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.

The secret is to not compare oneself with other generations TBQH.

People under 35 have it tougher with student debts and high rents and high house pricces. But those who arent boomers and arent that young either dont have the same mix of problems and could have got on the property market even in london but maybe in not so desirable an area. Obvously not carers and the unemployed but many could have done so.

I know many between 35 and 55 and they dont own because of the choices they made when younger and not because of high house price and rents like now.

Im also in this group and i live in the southeast and in many areas it was possible to get a property but they didnt want to go through any hardship to do so and now regret it.

Others are happy renting and thats fine also.

Some baby boomers will never own property so we have to stop this intergenerational oneupmanship. Every generation had it hard in some ways.

The young among us with brexit and the tories and the current ait3uation may just be the generation to have it the hardest in the last 80 years. But who knows?

we didn't have the Bank of Mum and Dad in my younger days

What does this even mean? That parents never used to help their children? That all parents now help their children? Both are bollocks.

Those of you who have had help from their parents to buy a house (I don't know anyone who has) - does it come with a big dose of judgemental ignorance? Or do your parents understand the situation?

All the materialistic youngster business could be countered by the constant home improvements and holidays that my parents' generation spend on. I don't remember my grandparents going on six cruises a year while their children struggled.

purits that’s a lousy attitude. We need workers in London and the SE. Who will care for your children while you are at work if everyone moves out of the area? Who will sell you bread and milk? Who will clean your streets?

I’m lucky enough to have a job that I could do anywhere but I’m not so bloody closed minded as to realise how bad it would be for society if most low to medium earners moved away.

I’m sick of hearing it from my MIL at the moment. It was a different world when they bought. That’s my stock answer, the deposit to move into a rental property is more than the deposit they paid to buy their house.their mortgage payment was less than the monthly payment on our fiesta. Muuuch different world.

Life vs life, ours is harder by far.

I’m gen X and those of us who bought in our 20s probably had it easier than both boomers (in terms of not sacrificing that much) and millennials (in terms of not having to save that much). I bought several properties very easily and couldn’t have afforded those mortgages now. Somehow we don’t seem to get grumbled at. This sort of thread crops up every two weeks with boomers and millennials digging their heels in.

I think there is a difference in expectation. I felt luckily to have an inside loo.

The secret is to not compare oneself with other generations
But it is the older generation comparing themselves to the younger (with a lack of understanding that the situation has changed) that is the problem here, not the other way round.

I think back to having to buy a house in a very dodgy, unpopular area
The area was East Ham, and you can STILL buy a 3 bed terraced house for around 300k. And these are modernised with indoor plumbing!

ivykaty
The private rental sector is required to fill the void in council housing left by the right to buy schemes. I read your figures. Thatchers policy of selling on old housing stock in need of repair was a good one. What was ridiculous is that she failed to reinvest the money in newer housing stock. The money was ringfenced. And has now simply disappeared into the ether.

Anyone, who wants to be a private landlord and buy a btl has pretty much no chance these days. There is an additional 3% stamp duty to be paid. Unless the new landlord has a very hefty deposit - possibly even more than 100k on a 250k house - income generated by rental payments and associated costs are in many instances lower than rental payments. And interest rates are incredibly low right now so this will change when they increase. If they do, the average landlord, most of whom only own one property may face repossession and leave the tenant facing eviction.

Personally I think a lot of more recent landlords will sell up due to the changes in legislation, whereupon interest payments are no longer going to be offset against income. As a result, rents may well increase as demand will outstrip supply. I dont think these sales will make much difference to house prices at all. It certainly didn’t when the governmental plans were announced a couple of years ago and some landlords decided to cut their losses.

London has seen massive massive foreign investment in the past decade. It was suddenly seen as money launder city by foreign moguls wishing to offload their multiple millions of ill gotten gains. The house prices filtered down into ordinary London housing and also saw prices jumping exponentially in the surrounding areas. Coupled with this are second holiday home purchases in seaside towns, where locals are priced out of the market. As a generalisation, this is the reason as to why house prices have risen less the further north you go. I do, however, see there are some exceptions.

Foreign investment is the real reason for house price inflation. If it were private landlords responsible for the massive price rises in the South and London, house prices in the north would also have soared, wouldn’t they?

If you can't afford to buy in London, then don't buy in London. Why do people behave as though london is the be all and end all? Should all property in the capital city be affordable for everyone who fancies living there?

I think my DD has it better in lots of ways.
Easily a sil able contraception, and childcare means that she can continue working even when she decides to have children. That does improve her earning power over what mine was, which was nil.

There are forces at work controlling the real estate market. This situation is not the free market at all.

If a salary was £3000 per year and a house cost £21,000, what’s the difference between that and a salary of £30,000 and a house price of £210,000. The percentage is the same.

This generation ( and previous ones) will never accept that it was difficult in the past and older people can’t know how hard it is these days.

People do expect that their home will have central heating, a washing machine and tv. They expect a mobile phone and a takeaway or meal out. Different times. A washing machine and central heating were luxuries, people regarded as luxuries, things that we regard as necessities these days.

It’s a myth though, that all older people are living on fat pensions. Mine is well below average wage and costs have had to be cut. I have helped my children to get on the property ladder, which is why I have no savings, but when I mentioned that before, I was told in no uncertain terms that it was my own fault for helping them.

We’ll never understand the pressures that each generation faces or faced.

I think houses were a lot easier to buy and people didn't need a big deposit. But they were prepared to start off in a modest place in a not great area. And didn't expect to have everything yesterday while running up bills on credit cards and having all the latest must have's

The problem is that there aren't really the jobs in the not great areas any more..

I'm an 'X', I think, married to a 'boomer'. I have friends who are still working, go on cruises whilst they can still afford it, whilst some of their kids struggle because they haven't cut their cloth and have made daft choices. These 'kids' are mid 20s to mid 30s. At what point should my friends still be subsidising their kids?

There are not many cheap houses left in places where there is work. They have all been done up to make a profit.

Mummyoflittledragon

Housing prices have quadrupled in the area I live - as op area- and I’m not seeing foreign investment and I’m not in the south of the country

If you can't afford to buy in London, then don't buy in London. Why do people behave as though london is the be all and end all? Should all property in the capital city be affordable for everyone who fancies living there?

Because that is where the fucking work is that I do!!!!!!!

People don't get it. In some professions the majority of the bloody work is in London.

haven't cut their cloth and have made daft choices
I imagine there are other sides to those stories.

I could buy a £75,000 2 bed house in Motherwell in Scotland tomorrow. But where am I going to work?

I'd have to retrain as Scottish law is different and the work just isnt there the way that it is in London.

If you can't afford to buy in London, then don't buy in London. Why do people behave as though london is the be all and end all? Should all property in the capital city be affordable for everyone who fancies living there?

to take an example. We need teachers in London’s schools because, funnily enough , there are schools there. Where should teachers who need to teach in London live

We also need nurses, midwives, hospital staff everyone from caterers to cleaners in London

You cant just say leave london.

Headofthehive55 funnily enough I was going to mention indoor loos as not being a given for Baby Boomers.

Because that is where the fucking work is that I do!!!!!!!
People don't get it. In some professions the majority of the bloody work is in London.

So don't join that profession. It's all about weighing up the pro's and cons and coming to a decision. I decided a long time ago that London was a mug's game.