don't think anyone's seriously suggesting there is nowhere in the country where you can get a 100k home in an area where there's public transport to get to a job market. There is. I live in somewhere similar myself.

It's just there's nowhere near enough of them to alleviate the cost of living crisis we have, they'll be a too-large multiple of local median wages and, most importantly, they won't stay sub 100k for long if lots of people start looking there.