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Original poster

Will it just become impossible to afford a home?

123 replies

Corin870 · 30/06/2021 16:08

Currently the average UK household income is £29,900 and the average house price is £256,000. Out of interest, I looked on the Halifax mortgage calculator to see how much can be borrowed on the average household income and it said £134,255. This means that you would need a deposit of £121,745. Considering the average rent in is £868 a month, will people just become unable to save for a deposit? Will it eventually become impossible to own a home?

I’m interested as to if there is a solution to this? Or does there actually need to be a solution, I.e would we be better moving away from the mindset that home ownership is fundamental?

OP posts:
AGreatUsername · 30/06/2021 16:26

I think home ownership for a single person is mostly unattainable, depending on area. It’s not so bad if you’re part of a couple earning the average wage. I think it’s definitely a hard slog to get on the ladder these days without a bit of help/inheritance or years of saving. It is still doable though!

I personally believe home ownership is really important for me. I will have no mortgage by the time I retire and can afford to live without worrying about rent. My FIL divorced in his 60s, with little to no equity and is still having to work full time at 70 to afford his rent, it just seems a lot of pressure.

gillysSong · 30/06/2021 16:29

Yes, it was predicted years ago that gen x would be the last home owners. Wish I'd paid more attention to who said it now.

MsMe · 30/06/2021 16:31

I'm Gen X, FTB and I know loads of millennials who've bought before me! I think this is all massively dependent on where you live in the country. Averages are of limited use as they're skewed by high and low figures.

Jenjenn · 30/06/2021 16:37

@gillysSong

Yes, it was predicted years ago that gen x would be the last home owners. Wish I'd paid more attention to who said it now.
Plenty of millennials incl myself own homes. It is very difficult for single income buyers without a significant gift/inheritance though. Having seen this, I have been saving for my 6 year old dd deposit since she was born.
ComtesseDeSpair · 30/06/2021 16:41

It’s worth pointing out that home ownership in the UK peaked at a high of 69% in 2001, and is now at 64% - for comparison, it was 65% in 1990. It hasn’t changed as staggeringly over the past 30 years as many people seem to think.

As previous poster said, averages skew the figures by looking at all types and size of home sold, without acknowledging that it’s never been realistic in much of the UK for a single first time buyer to buy a family size home: most people start off in a small flat and then move up the ladder.

If we want prices to fall, though, we need to increase supply. Address developer land banking, and ultimately stop being NIMBY, because housing has to go somewhere and it can’t always be “somewhere else.”

Original poster
Corin870 · 30/06/2021 16:42

@MsMe

I'm Gen X, FTB and I know loads of millennials who've bought before me! I think this is all massively dependent on where you live in the country. Averages are of limited use as they're skewed by high and low figures.
Good point about averages actually, I live in the South East so the averages are very much numbers that I recognise however I know from relatives living in the north it has been easier for them to get on the property ladder. Having said that I’m wondering if over time more people will move to the cheaper areas so they will become equally as expensive, hmm
OP posts:
Bluntness100 · 30/06/2021 16:42

@gillysSong

Yes, it was predicted years ago that gen x would be the last home owners. Wish I'd paid more attention to who said it now.
It’s not changed really over the years in terms of percentage of home owners. The op is focusing on single buyers. Which is always hard.
earsup · 30/06/2021 16:47

It wasnt easy when i bought my first place in the early 90's...i ate soup for lunch each day at work and house cost 23k...interest rates were high also....i saved solidly for 3 years to get the deposit...not sure if possible now as prices gone so crazy...no help from family even tho they could have...!!...

caringcarer · 30/06/2021 16:50

My son is in the process of buying a house in Hull. He can afford a two bed terrace house there on his own. He can't afford a similar house in West Midlands where we live even with his partner. He just decided he wanted to buy and would move to area he could afford to live in. He is lucky he has a job to go to in Hull. It is very hard for singles or even couples today.

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 30/06/2021 16:54

We could have bought a 4bed new build for £240k. It really does vary across the country.

One thing I have noticed though... a 'family house' when I was young was a 3bed, one bathroom, with the third bedroom being a single or even a box.
Now everyone seems to want a 4bed with ensuite master and a downstairs toilet.

gillysSong · 30/06/2021 16:54

I'm going to have to google who said this now, it's doing my head in. I can't remember even if it was said in the 80's or 90's.
We are NW and single income min wage can afford a small mortgage and houses much cheaper here. You can get a 2 bed terrsce for next to nothing.

HavelockVetinari · 30/06/2021 16:58

Unless there's a move to build many more affordable homes then yes, we will slowly move towards a model like the Swiss one where over 90 per cent of people rent. Supply isn't keeping pace with demand.

The situation is exacerbated by the fact that developers often promise to build affordable homes in their applications for planning permission, then fail to build any or only a fraction of those promised. They experience no repercussions for this so of course they carry on lying.

