To feel there is no future for children unless they

[Honeyyourfamilar]

unless they start a business or are super academic or excel in their careers.

I grew up in a working class neighbourhood in London (zone 6 so maybe not London London) and so many of the parents were normal working class people who owned their own homes: postman, bus drivers, dinner ladies, mechanics. There was a couple who both worked in supermarkets and they owned their own home. In a few families only the bloke worked and that was enough to sustain the family - I am maybe showing my age.

These were people in their early 30s who were financially secure. Now those houses are worth £500k plus and there is no way someone working a low paid job could afford that.

Two people making £30k a year will get £240k mortgage, where is the other amount going to come from?

I think that young people don't have a future here anyone.

The only way someone who isn't earning a decent wage can afford to buy a house is if they get an inheritance or if their parents sell their £500k house, that they purchased for £30k, and downsize, and give a deposit to their kids.

The amount of families renting and dependent on housing benefit is just a disgrace. It also means people stay in horrible relationships because they cannot afford to leave.

This country is a ***.

It isn't unique to the UK though - property prices in Barcelona are unaffordable for locals due to the growth in AirBnBs. The thing I find sad is if you go to central London at night - there are very few lights on in the apartment blocks. Far too many houses/flats were bought by foreign investors just to sit empty and increase in value. We've got to get back to houses being homes - not investment opportunities, not second homes, not AirBnBs.

You are being unreasonable to equate greater London with the rest of the UK.

I do agree the outlook is worse than it was in the 90s and house prices are far too high in comparison with salaries. But it's not as bad as you say if you look above Watford

I would advise that couple to move north and buy a reasonable starter house for around £200k.

Are there jobs there?

Of course there are. Do you really think that London is the only place that employs people?

My DH and I are gainfully employed in the East Midlands and live in a very nice house.

I think it is an issue everywhere. Same in Ireland, property and rent through the roof, cost of living just keeps going up and very few are in jobs that have wages increasing at the same rate. Disposable income has drastically reduced. I don't agree it is just an issue in London, many parts of the UK have an issue with unaffordable housing and rents.

No, everyone in the north is unemployed ??

No, obviously not. In the north we're all fat, lazy and on the dole. We spend our time sitting in the pub drinking endless pints or training whippets. Apart from the children, they leave school at 11 and go down the pit. Not to mine coal, there isn't any, just to crawl around on their hands and kness wearing a hoody looking for a gang to join

Same, 10 years ago we moved from the south up to the Midlands, 3 bed detached for £140k, the house does need work, but it's a roof over our heads with a garden. Plenty of jobs up here.

Of course there are jobs in the north. What an ignorant post.

I think this all the time OP. How has it come to this when in living memory working people had the sort of security that seems fantastical these days? Why are you being told to move to the other end of the country, away from where you grew up and your network, as though that’s to be expected for a working person?

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that, whilst this is happening to working people and increasingly middle class people, the wealthiest keep getting richer and richer and acquire more and more assets. Gary’s economics makes the point far more eloquently than I am able to, but he advocates a wealth tax on those with assets exceeding £10millon in value, using that tax revenue to counteract some of the effects of inequality.

If something doesn’t change, all that will matter in the future is how much you inherit. How hard you work will be irrelevant. I don’t think that’s good for society, or the individuals concerned, who would be princelings or paupers respectively. It will require big policy shifts, including assets coming back into the hands of the state, and the introduction of a wealth tax which has to be borne by those who have more than £10 million of assets.

Note this is not income tax. I think workers are already taxed enough, probably too much, whilst wealth is not taxed at the same level. Tax wealth, not work, and use those taxes to fund our services and help the government get the assets back.

ETA:,Hopefully by doing this, we will give our children a fighting chance at a fairer future.

£240k mortgage would buy you a very nice 2/3 bed house in Norfolk. Not everyone has to live / work in London! (I say that as someone who moved from London to Norfolk 15 years ago).

I'm in Ireland and I'd strongly advise kids who aren't super academic to get a trade. There is plenty of money to be made in plumbing, building, being an electrician and so on.

And we love it! Seriously though there's a massive amount of tattoo parlours, BetFreds and vape shops you can work in up here. Or, just normal jobs.

And buy a house for £150k.

But I do agree, my parents owned a three bedroom semi-detached in Winchester. Dad was on the equivalent of a teacher's salary and mum was always a sahm. We weren't rolling in it but we were fine, three kids even.

Move out of London? Though I’ll be honest I think there have always been normal people who can’t afford to buy a house so rent and there are many many places where renting is the norm.

snorts out coffee lol!!

Rose tinted spectacles

There was grinding poverty for many in the past. It wasn't easy for everyone

Is it really news to southerners that ‘up North’ we can buy a three bed 1930s semi for c. £200-250k in a perfectly safe neighbourhood or £350k in a leafy one near beautiful parks, work in a whole range of graduate jobs or skilled trades and enjoy great restaurants, theatre, museums etc ?? And wonder why on earth people want to stay somewhere where the same house costs three times as much, if not more? London is a great city to visit - for a few days. And no other city in the south can compete with Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds etc.

There was a couple who both worked in supermarkets and they owned their own home
Although it can't be denied that it was much easier to buy a house decades ago, I think there is a bit of a embellished story that is sprung about it.

Many such couples lived in council houses which they managed to buy later. Many didn't start owning 3 bedroom houses but started with flats and could only afford a house after their second or third purchase.

Many benefited from inheritance at an earlier age as people didn't live as long.

There were also fewer people looking to buy as single individuals.
My parent both worked FT starting their career but rented for quite some time before they were able to buy a flat. They didn't buy their first house until I was 5 or 6 years old with the help of their parents. That was living in London.

I worry about this for young people.

When my parents and in-laws were buying their first houses in the 60s/70s average mortgage was twice average salary.
Now it’s nearly 10x average salary!

Of course this is much worse in certain areas (London and other places too). It is still feasible to buy a small house worth £100k-£150k in certain areas.

And you’re not wrong about jobs. I’ll be encouraging my DC to start their own businesses.

Nail on the head. Get a skill such as a trade. Or a train driver. Not all the well paid jobs are academically based. A skill or trade in an area where demand is high and supply is low will give a good income, whether employed or self employed.

There are still lots of affordable places in the UK. Myself, siblings and contemporaries bought houses in early 20’s starting out in our careers. No help from parents aside from being able to live at home until we could save a small deposit 10-15k.

There is a problem when local people can't afford a decent lifestyle in their own capital city and when a lot of the capital city is owned by people from dodgy foreign regimes.

I have family in the midlands, they are comfortable on normal wages. many of us moved further away from London for affordability. The problem is it’s hard for young people with little family money to stay in London. But thats pretty much always the case, people have always moved for work and housing. It is a bit shit for someone who really wants to stay in their area but it’s life. House prices only fall if demand goes down.

London has always been expensive compared to the rest of the country.

my parents moved north in the early 80s to afford to buy a house.