to want to literally throttle people saying "5% is nothing, interest rates used to be 13%" etc etc

[XCTX]

Yes, yes they did. But there is NO context here and also no comparison

interest rates were 13% at a time when the average house price was 60k and cost 4.5x the average salary.

The average house price is now 284k or so, and is c.7.6x the average salary.

People are coming off fixes and suddenly seeing their mortgages increase by 40, 50% and it is infuriating me that some are minimising this problem by comparing one finite moment in time with no context.

God, people who are completely out of touch giving their two pence.

I know someone who says things like this. She once suggested I rent a house - a whole house - and expected the rent to be 400pcm. They have no clue.

Theu also have no concept of the value of money.

To them, £100 is a huge amount of money, because it was a lot decades ago. So if they hear you spent that on a shopping trip, they're appalled. £25pcm on a phone contract? Scandalous! £10 for Netflix? Do you really need it?

But at the same time, they don't wince at all when they see the average house is now worth about 300k.

My siblings are boomers and watched house prices go up in leaps and bounds since they first bought in the 70s. It's not seen as strange to them I suppose that a modest place is so expensive now. Plus many are now asset rich because of it too. ( I know I'm generalizing here )

Ah and similarly the number of people who - when I was renting privately - suggested I consider a 'hard to let' council flat. In London! There is no 'hard to let' social housing left, it's not the 80s any more.

Absolutely no reason people should continually update their knowledge on this stuff when it no longer affects them - but it is annoying when they dismiss people's serious problems based on their outdated knowledge.

My cousin bought a flat in late 80's. It "only" cost 40K but she was earning 8K, so it was 5x salary. Interest rate 15%

At that time, most people had interest only mortgages. The cost of repaying capital as well would have been unaffordable

I wonder if most people now have capital repayment mortgages. If so, I guess interest only mortgages would help to save £.

Govt schemes towards deposits, reducing stamp duty etc aren't the solution IMHO, as they just fuel further price increases

Just play them this sketch
It was highly effective on my MIL

House prices rises vastly outstripping wage rises for decades is the key here (and probably massively increased childcare costs too).
I remember black Wednesday and it's aftermath and my parents concern about the rate rises. We will have similar I fear but this will be much much worse because everything is much more brittle. Most families have no way or getting more wages (many of my friends mums didn't work or when much growing up). Also this time round, there is no social safety net. Savings held are low and we have nearly 7 million people waiting for treatment on the NHS, that too will impact....
So yes it was shit back then but this could well be worse

Yes it's annoying OP. Those people are also ignoring the fact that wages were also going up and those 1970s interest rate rises came after years of increased prosperity and wage rises.

I listen to a podcast of Martin Lewis doing a financial section with the DJ Nihal.

Last week they did mortgages and also had a mortgage broker on. They said that due to larger mortgages due to higher house prices these days 6% interest rates will be just as hard to cope with and damaging as 15% was in the 1980s.

They were telling people to fix, consider whether it was worth paying early repayment charges to get a new deal, rearranging their other spending, look at working more or even look at downsizing or moving areas to keep their mortgages manageable.

Remember that this time these rises are on top of huge increases in food and energy increases.

Those people are also ignoring the fact that wages were also going up and those 1970s interest rate rises came after years of increased prosperity and wage rises.

this always gets forgotten, didn't wages grow something like 30% between 1970-1979.

My husbands aunt is like this. A boomer who had low energy bills decent nhs and free uni education..now means that young people are complaining aviyt the cost of living because it was hard in their day with an outside toilet blah blah.. she managed to retire at 55 with a good pension and very expensive house paid off...she had no idea. But she also voted Brexit, is racist and read athe daily mail so I dhoudlbt be surprised at her attitude.

No-one was forced into a 5 X salary mortgage. People took these mortgages so they could get the most expensive house they possibly could TO MAKE MORE EQUITY. House owners have overstretched themselves for years, not getting a house they can easily afford but pushing their personal boundaries in order to make money. This is now biting them on the bum, and repossessions will begin in the next 6 months or so. It's renters I feel sorry for, frequently paying as much in rent as they would for a mortgage, but never having the huge deposit that is needed (in the south) these days. Renters pay out for decades, can be forced to move out on a whim, leading to school relocations etc. House owners are the lucky ones, and have had years of very, very cheap loans. Suck it up.

Oh do piss off. People took out huge mortgages because it has been the only way to buy a house for years

No-one was forced into a 5 X salary mortgage. People took these mortgages so they could get the most expensive house they possibly could TO MAKE MORE EQUITY.

Undoubtedly some people did this & Im not worried about them as they will have deep pockets however the vast majority just wanted a secure home that was often cheaper then renting.

I think most people would prefer to not stretch themselves.

House owners are the lucky ones, and have had years of very, very cheap loans. Suck it up.

well surely that depends as to when you bought?

Agree with you OP. When I had 13% interest rates on my mortgage it was on a house that cost £50k.

There is a comparison though. In both time periods are struggling to pay their mortgages. My parents really struggled in the early 90s I know. I don't think it's fair to dismiss the circumstances today but not is it to dismiss what people went through back then when people were on average worse off than today (the economy hasn't grown in real terms as much as it should but it has grown)

Read the dates and rates below you numbnut!

No, you do it from the link I posted. Doubling down when you’ve shown your ignorance and calling people names isn’t a good look.

Jesus Christ. Okay brainiac, give me the dates from January 1992 to December 1999 that interest rates went above 10%, with the exception of 16 September 1992.

How sad that we are all turning on each other. Not going to help though is it?
Both generations had or will have it hard.
But a bit of empathy on both sides would really hope.
It was really hard in the 90's some of us had three jobs etc
But our expectations were lower too.
Even now it made me frugal through choice as the fear of going back to that still scares me. I have never had a new car and value time over material stuff because its too stressful to live beyond my means.
Instead of all turning on each other campaign for change.
Cheaper childcare, capped rents, more social housing.
One thing my generation did was activism.
Not worry about keeping up with endless consumerism and upgrades, celebrity adoration, huge expensive weddings, baby showers, gender reveals, hen parties in Ibiza and other displays of wealth.
Its not about coffee, nails, and iphones. Its the entitlement.
Some of this stuff is going to have to go.
I dont mind helping my kids out, but not if they prioritise this shit.

I see you’ve met my Mother.

It's usually morons who are sitting pretty in a paid-off house and are enjoying how much house prices have risen.

Exactly.

What this has reminded me, is that people can be horrible. Some people who have paid off their house, or who have a very small mortgage remaining, are just gleeful to see others being stuff with mega interest rates. Even though these people probably benefitted from either low prices quite some time ago, very low interest rates in recent past or both.