Knittingnanny · 30/06/2021 17:00

@AGreatUsername, you are spot on. My youngest son of three is late 20’s, single and below average earner, so will be impossible to move from renting with a friend to buying without significant financial help from family. My eldest 2 sons are high earners but have high earning wives so dual high income means they are securely on the ladder and out of the renting market.
I see many more young people and families here ( South coast) renting long term as it’s impossible to find a flat or house under £220,000.
He doesn’t seem to be particularly fixated on house ownership though and is not desperate to change his lifestyle or career and is seemingly happy with where he is in life at the moment, so I’m probably more concerned than he is.
Everyone is different of course.
My parents were the first generation of their working class family to become homeowners, buying first house in 1952. Unheard of before then to buy a house unless you were super wealthy in their circle.

Ifyourehappybutyoublowit · 30/06/2021 17:05

I certainly think there’s going to be a significant problem in the future when inheritances are routinely eaten up by care home costs.

Knittingnanny · 30/06/2021 17:09

@Aroundtheworldin80moves, yes! I live in a small 1980’s built mid terrace, just me and my husband now. It was originally marketed as a “ three bedroom family home” and perfectly usual back then. It has one double, one single and one box room, one bathroom and no downstairs toilet. Reading these threads on mumsnet I don’t think my house would not be considered suitable for a family of 2 adults and 2 children!
The house I had my three boys growing up in was not much bigger, 2 always shared a room and the only difference to where I live now was that there was a downstairs toilet.
The 2 “ family” homes that my eldest 2 live in would have seemed like a palace to my late parents.

imnottoofussed · 30/06/2021 17:10

I'm NW and houses near me are definitely not next to nothing.

gillysSong · 30/06/2021 17:13

Perhaps you live in an affluent area of Cheshire, or some of the posh places in Yorkshire, round here about 60k for one you don't mind doing up. Beggars can't be choosers and it's how most of my generation managed, especially on one income.

Knittingnanny · 30/06/2021 17:19

@gillysSong, it does vary so greatly doesn’t it, in the midlands where my family are from and some still live, a small house similar to the one I live in now is about 150,000 whereas mine has recently been valued at £240,000. Obviously some people are in the position of being able to move but not all.
My area although lovely and coastal but not tourist, is very definitely not salubrious in any way, but still quite expensive.
£60.000 would not even buy one of the tiny mobile homes here.

Orf1abc · 30/06/2021 17:19

We are NW and single income min wage can afford a small mortgage and houses much cheaper here. You can get a 2 bed terrsce for next to nothing.

The property needs to be habitable though, there's no point in buying a shell if you can't afford to renovate it (and probably wouldn't get a mortgage for it anyway).

PeonyTime · 30/06/2021 17:20

That average house price hides a wide spread.
Round here, you can easily buy on much less than that - indeed my first house is currently up for sale for 120k. That average house price quoted above will get you a large 4 bed detached, which should be a long way from first time buyer territory, however as people buy later in life, they also want it need more than a 2 up 2 down terrace.

ZaraCarmichaelshighheels · 30/06/2021 17:23

An ‘average price’ house though is not where you would normally start out on the property ladder, when I first bought a house it was a little starter home certainly not a family home which is what I think the average price relates too. People have high expectations now and expect to start out in the family size house straight away. If you have student debt and don’t start your working life until you are well into your twenties then you are immediately on the back foot, couple that with so many people starting a family and living in rented accommodation before trying to buy (and by that time actually needing a family sized house) then I can see why it becomes an impossible situation, but it is through their own life choices they have ended up in that position.

mullmara · 30/06/2021 17:23

It’s worth pointing out that home ownership in the UK peaked at a high of 69% in 2001, and is now at 64% - for comparison, it was 65% in 1990. It hasn’t changed as staggeringly over the past 30 years as many people seem to think.

Is that just % of homes owned eg doesn't differentiate if someone owns 5 homes. It would be interesting to see by age because our population is ageing so more old people means more homeowners.

mullmara · 30/06/2021 17:25

"the Office for National Statistics found that a third of 35- to 44-year-olds in England were renting from a private landlord in 2017, compared with fewer than one in 10 in 1997."

mullmara · 30/06/2021 17:26

People have high expectations now and expect to start out in the family size house straight away.

Do they or is just because they are older & need to accommodate a imminent family. Also moving frequently is much more expensive.

MarianneUnfaithful · 30/06/2021 17:28

Home ownership is clearly harder, takes more savings and is probably attained later.

But the average means nothing.

Obviously (London aside) there are huge numbers of homes on the market for less than £265k. In some areas sizeable detached homes.

More houses will be sold to second, third and fourth time buyers than FTB, because most people buy and sell a few times, maybe first flat, tiny couples / first family home, bigger family home, empty nest home. So most people are not looking for a first mortgage on a £265k home.