to reaally not be able to understand why, people say they can't afford to buy or rent a house if they are working?

[iamtrickyjigsaw]

i mean me and dh don't earn much, but we managed it just about.
i just can't understand all these peple on here saying i can't afford rent or a morgage.

NDTH, now that is a good idea.

[puts on make-up and goes out to find home owning man]

Oh FFS, it is true and it is very unfair that some people can work their bottoms off and never get to own their own home.

BUT we are all aware that there has been rampant unwise consumer spending in last 10 years (or so). If more people had been prudent about saving and planning financially wisely, rather than juggling debt on 0% credit cards and embracing the Primark culture (buy it once, throw it away without even washing it once, buy another, etc.) -- probably many more people would have been on the property ladder.

I know a guy who kept buying specialist music equipment on credit, even with bailiffs knocking on his door he wouldn't sell it (would ruin the quality of his life, he said).

We know people who bought property on intrest only mortgages, claiming that's all they could afford, and then did things like buy a 2000-pound home cinema system, rather than try to do anything to pay off principal on the mortgage. I know several people without kids who insisted they had to have a 3 bed house with offroad parking --they wouldn't even consider buying a small flat just to get their toes on the ladder.

A dear friend just had her house repossessed , lest you all think I'm unfeeling bitch.

only those who are doing pretty well financially talk of the 'property ladder'. Most people just want a place to call home, they are not planning - and not able - to move 'up' anywhere.

SO many people, so little understanding of others' lives.

'only those who are doing pretty well financially talk of the 'property ladder'. Most people just want a place to call home, they are not planning - and not able - to move 'up' anywhere.

SO many people, so little understanding of others' lives. '

AMEN!

Like I said, the mythical 'ladder', right up there with company loyalty, final salary pension schemes and unicorns.

lol

when I bought my first house in 1998 it was a new build and the developer paid the deposit.

When I sold it two years later I sold it for 13k more than I'd paid for it (although actually it was 16k as the deposit had been 3k) which I then used to fund the deposit on my next house. And when I sold that i had considerably more equity so was fortunate in that I could have a less than 75% mortgage on this house.

The difference though between now and then is that back then (and that was only 10 years ago) my first house cost 60k. And that was a 3 bed house in Cardiff which is one of the places where prices have gone up the most.

Now you couldn't buy a house in Cardiff for twice that. And yet salaries haven't doubled in the past 10 years (well most haven't anyway).

And now the situation is going to be for a while that once you a buy a property you're not easily going to be able to move as prices aren't going up so you're not going to have the equity from the current property to put into the next one up.

not reading the entire thread, my brain might implode.

am loving 'trollskymctroll', and I will agree with upsind too -"'And before anyone makes smart remarks about how he should get a better job or turn back time so he can buy before the boom - not everyone is as fortunate as you and sneering at the unlucky is really not decent. '"

and now add my two penneth'worth.......

DH and I married in 1993. we were extrordinarily lucky, we bought in the crash from the last recession. Our first 2bed flat (with free-hold too.....lucky pair that we were) was £33k.

in 1997, and two DD's later, we needed more space. All we could afford at that time was just under £50k........not a lot in todays money, and not a lot then TBH either.

we found a house within our price range......happened to be an ex-council house. it was up for £54k, we offered £48k, they turned us down so we went up to our max, £50k, which luckily they accepted.

what I forget to say is that it took over 3mths to find this house.....all others in our price range were either in dreadful states of repair, or in area's we were not willing to move into. and this was in 1997......apparently a 'good time to buy'.....do not forget, 1997 was when labour came into power!

we struggled. we have always struggled. DH earns a good wage going on what many earn, but we have five children, three of whom have immune deficiancies.......we do not qualify for any benefits as until this week, we had no recognisable name for what my children have. having said all that.....by many stantards, we do very well. we can afford for our children to do a lot of after school clubs and we eat fairly well.......altho that is with high cost foods due to severe allergies.

we even manage holidays, altho england only hols(which the children love).

fast forward to 2008........

our house is now worth £210K. 4 TIMES ITS WORTH from when we bought it!!!!

our wages however have not increased by 4 times tho......

if ours have not, then I really don;t think that anyone elses have. if they have, then I want their jobs!

THIS is why people now cannot afford houses. not because they fritter their income, but because houses have become silly prices, and income has not matched.

oh, and we did have a deposit.......we only needed £2000......easily saved for at that point, especially as I had that money from my nana dying and a small trust fund that matured when I was 18. How much would a deposit be nowadays???

