To think these baby boomers are missing the point?

[Hundredacrewoods]

I grew up in an area where house prices have quadrupled since 2000. I consider this an intergenerational equity issue. Whenever the topic of house prices and 'millennials' comes up with my parents' generation, all I hear is how hard they worked and how much they sacrificed to get on the property ladder. AIBU to think that they're missing the point? No one is denying that they worked hard and sacrificed. The point is that if they worked just as hard today, and made the same sacrifices, it wouldn't be anywhere near enough.

Sorry for typos and meant to put £117000 worth. He nowhere near doesn't that much on it, he did all the work on it himself so didn't use trades people or anything.

I just don’t understand why people are disagreeing on how much House prices have gone up compared to wages and how this now disadvantages younger people.
My parents in law bought their 4 bed family home 30 years ago for £49k, it’s now worth just over £400k. We’re in York - it’s in a nice part of the city on the outskirts but it’s not an exceptionally area, just a normal nice family home. The mortgage was only based on father in laws pretty ordinary but decent wage and they paid it off years ago.
The difference in wage/house is staggering these days - I don’t know how that can be disputed.

There weren't costas on every street corner, and you had few fewer choices of tv channel.
Certainly no Sky subscriptions, mobile contracts, netflix, and any other regular payment people justify these days.

Yes by not buying things that didn’t exist you didn’t spend money on them.

I agree house prices have gone up massively in comparison to wages. But simply quoting old house prices and current house prices tell you nothing. I remember full time jobs for £80 per week. You do have to take inflation into account as well.

I agree that you have to take many different aspects into account but you can look at previous wages/house prices and compare them to today’s and get a fairly accurate picture of just how far the reality of home ownership has drifted.
I’m lucky, my husband and I do own a family sized home but we have discussed our mortgage with our in laws and they were flabbergasted at A. The size of our deposit needed B. The things we have gone without (they stated that although they were careful they didn’t necessarily go without) and C. The length of our mortgage - they and all their friends were able to be mortgage free well before retirement and they’re all in nice large houses, bought from average careers.
It’s just fact that the ratio of House to wage is far greater now than it ever was. It’s not a criticism of baby boomers though a really conversation does need to happen about how to address the imbalance for future generations.

Clyd. Of course it can be disputed depending on where you live and what you buy. I've just had a quick look on Rightmove sold prices and found a flat not far from where I am sold for 23k in 1996 and 20k in 2014. I found a house that sold for 29k in 1995 and 57k in 2017.

There no point I'm blaming the boomers
Blame the governments who decade after decade ignored this issue and now we are left with this mess

But thats where they want us isn't it????

Oops. Typo. Not point in blaming the boomers I meant.

Noone is blaming the boomers...but we are asking them to have an insight into how things have changed.
My bb parent just cannot comprehend that teaching contracts are no longer permanent....thinks it's due to me being lazy.

But falang I doubt that it is an area with particularly well paid employment if toy can but a house for 57k. You'd still need a deposit of 3000 and a permanent job, which may as well be a million if you are renting and on minimum wage zero hours. Unless you've been looking at land registry and these are weird preferential/ part x / right to buy rates. In which case these figures aren't available to ftb's.

Chuck into the mix that it’s perfectly reasonable to also want to live in a nice area, have decent school catchments for an obtainable price - even bog standard family homes where I live are £300k+ if near a decent secondary school and this isn’t in the south!
Sure we could all squeeze into a tiny terraces or flats but since when did wanting an average family home become an unrealistic dream for so many.

I think tbf clyd families have always lived in flats and terraced houses.

Of course they have - so did we, our first child was born when we lived in a tiny flat. I just mean it’s harder to move up the property ladder to eventually reach the larger (bog standard 3/4 bed) family home that many baby boomers reached more easily - no, I know not all of them but many many did/have.

But it did kind of depend on the boomer, they didn't all whizz up the property ladder. And don't forget when they were growing up decent quality housing was in very short supply.

Talking about house prices on these threads is obviously ridiculous - we live in an expensive area in the north but I doubt we’d afford a two bed flat in central London, it’s all so subjective.
My point is that I’m sure we should all be able to agree across the generations that the divide between wages/house prices is (on average across the country) much much worse today. It’s just maths and it’s not baby boomers fault - they had their own issues at the time. The problem lies in that they’re cashing in on huge increases and at the same time wondering why their children and grandchildren are struggling so much, why we think they’ll be no pension when we get to age and why we’re worrying about caring for our parents in old age whilst still paying off sky high mortgages.

But is everyone struggling that much? I'm a gen x-er and it was OK for us to. Kinda glad I didn't have uni fees and have to buy my first house now because I think it's hard for younger people. But I don't think it was worse for people 40+ now than our parents so why the obsession with bbs?

Notthesoap and the point I was making with the two houses I bought in the 1970s was one increased far more than the other. In 1975 one at £7k and one at £9 one now worth £150k and one worth £500k. They are roughly a mile apart.

It is just "then" and now. Is is also when was "then" and also where.

Look at older boomers who bought in 1970 at £4975 and a bit younger but still boomers buying at £19925 in 1970. Big difference, still boomers. What about one of the youngest boomers who didn't buy till the 1990s. Maybe paying £70k or more. Are they the same as the ones who bought for under £5k. I don't know about other boomers but I just get fed up of being lumped into one homogonized group when we vary quite alot.

Well as I said, we own a house so obviously we did manage too but I do worry for my children’s generation as I see things only getting harder.
The issue with baby boomers isn’t personal, it government policies that aren’t sustainable - winter fuel allowances, free bus passes, triple lock pensions, tv license etc for people who can easily afford to pay their own way. I am NOT referring to older people on basic pensions who need all the help they can get. The bbs shouldn’t feel bad about these things but maybe should join in the conversation/vote accordingly to acknowledge that future generations just can’t have these same benefits. Paying for social care alone is a difficulty just waiting to be addressed.

Shimmerandshine Exactly. No, we didn't.

But it proves the point in this thread that house prices have increased to excess mainly down to the governments choices (whoever is in charge) and wages haven't kept up.

It doesn't matter per se what the sample given is - then this house cost x, now it costs y - what stands out and should ring true is that house prices are out of many people's range and the BTL business hasn't helped one jot. I'm sure BTL is nice for a landlord/lady who gets someone else to pay off a mortgage for them whilst making a nice profit in the process. But it isn't fair to the tenants living there to pay extortionate rents whilst they can't afford to save for a deposit themselves.

In a way social housing should be used as a stepping stone for people to get on their feet financially. Offer cheap places to Live for people that need them but give them the opportunity to save for a deposit of their own. Then when they can gather up a deposit they can move on to getting a mortgage and the property becomes available for the next family in need. That's the ideal solution. Instead council houses were sold off. And here we are. BTLs aren't without their drawbacks on society. But what would I know? I'm just a millennial.

None of my family either recent or past could never have afforded to live in the south or London.
it's not really about generations, but areas.
We would have loved to move to London, but couldn't afford to, so we stayed in the NW and own a couple of properties now.
We'd maybe have managed a one bed flat in London, we prefer a better standard of living.

My point is that I’m sure we should all be able to agree across the generations that the divide between wages/house prices is (on average across the country) much much worse today

Many bbs don't agree with it, they refuse to accept that. what can you do?!

My parents see the problems of today. Both baby boomers. One in their 70s, the other in their 60s. They think it's a crying shame things are the way they are (and they survived the Thatcher years).

Where’s that LostMyMojoSomewhere? I’m in the NE and that’s not a price I recognise for anywhere nearby!

NW not NE!