To wonder how we managed our mortgage when interest rates were 13.6%

[BlueBloodedBlue]

We bought our flat in 1990 with a mortgage rate of 13.6%

I know house prices were much lower but so were wages.

I'm obviously not minimising the current nightmare situation so many people are facing, I just don't really understand the economics so would be grateful if anyone is able to explain in simple terms please?

Actually I’m getting angry just thinking of it. Thatcher allowed council tenants to buy their house for 30% of its value and then paid 25% of the interest for them. No wonder so many blue collar workers adored the bitch.

To answer your question, DH worked 6 days a week, sometimes 7. I worked 2, sometimes 3 shifts a week opposite him, missing 2 or 3 nights sleep a week ( doing a night shift) and then looking after 2 under 3.

No free child care in those days. It was bloody hard going.

Yes Thatcher was a big driver of the generational divide. All of those council houses sold off meant that younger generations didn't and don't now have the option of council housing. The buyers often made big profits.

I remember opening the letter from the Building Society informing us of the 15% mortgage rate. I literally had to sit down. DH was working full time and I was part time, we had two small children, couldn’t afford childcare to allow me to work full time.
I took on a second job as a barmaid in the evenings when DH was home and he did extra shifts.
Credit was harder to obtain back then, we had to open a savings account with a building society to save the required 10% deposit for a house before they would consider us for a mortgage. This was commonplace.
Fast forward 25 years later, totally amazed when our daughter applied for a mortgage, no deposit needed, 100% mortgage, the lenders seemed to be throwing money at borrowers.

Please can we stop acting like it’s much harder for us now than it was in the 1980s/90s. Wages were far lower, most people had very little spare money.

Repossessions were really high then- it traumatised a generation.

It’s actually far harder nowadays for banks to repossess a house. And if millions of people can’t afford their mortgages all of a sudden they won’t make half the population homeless. Many will probably agree to holidays/adding on more years to the term, or simply recognising this is an extraordinary situation.

The situation we face is dire, but can we please end the attitude of “they had it so much easier than us when houses only cost 90p”. Because it’s bollocks.

@VestaTilley I completely agree. It was bloody hard with 2 of us working our arses off.

No free child care in those days. It was bloody hard going.

Is there free childcare now?

Yes and don’t forget the avocados.

There was absolutely nothing for my children unless I paid for it before they started reception.

So no

Please can we stop acting like it’s much harder for us now than it was in the 1980s/90s. Wages were far lower, most people had very little spare money.

No one said it wasn't hard & of course a lot less people were on fixed rates however house prices in relation to wages were better.

It’s called MuLtiPLeS!

"No free child care in those days. It was bloody hard going."

Wow, I didn't know childcare was free now. Mortgages were much more affordable back then too weren't they? That's how I remember it anyway

You have 15 hours a week?

"Wages were far lower"

Not when you put them alongside the average mortgage or rent payment. They were much better.

Fast forward 25 years later, totally amazed when our daughter applied for a mortgage, no deposit needed, 100% mortgage, the lenders seemed to be throwing money at borrowers.

which pretty much disappeared from the market after the 08 crash, 14 years ago.

It's not so much the people, as the borrowing criteria. We pushed ourselves to the "absolute limits" back in the 90s, but then "absolute limits" meant 2.5x joint salary, or 3x a single salary, not the higher multiples you can borrow now.

30 free hours from age 3 for working parents….that would have been great for me back in the day…my GC all attend ( attended) council nurseries so 9 to 3 pm free every day….just pay the wrap around….and £15 a day holiday club when they are at school…. I worked nights as a nurse when mine were small so this would have been an amazing help

@meateatingveggie I have nothing because I don't have kids that age.

That said, that 15 hours is not any old 15 hours. It very rarely fits well with normal working hours.

When your mortgage is 10x your salary as opposed to 3x your salary then, in comparison, it's not free is it?

@meateatingveggie

You have 15 hours a week?

If you can find a provider, you can get 15 hours for 38 weeks of the year for the term after your child turns 3. But you'll be paying through the nose for the other 14 weeks, additional hours.

@kitcat15 me too! I just went without sleep and got on with it because we had no choice

"30 free hours from age 3 for working parents….that would have been great for me back in the day…my GC all attend ( attended) council nurseries so 9 to 3 pm free every day….just pay the wrap around….and £15 a day holiday club when they are at school…. I worked nights as a nurse when mine were small so this would have been an amazing help"

Uh huh, but look at the difference in house/food/fuel prices in relation to wage increases.

@kitcat15 there is a limit on how much you can earn to be eligible for 30 hours.

in 1992 we borrowed £32,000 on a combined wage of around £10,000 to buy our first house. The interest rate was 7%

We managed, didn't have a great deal tbh, but got by.

"I just went without sleep and got on with it because we had no choice"

🤣 I was there, this is your rose tinted glasses talking. It's much harder for them now.

Went without sleep, what, every day?

I just went without sleep and got on with it because we had no choice

🙄