Unaffordable housing

[TittleTattleOh]

Why are properties so unaffordable for people on low / average wages? The rich get richer and the poor don’t stand a chance. If I rent I’m paying someone else’s mortgage off. I can’t afford freehold so my only option is leasehold but then I get caught out with leasehold charges and ground rents and have to spend thousands of pounds to extend the lease. Is it better to rent or buy leasehold? Or head off to Wales like this family?

www.kentonline.co.uk/kent/news/kent-rents-are-unaffordable-were-moving-to-wales-266398/

Honestly I feel your pain it's just impossible! Rent prices have shot up too I dont know what average earners are expected to do?!

It's an horrendous situation and it's not going to change until second home ownership is taxed to high heaven, the Right To Buy Act is either repealed or substantially amended, and buy-to-let mortgages are made unattractive to all but the most committed of landlords.
The terraced houses in my street (like mine) are traditional first time buyer homes. Every time one comes on the market now, it's snapped up by a landlord who charges rent that's nearly double my mortgage. These are 2 or 3 bed terraces going for £140k+, which is nearly 7 times the local average wage, and rented out for £700+ pcm. Ludicrous.
Next door was bought last year by a landlord who lives 60 miles away. Two others are owned by a London-based company and form a miniscule part of their substantial property portfolio. They lie empty for months between tenants. Fucking madness.

It’s awful and I for one can’t afford to pay rent and all the bills, and save for a deposit. It’s just not possible for me and when I think about it all I just feel doomed. Landlords shouldn’t be allowed to buy masses of properties and especially those landlords that leave properties sitting empty. Why do they do that? Those empty properties could be homes for people who need and want housing.

It comes to something when you have to start thinking about moving miles and miles away from your hometown and your loved ones just to pay a reasonable rent. My wages are gone in the blink of an eye after paying high rent and all my bills.

I’m going to have to seriously start thinking about uprooting to find cheaper rent and hopefully a better quality of life.

the housing crisis is never going to change is it? It’s just getting worse and the price of property (rent or buying) is just getting higher.

I feel defeated by it all.