Page 16 | Are things harder for millennials?

squidwid · 2023-03-27T07:18:20+00:00

Many of my friends don't own houses and they're in their 30s. They did everything that society asked of them and still they're not making headway. I know so many elderly people that live in 4 bedroom homes worth £400k plus. Obviously there is nothing wrong with that but families should be able to afford those houses so things can move on. No one can afford to buy them...

WiltingFlowerz · 28/03/2023 00:24

Those of us millennials who prioritised getting a house over other things such as travelling now have our houses

This comes across as unbelievably smug. Out of curiosity could you have managed to buy if you hadn't had the good fortune to meet a decent loving partner at a young age?

My priorities during my twenties were:

Trying to cope with two serious diseases, one diagnosed as a child and one at 22

Looking after a dying parent at 23

Cancelling a wedding to a manipulative arsehole at 25

Escaping an abusive relationship at 29

WiltingFlowerz · 28/03/2023 00:27

I was really vulnerable throughout my twenties. The reason I couldn't save to buy then was nothing to do with not prioritising a house deposit - survival took all my time and energy.

There are plenty of others like me and it's shitty to suggest that we didn't manage to buy because we lack priorities.

Try coping with early onset dementia in a parent in your twenties and see if you don't almost drown.

Tabitha2721 · 28/03/2023 00:44

Most definitely, and it makes me so angry 😠 previous generations have hoarded wealth and not passed it down, and this has impacted millennials to no end. Never mind the record house prices and bills and low wages! We have been set up to fail and yet all the environmental and economical issues are our fault too. I’ve never had a penny from anyone and my husband and I have worked our backsides off to get what we have, but it all just feels so unfair when previous generations had help (both financial and in the form of childcare!) and they don’t offer us the same grace. I might sound bitter, and I am! If anyone dares to start this conversation with me of a certain age, I do not hold back my thoughts 😆

pixie5121 · 28/03/2023 00:49

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Boomineck · 28/03/2023 00:49

@IDontWantToBeAPie I’m not disbelieving you but am just really curious where 2 bed flats are 700k but there’s nowhere relatively nearby that is doable for your work where you might get something within your budget.

pixie5121 · 28/03/2023 00:53

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Charlierae · 28/03/2023 00:57

I think it’s really difficult for any young adult/ adult now to get on the property ladder.

We are mid 40’s and mid 50’s. We both have good professional careers. We couldn’t afford, just based on out salaries, to buy our own house now. That’s quite mad. My first house was 3 times my fairly mediocre salary. I didn’t earn loads but it was achievable. It just isn’t now.

So, if you know it’s unachievable, of course you resign yourself to renting and have phones, Netflix etc instead. Why sacrifice luxuries for something you can’t get?

I also think that the next generation are in a worse place than we were. They leave uni with huge debt that now is paid immediately, go into jobs that earn maybe 25k and rent and house prices are both extremely high in comparison. And affordable or social housing isn’t available to most people anymore. So they stay home.

no one wins.

WiltingFlowerz · 28/03/2023 01:29

@pixie5121 Exactly. I have to laugh when ignorant people assume everyone in their twenties is living some sort of idyllic best life with great health and enough income for travel.

Like it's not that everyone gets to choose a house (the smart little cookies) or travelling (the dumb feckless ones).

Some of us had neither, and did the best we could to play the cards we were dealt.

greenspaces4peace · 28/03/2023 01:31

i believe the info is out there the "silent generation" had it the easiest in terms of work income and house prices.
however more people are familiar with the boomer generation and it's almost sport to demonize them.
personally we moved to the end of the country to near isolation to earn a living, worked in some mighty awful situations and were incredibly frugal when necessary. the situation today is not the same and comparing the two not helpful.
what is helpful and always has been is inheriting money or land. eventually the millennials will get their share.
my trio range in age from 38-40 and are doing fine own homes in decent locations but certainly remote and not city center.

XjustagirlX · 28/03/2023 05:11

llamazoo2 · 27/03/2023 19:02

Gen Z here. We have a deposit for a very modest 200k property where we could put down roots. Deposit is not the issue. The colossal, eye watering repayments are due to the interest rates. I don’t know that I can justify £1100 a month on a combined income of just under 4k. It seems so much, we’re pre kids and obviously in our 20s being Gen Z but I am really scratching my head. Sure rent is ‘dead money’ but so is interest payable to the bank.

We could afford it on our lifestyle now but it would leave zero wiggle room to drop working hours after future maternity leave, would make things so very tight if a big bill comes up or we realise we need more than 2 days a week childcare. I don’t want to feel like our lovely ‘owned’ home is a prison- working so hard, you’d expect to at least have a bit of free cash to play with

Things are harder for millennials and Gen Z than ever before, I don’t know the solution but I hope to God there is one otherwise what’s the point?!

