Why now so hard to get that 1st rung on the propery ladder compared to years gone by?

meanmachine_2

Kaminari wrote:

I don't think it is any harder..

No of course not dear.

Tripling of house prices in 8 years makes it easier, doesn't it?

Meanwhile, wage inflation half what it was ten years ago makes it easier too, doesn't it dear?

Meanwhile, back on planet reality...

Jim_B_3

Just for fun (back of enevlope figures), you'd need to buy enough iPods for 117 years of continuous listening with no repeats in order to have spent the money for a house on ipods. The youth of today are not buying iPods instead of houses.

hechizero

The buy to let market also squeezes FTB's as they compete in the same market price range. Good that capital gains tax is making a difference. Already more entry level properties are coming to market. The London market is especially tough. However BTL's are starting to get nervous as saturation is causing rents to dip a little. Notwithstanding the fact that world events are having a big impact on energy prices and this in turn may raise interest rates in the near future. We may be seeing the end of hyper inflation in the property market. Having said all that, these new developments may drive property prices down, but that doesn't mean it will be easier for FTB's: in fact definately more tough

lisyloo

I grow so sick of hearing smug !!!!!! say that people could buy a house if they didn't buy iPods. How many people do you see buying 150000 pounds' worth of iPods?

People can easily spend several thousand pounds a years on holidays.
Several thousand on eating out and takeaways.
Several thousand on a second car.

I'm not saying we used to live in a paper bag, but when I was young we NEVER used to go to restaurants and have takeaways, no-one had a second car. In fact I think I remember crowding around someone's TV in 1973 to watch Princess Annes wedding because we didn't have a TV and only one or two people in the street did.
For holidays we used to go away once a year to stay in a caravan or tent.
This year I'm going on holiday several times by air.
I don't think any of that is unusual for the time.

I may be a little bit older than you (38) but if you look back I think you will find that things have changed considerably in terms of expectations.

I think house prices are high at the moment and that's unfortunate for people who were "born at the wrong time", but the renting option IS available.
No-one has a gun put to their head to buy a house.

The problem is (and I'm going to sound old now) that people want something NOW and don't want to wait.

My parents lived with their parents after they were married (1964) until they could afford a house.
Now people want it straight away and don't want to save up.
BTW - I think my parents were very average.

Interestingly we didn't feel poor at the time because we didn't have a TV or second car. It was just normal.

Kaminari_2

It all depends on what area you are looking at. I have managed to buy four properties in the north in the last year on my average wage. It is not hard to buy a property. The reason have bought up north is because i have invested the money i would normally put towards saving for a deposit in London. I am aware that getting on the property ladder in London is difficult and the wage to property price ratio is disproportionate here but i think most people are glossing over just how hard it was in the past.
The difference is that i am not whinging about how bad i think a situation is and complaining that it isn't fair, instead i look to how a person like myself on a single wage CAN get on the ladder in the most dissproportionate average wage/house price area of the country.

In 40 years time the youth will still be complaining about how high house prices are. It is just what you do about it all that counts.

lynzpower

Also bear in mind what many people think is the "first rung of the property ladder" . I mean what IS this ladder? Where is it? For gods sake, wht do we talk about when we use this term???? The main point I expect of the term is that you buy somewhere, then later in life once the kids have come along, you move "up" to somewhere maybe bigger, or near better schools or with a garden or what have you, with the ideas that your salary should have risen and thus the next *rung* is achievable. For many of us we know that in fact our salaries are not going to go up and up, and thus rungs of the ladder mean scratch too.

Many many people want to buy somewhere for the life course from the off, that they dont want to move from ( up the ladder) Heather123 ( no offence hun, just an example) yesterday was wanting a 3 bed house as a FTB. Some people encourage this, as thus you odnt need to move again later in the life course to bigger/better properties, and there is the dead money of sol fees, Stamp duty and the like. I have lost count of the amount of people who come here going they want to buy but dont like the areas that they can *afford* to buy in.

Im not saying all FTBs are unrealistic ( although I certainly was) but I believe that its the have it now mentality ( yep I had one, but no longer thanks to MSE) that spurs it all on .

Kaminari_2

Agree with Lisyloo above.

I live in a flat with naff 70's carpet, have second hand furniture (Don't look down on me but most of it is from the dump) and buy most of my clothes from Primark. I have friends that are renting big new build houses, amazing new furniture all the lastest in technology and spend loads of going out and expensive clothes.
They are always complaining to me how they don't have any money and how they will never be able to buy a place.

I believe that this type of new lifestyle does contribute to not being in the position to buy.

I also believe that if you THINK you can't do something, then you won't be able to.

Jim_B_3

Kaminari wrote:

The difference is that i am not whinging about how bad i think a situation is and complaining that it isn't fair,

That's fab, but it's a bit off-topic. The point is that you agree it is harder now than it used to be; do you have any suggestions as to why this is the case?

Some here have suggested that people are choosing to spend onfood/cars/holidays, instead of houses. Is this the case? If so, is it a problem? How did the previous generation (i.e. those aged about 38) build a society in which this can happen?

Don't go blaming the kidz, chaps; each generation is made by the previous, and if you think they're getting it wrong, you've only got yourselves to blame.

heather123_2

People used to be able to realistically afford properties with their salaries even at 20 (remember how young people used to be when they had kids! People having kids at 30 would have been considered crazy!) - the cost of living has increased dramatically compared with how much people are earning.

Jim_B_3

That's certainly true. Inflation is way above the alleged 2.5%