I live in London and am 31 but yet I know very few people who would be trapped renting all their lives.

[lavender2023]

I am wondering if this is atypical? I am talking about people I know personally. Of course we know people who rent or live with parents. Those who live with parents (long term) tend to be in 2 categories:
(a) long term sick or serious mental health issues; often not working, probably would struggle to buy or even rent their own place with or without a housing crisis as their problems are bigger than that (its a shortage of sheltered housing rather than housing per se)
(b) from cultures where this is normal and even expected.

The people I know who rent tend to be recent immigrants (last 2-3 years; the immigrants I know who have been here long enough to obtain ILR all own, including me) or they are renting for lifestyle reasons (could easily afford to buy but choose not to; or like someone I know whose parents own an apartment that he can live in rent free (but he wants to live in central London). I know two people in social housing but I would argue they are reasonably secure. Many of my neighbours are renters but then again many of them appear to be immigrants from places like HK (and are probably pretty recent).

Almost everyone I know who bought in London has received help from parents including me and DH (who live in his mum's house rent free for 3 years). Most people we know have gotten actual cash though. I used to know far more colleagues in my age group who rented but now that I am 31, most seem to have bought and the younger ones are increasingly staying at home while working in London. Given that the latter is what Dh and I did as young graduates in London, I highly doubt they would be forced into private rental as DH and I managed to save £90k in 3 years when living at home which still counts for something even in London with the current mortgage rates.

Logically, my experience is not the reality. the home ownership rate for those under 40 is something like 50%. So there are a lot of people out there in private rental. Yet I feel like it is something I read about in the papers. Is this why there has been no political consensus on the housing crisis because middle income people are insulated from it (even in London where the housing crisis is most acute). I must imagine people in cheaper areas must be truly insulated from it because a friend of mine on (less than £30k) can afford to buy a modest flat in the midlands on his own.

DH does have family who are in long term rental (don't think its choice) but they live in a different country so probably not fair to compare.

My eldest DS is 31 & just bought his first property in London with his partner. We helped with the deposit, but they'd saved quite a lot themselves already. Most of their friends are buying places.

Actually I hoped that people would share their experiences to see if this is an isolated incident.

But people on this thread are telling you, you live in a bubble! I have yet to see you accept that. You just keep countering with " but ...".

And of course, the current government are well aware of the housing situation but it's not in their principles or interests to make systematic change.

I think a huge swathe of the population don't want it to change, they want their house value to keep going up & then find dcs deposits, retirement etc. And certainly in the past multiple home ownership was a very easy route to making money compared to working for it yourself.

I guess my ds is living in a bubble like OP. But such bubbles clearly exist.

I'd love to know your definition of middle income @lavender2023
The upper quartile is about £45k

The main thing you have told us is that you, like most people, have a personalised view of society.

OP are you looking for explanation around why so many (vast swathes of the population) are struggling to find secure housing and face the prospect of renting for the rest of their lives (or the majority of their lives)? You seem nonplussed that anyone could be in that situation apart from the select groups you've mentioned (Extreme poverty, mental ill health, etc.).

Yeah, I could afford to earn a low income too if my parents had just bought me a house in London and given me ongoing financial support...

I’m not saying London is for everyone - of course plenty of people hate it!

But I have come across people who suddenly became anti-London after they moved out to buy. Literally as soon as they had to admit defeat on finding a suitable property here, they developed a disdain for ‘London life’ and ‘London culture’ (what they mean by this is never made clear, for some reason).

I know people struggling with housing but they had very specific circumstances like mental health problems or were very new immigrants. Yes it is very sad but that is not just linked to the housing crisis per se.

So is your confusion regarding: how is anyone who isn't a very new immigrant or suffering mental health problems (or other similar situation) struggling so much to find a route to home ownership in their lifetime?

Is that the crux of what you're asking?

@lavender2023 ok cool, so 400k, 10% deposit would take us…. 133.3 months to save up for with what we currently manage to put away each month.

That’s nearly 12 years.