@llamazoo2 i couldn’t read this and not comment.

just buy the house if you can now. £1,100 is about right with £4K take home. Generally use the formula 25% on mortgage, 25% on bills, 25% on savings and 25% on spends.

the first couple of years after buying a house are always the hardest. However in a couple of years, you will have more equity in the house, will get a better loan to value therefore will get a better interest rate. Also you may have pay rises depending on your jobs.

please don’t wait anymore years, the earlier you buy the better. You will find you are priced out unless you can save at the same rate as house prices are going up by.

dont wait until you have children to buy as then your affordability will be less due to childcare and maternity.

XjustagirlX · 28/03/2023 05:23

llamazoo2 · 27/03/2023 21:39

@CouldIHaveThatInEnglishPlease wow, sobering stats there. Mine also bought in 2000 for 130 and their house is worth 450 so similar, really. It’s fantastic for that generation but where does it leaves millennials/Gen Z etc

Do you mind me asking if you have children? We want to start a family later in the year but have been told if you don’t buy before kids you never will buy property. Problem is if we did buy, it would cost so much more than our rent which would make a lifestyle with a child way more financially strained. Catch 22!

@llamazoo2 definitely buy before having kids. I understand you are worried and it sounds like at the moment mortgage is more expensive than rent.

As time goes on your mortgage will be cheaper than rent. The first years are harder than later years. Nets will always increase. Your mortgage will be cheaper in real terms and will eventually finish once you pay it off.

malificent7 · 28/03/2023 06:15

To the person upthread who said millennials don't have to grow up with strikers...er...hello!

stayathomer · 28/03/2023 06:36

I’m in my 40s and yes, I think it’s awful how the housing situation has gone, here in Ireland I don’t know how anyone comes up with such a deposit! I do slightly laugh at the ‘the generation before have houses that can be worth 400k’ thing- our generation were always talking about how those before us could get bridging loans, and got houses for next to nothing and how, back then, anyone had the potential to be a homeowner.

stayathomer · 28/03/2023 06:46

winningeasy

My dad rattles around by himself in a 3 bed semi detached house (that he has owned outright for over 20 years) in an expensive area whilst my brother, wife and his three kids live in tiny two bed terrace council property.

I doubt it's ever crossed his mind to downsize so he can help my brother and his family out.
Downsize to what- do you want them to trade places and him to go to a smaller house/ a flat/ and possibly worse area? Perhaps A care home? Do you honestly never see yourself getting older and wanting to live in a place you know and are comfortable in? If he gives up his home he has no options- your brother and his wife have the rest of their lives to change their circumstances

GneissWork · 28/03/2023 06:55

malificent7 · 28/03/2023 06:15

To the person upthread who said millennials don't have to grow up with strikers...er...hello!

Millennials are already grown up?

NalafromtheLionKing · 28/03/2023 06:57

ThatFraggle · 27/03/2023 08:43

I think someone upthread put it perfectly.

When some of our grandparents were children, buying a TV was a big event. The whole street would gather in one house to watch the moon landings. Now you have a house with 4 TVs in it, plus four laptops and four mobile and no one blinks an eye.

To buy a new dress was something for Christmas/birthdays. Now some poor person in Bangladesh gets paid 2p to make one and we pay the cost of a sandwich to get it.

To someone of that generation it's like saying, 'yeah we use 20 pound notes to wipe the floor. They really clean it well then we throw them in the bin.

It's like 'this person has more money than sense.'

But the truth is that a couple with professional degrees, e.g. a teacher and a social worker can not afford to buy the house their Factory worker, plus housewife grandparents COULD buy.

They hear the grandchildren say, boo hoo, we can't afford a house. And they're thinking, you rent a house with twelve TV screens, new Primark clothes every month and think: surely if you weren't so extravagant/didn't use £20 notes as floor rags, you COULD afford it.

The multiples of average house price and average salary are not what they are thinking of.

Exactly this.

My GPs walked everywhere and had one tiny black and white TV. They had simple lives and had to prepare food from scratch and had no burden saving devices (twin tub for dirty non-disposable nappies instead of a washing machine 🤮). No other technology apart from a radio and no exotic holidays. New clothes were rare and it was ‘make do and mend’. Healthcare was very basic.

On the flip side, final salary pension schemes actually existed and houses were a great deal more affordable (though more lived as extended families) and the women usually didn’t have to work. They did spend a lot more time doing drudge work and popping out DC though!

On balance, I would choose to live today, though TBF I am in a far more fortunate financial position than many.

NalafromtheLionKing · 28/03/2023 06:59

NalafromtheLionKing · 28/03/2023 06:57

Exactly this.

My GPs walked everywhere and had one tiny black and white TV. They had simple lives and had to prepare food from scratch and had no burden saving devices (twin tub for dirty non-disposable nappies instead of a washing machine 🤮). No other technology apart from a radio and no exotic holidays. New clothes were rare and it was ‘make do and mend’. Healthcare was very basic.

On the flip side, final salary pension schemes actually existed and houses were a great deal more affordable (though more lived as extended families) and the women usually didn’t have to work. They did spend a lot more time doing drudge work and popping out DC though!