I feel very very worried for families now, and for my childrens future. WE were lucky, and I thank god every day for that. Others are not so lucky.....who are you to make them feel worse????

oh god, I killed the thread

This is why I object so much to tax payers money being used to prop up the housing market or prevent the crash which is long, long over due.
If you remortgaged to build an extension, go on a dream holiday, get married what ever, I hope you enjoyed it but it is not my problem so when you need to downsize, get divorced whatever do not add your jollies to the price of the house, it is not going to be paid for by me.
Those who just got sucked and paid over the odds I also have little sympathy for, I personally have been banging on about this over stretched bubble bursting for 3 years, the writing was on the wall in 2005.
My first house was £32,000 I was earning £18 at the time (1996) and really that is the only way people will ever afford homes, when a repayment mortgage is 25% of your take home salary.
If everyone of us tells a first time buyer to refuse to buy until the figures stack up, then the prices have to drop, we really can save a generation from debt ensalvement.
And breath ....

Squeaky I am a year younger than you, and also bought in the late eighties. Like you we scrimped and saved to get together deposit - and needed help from family (I was a clerk, my partner in manual work). We had a mortgage that meant we had similar furniture to yours- scrounged, borrowed etc etc. So far pretty familiar, I imagine. We were also in Surrey.

Difference is, we split up - and sold up (thankfully without children). Thanks to the economic wobbles of the time, we made only a small profit, and I used my half to help fund a degree, to up my chances of a better job, a better future etc. I am now in a much better job, married to a man in a good profession (he has PhD from Oxford no less) with one dd. And you know what? A mortgage that would allow us to buy anything other than a tiny one bedroom flat round here is a pipe dream. As others (hiya expat) have said, the discrepancy between wage rises and the rise in house prices is phenomenal. What you and i both did in the eighties is just not possible now. It is a totally different ball game out here.

Apologies for length of post, but I do understand how those who have struggled to buy in the past don't get it. And should be bloody grateful that they don't have to.

Yay Psycho (was typing when you posted).

I feel so lucky to have my little house.

We were offered a mortgage 5 times our joint income but I;m a cheap scate.... We got a little house in the middle of an ex-council estate for much much less because we were thinking of having baby. My parents thought we were daft as we got a fixed rate for 5 years and could have 'afforded' somewhere higher up the ladder.

We felt a lot of oressure to buy as much as we could afford (not just from estate agents) so I can see why some may find themselves in the crap.

I have to admit that when people asked my address at work (most are older than me) I was a teeny bit relucntant to name the housing estate. I have always loved our little house (it fts us perfectly!) and we can only just afford it but now I';m sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo grateful to have it.

At the end of the day I hope as many poele as possible have someway secure to call home. I;m happier in my little cheap house than I would be in a bigger house somewhere more expensive worrying about the mortgage.

And I feel charity shop and furniture given when old people have died look is very in....

And using bookshelves as insulation ....

And terry nappies drying as curtains....

Think we live in one of the cheapest areas in Britain thought - GOD knows howw those in more expensive ares cope!

liska

I bought a house on my first graduate salary back in the mid-80s. 100% mortgage, 3 x my salary. The same house now would take 2 graduate starting salaries in the same company to be able to buy exactly the same house. A new graduate couldn't buy a house round here. We bought this house 20 years ago, we couldn't afford to buy it now, nor could most of our neighbours.

I got together with DH in '99.

We were together a couple of years and decided that we should start thinking about buying a place together (both low wages). Prices were just starting to go up a bit, but we felt that we would have time to save a deposit, get better jobs, and buy somewhere. Then things went nuts.

There is no way we can afford a place now or any time in the forseeable future without a lottery win. Our rent is a couple of hundred £ more than Psycho's mortgage a month, our income is less (in proportion to kids etc still afaik). Our rent is still less than many for a house this size in this area.

Housing prices are shit.

good job you take yoour profile with ya flame.....was wondering how well you knew me going on the fact that I did not say our mortgage payments in my post....

!

Expat, I feel you are being very unfair. "TrollskyMcTroll" indeed. How do you know the OP is scottish?

Was wondering if that would freak you out

@ quattro

it did flame.....I read your post, went and read ours, and then twigged with the "met DH in 1999"......sounded familiar enough to click on profile.

She could be Polish, though, Quattro, hence 'Trollsky'.

Actually, I was about to start a thread in AIBU.

'AIBU to find it really deflating when you think you've sunk your teeth into a really good troll thread, only to find out it's not a troll, it's just a real thicko?'

[runs and ducks]

The people who firmly believe that the cost of accomodation has merely increased in line with general inflation - how much do they imagine their peers and their children are earning?

Do they feel miserable and envious because they are earning so little in today's money? And do they think that it is amazing that so many people are prepared to cater for their needs for buttons (hairdressers, window cleaners, childminders etc). What a weird example of cognitave dissonance!

if Polish, wouldn't it be Trollski ?

Maybe she's American Polish, ilovemydog ?