Just accept that you are lucky and that you do live in a bubble. This thread is actually really frustrating and borderline insulting.

it is out of the ordinary. I was actually convinced when I was 25 that many people I knew would not be able to afford to buy their own places. But then I turned 31 and most people have bought or are in the process of buying (except those groups I mentioned).

I wonder if that feudal system is repeated in other cities.

I have to admit to being baffled by the obsessed with living in capital cities. Our council renovated small blocks of flats, three stories on the beach front in Wales. They offered the whole lot to immigrants because the government had asked for homes. They were refused because the immigrants wanted to live in cities. Our council smarted for a bit as did the village.

@Usernamen but maybe upon moving out they do dislike London? I think some people place huge importance of moving to London & being able to buy there. I'm don't particularly see London as this sparkling unicorn but I guess I'm complacent

How is it spiteful and mean-spirited to point out that some of the London hate is disingenuous?

You may not love and have pride in where you live, but I do, and it upsets me that people fabricate negative feelings out of bitterness.

Well its obvious why people can't afford to buy if they don't have family help or they don't earn a lot of money. the maths just doesn't stack up. What I am confused about is how so many people who look like they come from otherwise modest backgrounds actually manage it despite not being on very high incomes. I sometimes think that there would be a breaking point, but no people get more and more 'creative' including buying with siblings and the like and moving out to places i have never heard of (and doing hybrid working).

Do you think that your ill-informed and insulting post addresses this issue?

I mean, you somehow haven't even noticed that there are some ordinary working class people in London. So your observations aren't ever going to be ground breaking, are they?

Your post just says "I mix with privileged people, and almost everyone I know can buy a house. Anyone else in the same position?" It's not an intelligent analysis, is it?

They have family support.

There's loads of people pretending to be from working class backgrounds who actually come from generational wealth (and loads of people who chose not to work much because they rely on the bank of mum and dad).

the community. if you are a new immigrant you need the support system.

I mean i bought my flat for £400k. that is the budget for a lot of people who bought in Kent and felt they couldn't afford london cos they wanted a 3 bed house. I chose to live in london albeit in a flat. its a question of taste. there are people with a £1 million budget but who feel they can't afford London.

Don't be ridiculous, £400k is a vast sum and far out of the reach of normal working people who can't rely on handouts from parents.

Ok, your OP and most of your comments do not make that question very clear.

You're more confused about how anyone is managing it without family help and/or high income? I'm not sure that anyone is. Many people have family help that isn't objectively exceptional, but makes the difference in getting someone on the ladder. By which I mean, isn't a parent buying a house or providing the whole down payment, but maybe providing a small loan or providing free childcare, or perhaps a small inheritance. That might not be spoken about or obvious from the outside.

I think from the extremely high level of people struggling to buy, or even to afford rent, we can gather that without high income and/or family support, most people don't manage it.

A bit like the OP's DH.

We start off being told about the free school meals, but then it becomes clear there was a wealthy grandfather who was able to fund most of his mother's house purchase in London.

I know people struggling with housing but they had very specific circumstances like mental health problems or were very new immigrants

And all the millions in London alone you don't know?? You are proving you live In a bubble, even though you do seem to be having a hard time accepting that fact.

Nice try. Still spiteful and mean-spirited to say what you said.

I don’t know many people who rent in London for the simple reason the vast majority left due to crippling rents. I’m not exaggerating when I say over 50% of my friendship group has left London in the last 5 years, many to outside the U.K. as they weren’t even able to afford being ‘trapped’ renting forever here. And all were professionals, in well paying jobs and completely hobbled by rent costs when it came to saving for a deposit. And that was before the CoL and interest rates rises.

This is what I hear from the few journalists reporting housing that increasingly young middle/middle upper class are being affected by housing costs.

Op talks about people buying outside London and commuting in - I think last decade that's got even more expensive an option.

So wonder if it's also the Op age playing a role here.

There's media talk of fewer graduates heading to London - which might be good thing for wider economy - put off by high living costs. Most of our graduate friends lived and worked there in their 20 early 30s then moved out when marriage and kids happened - quiet a few ending up aboard.

If you do have a really high paying job and or low rent you'll be able to save and still buy - not everyone is going to have that and number you know who do and don't is heavily influenced by social circle you mix with.