On balance, I would choose to live today, though TBF I am in a far more fortunate financial position than many.

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I forgot the outside toilets 🚽

EssexMan55 · 28/03/2023 07:03

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 27/03/2023 08:34

There's too much assuming going on about house affordability in the NE. Yes, in the London/Bristol areas 3bed semis are over 1mil, obviously that's insane to someone in the NE, but there does seem to be this thought on Mumsnet that if you move to the NE you can get a 3bed semi for 80k.

Which you absoloutley cannot. A typical 3bed semi in a generally nice area (good schools, a nice little high street, good transport links) is 300k plus.

Compare this with city centre London/Bristol - looks cheap. But it isn't actually cheap at all.

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No one starts with a 300k semi though. You buy a terraced house in a crappier area and work your way up. Very common in eg Sheffield and standard for the middle classes. Whilst in London that’s presumably not very possible without serious wealth nowadays.

Couldntgive2hoots · 28/03/2023 07:05

sst1234 · 27/03/2023 08:20

The question does not mean anything unless you tell us about house prices where they live. If they live London, it’s a different story to if they live in the northeast.

Not entirely. If they live in London their salary is also inflated compared to the north east.. its all relative

Cookiedough22 · 28/03/2023 07:11

25years ago I was earning £8 per hr as a assistant cook. Everything was a quarter of the price now and bought a 3 bed semi for £50k.

Im on minimum wage as a qualified cook
Now and only getting minimum wage of £1.50 more now and that same house now is worth £450k.

Not sure what has gone so wrong 🤷‍♀️

TheHoover · 28/03/2023 07:30

Just looked on Righmove at 2-bed flats in the zone 5 London area where we bought our first flat. There are quite a few around the £250,000 mark. We bought for £170000 on a 10% deposit that we scrimped and saved for. This is 18 years ago. Prior to this we were renting a 1-bed (saving money) and I had always saved a little whilst co-habiting in shared houses.

is this impossible for Z—ers today? Was it impossible for millennials? surely the main issues are if people want to buy alone which, I agree, is impossible.

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 28/03/2023 07:44

No one starts with a 300k semi though. You buy a terraced house in a crappier area and work your way up

The post wasn't comparing starter homes. It was just generally comparing north v south homes.

MermaidMummy06 · 28/03/2023 08:09

Property, most definitely harder, especially the deposit (but we earned much less). But not just prices - there's so much pressure to 'live'. 'Sacrifice to save' seems to be a reportable trend now. When we bought our first home it was a shith*le in a bad area and we literally scraped coins together to buy a coffee as a treat for a few years & DH worked two jobs. It was just what we did. I watch my friend's children complain they can't afford anything, then order dinner to be delivered while booking a weekend away.

Some things are easier, though.

I would have loved to have access to online jobs, nationwide and international, travel booking, accomodation, etc. This was all non existent when I finished school and in it's infancy when I started travelling. It would have given me confidence to go backpacking or move elsewhere. Living in a rural area where information was limited, it was a near impossible task.

Overthebow · 28/03/2023 08:10

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Withdrawn at poster's request.

I get your point, but actually it will if you add it up. Couple of pret sandwiches and Starbucks around £20 per week which is over £1k per year. Added to annual holiday abroad another £1k. Then other small things which aren’t much by themselves but add up, like Netflix and contract phones, another £300 per year. Hair and/or nails at £300 per year. That’s now £2.6k per year and that’s for one person. Two people that’s over £5k per year and 5 years of saving that would be £25k. That’s a decent amount to add to deposit savings and 5 years is a reasonable time to save. None of those are essential things.

JassyRadlett · 28/03/2023 08:28

TheHoover · 28/03/2023 07:30

Just looked on Righmove at 2-bed flats in the zone 5 London area where we bought our first flat. There are quite a few around the £250,000 mark. We bought for £170000 on a 10% deposit that we scrimped and saved for. This is 18 years ago. Prior to this we were renting a 1-bed (saving money) and I had always saved a little whilst co-habiting in shared houses.

is this impossible for Z—ers today? Was it impossible for millennials? surely the main issues are if people want to buy alone which, I agree, is impossible.

Isn't the other issue the cost of renting? We bought our first zone 6 place 15 years ago (wee flat, £210k, it recently sold for well over £400k...)

But the cost of us renting was so much lower, and so it was much much easier for us to scrimp and save that deposit, even living in Zone 2.

But when I was sharing in a v leafy and convenient bit of Zone 2, I was paying £550 a month for a massive room in a nice big mansion flat, the flat DH and I rented together would have gone up in rental price by a far greater percentage (judging by local rents) than the price of the property we bought.

We were really lucky to buy when we did, though not compared to some of our fellow Xers who met in their early 20s and got on the property ladder in the early to mid 2000s - the differential in where we are on the housing ladder is unlikely ever to be bridged. That's fine, we're way luckier than those who came even 5 years after us.