'Generation rent' excluded from home ownership

Graham_Devon

These "when I was younger I lived hand to mouth" threads just go round and round in circles.

Whole lifestyles have changed. Just as they had changed 40 years ago when others were doing it. It's like your Granddad telling you "well when I was a lad, I was down the mine at 11 years old chipping out coal in the pitch black....you won't do that now, you want it all".

Lifestyles have changed with generations. To get to uni and get jobs you have to often leave your parents and rent. Yet now people are suggesting living with parents. To get a job, you often have to move, people tell people to move to earn more to buy a house, but the same people then turn around and say "well you should live with your parents if you want to save". Corr blimey, you can't do right for doing wrong.

They will tell you they never went on holiday. Yet I've heard all about the holidays people used to go on. Whole towns were boom towns for holidays. The difference is, the same money back then got you to Blackpool. The same money today get's you to Spain. Things have just moved on. Infact, it's cheaper often to go to spain now then it is to go to Blackpool for a week. People daming others for going on holidays seem to forget these differences.

My Dad is the same. He never went on holiday, knuckled down he did. But then insists on telling me "hey look Graham whats on TV, used to go there on holiday, how it's changed". But no, he never went on holiday!! He doesn't consider a holiday to North Wales as a "holiday". Yet the costs were the same back then as going to Spain now.

It's all very relative. Yet this whole iphone, don't go on holiday, don't go for a pee as we didn't even have pots to pee in back then and we bought is getting really tiresome.

As I said, my dad is the same, condeming the younger generation. Yet he took us on holidays (abroad). Took us out. Went to the pub. AND managed to buy the house I was born into, AND managed to pay for my mum to stay at home and look after me AND manage to have another kid.....and he just drove a lorry and did some odd jobs when he could. Worked damn hard and I won't deny that and never had any substansial savings of any type. But it's no different to the hours people do today. But even then its "oh, you just tap at a computer".

globalds

I am not talking of generations gone by.

I bought my first place when I was 21 ...And sold it 3 years later.The only reason I had a deposit saved was due to spending nearly a year in the Persian gulf on an oil tanker when Iran and Iraq were at war and taking pleasure in blowing up each others Oil tankers , so bonuses were high for the job I did.
I then moved abroad .Arrived back in UK about 11 years ago and became a first time buyer ,again.
I did what I have written. I moved to Telford , a new town , and in my opinion (but not everyone's) an up and coming area.
I too drive a 10 year old car and any spare money is thrown at overpaying my mortgage ...It really doesn't seem to end ..You struggle to get a mortgage then struggle to get shot of it.
As has been mentioned ...Wait till the kids come along, even more expense.

As far as generalising goes ...No nothing like it ...Just saying what a huge amount of people do to get a home that works.
If I was to calculate risk and want control of it I would much prefer to invest it in my own home, albeit a bit rough, and know how it was going to be spent and the value it would add ..rather than risk it in an ISA or stocks hoping they would produce a big enough return to get me a deposit

Cleaver

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Lots of stuff I agree with.

What a great post Graham, and I fully agree. All this "oooh, you youngsters and your iPhones, laptops and holidays" stuff does get tiresome. My Dad thinks me and my wife are flashy because we both have laptops. Forgetting of course that we paid around £250 for each four or five years ago from the Dell outlet shop. I've had to spend more on petrol in one month that I've spent on one laptop for five years.

Where I do think the youth of today are different is around three specific things: going out for dinner and drinks, clothes and what I'd call 'disposable food and drink'. There's lots of admin workers in our office, mainly female, whole earn anywhere between £18k to £25k who will think nothing of a few nights out per month costing around £100 and will often buy an outfit and / or a pair of shoes to go with it. The disposable food and drink is stuff like Pret a Manger, Starbucks, fancy sandwiches, diet cokes etc. etc. which generally get bought each and every day. Cut all these in half, or completely, and you'd save so much money. Far more than if you stopped going on holiday and buying iPhones.

By the way, I have nothing against people buying a Starbucks. Just then don't complain that you have no money. A £3 coffee is surely a complete luxury in life?

Graham_Devon

Well firstly, thankyou Globalds for serving our country.

But secondly, you were able to save because all your wages went into your account and hardly any came out as you working in a job with board and rent. At least I assume you were no different to a person I know in the forces who also gets all his money sent to his UK bank account and simply doesn't touch it while away as he has no need. He's got enough for a house and I don't begrudge him it, he puts his life on the line to earn that. But it's not your average joe situation. And while it may seem easy to afford a deposit, it will always be easier with minimal outgoings and food, shelter etc provided. If I misunderstood your situation, then I stand corrected.

chewmylegoff

Based entirely on the example of my parents who had average jobs and bought a 3 bed semi as their first house at the age of 28, I'd say that ftbs back then probably wanted the same as ftbs now. I rather doubt people said "I don't want a three bed semi, I'll live in a cowshed instead".

ruggedtoast

Graham_Devon wrote: »

These "when I was younger I lived hand to mouth" threads just go round and round in circles.

Whole lifestyles have changed. Just as they had changed 40 years ago when others were doing it. It's like your Granddad telling you "well when I was a lad, I was down the mine at 11 years old chipping out coal in the pitch black....you won't do that now, you want it all".

Lifestyles have changed with generations. To get to uni and get jobs you have to often leave your parents and rent. Yet now people are suggesting living with parents. To get a job, you often have to move, people tell people to move to earn more to buy a house, but the same people then turn around and say "well you should live with your parents if you want to save". Corr blimey, you can't do right for doing wrong.

They will tell you they never went on holiday. Yet I've heard all about the holidays people used to go on. Whole towns were boom towns for holidays. The difference is, the same money back then got you to Blackpool. The same money today get's you to Spain. Things have just moved on. Infact, it's cheaper often to go to spain now then it is to go to Blackpool for a week. People daming others for going on holidays seem to forget these differences.

My Dad is the same. He never went on holiday, knuckled down he did. But then insists on telling me "hey look Graham whats on TV, used to go there on holiday, how it's changed". But no, he never went on holiday!! He doesn't consider a holiday to North Wales as a "holiday". Yet the costs were the same back then as going to Spain now. But don't get him started on how the steam train (which was a treat as it was so expensive) used to take him and loads of other families to North Wales, and how you made friends on the beach with other families on holiday. Oh no, he'll never shutup. Things were so much better then. When they went on holiday, they only had vanilla ice cream and neopolitan was a monthly treat. (But they didn't have treats then as they were so hard up and lived like hermits to survive remember). Wasn't like today, it was so much better. They'll tell you for ages and ages how much better it was back then. But then turn round and tell you you have it so much better today. Which is it?!

It's all very relative. Yet this whole iphone, don't go on holiday, don't go for a pee as we didn't even have pots to pee in back then and we bought is getting really tiresome.

As I said, my dad is the same, condeming the younger generation. Yet he took us on holidays (abroad). Took us out. Went to the pub. AND managed to buy the house I was born into, AND managed to pay for my mum to stay at home and look after me AND manage to have another kid.....and he just drove a lorry and did some odd jobs when he could. Worked damn hard and I won't deny that and never had any substansial savings of any type. But it's no different to the hours people do today. But even then its "oh, you just tap at a computer".

Wait, what?

Is Graham your actual name?

globalds

Graham_Devon wrote: »

And while it may seem easy to afford a deposit, it will always be easier with minimal outgoings and food, shelter etc provided. If I misunderstood your situation, then I stand corrected.

The big choice I made at 21 was to not buy a car.

This left me with much more savable money each month.
I was not in the forces , but that is not the point , and you are right that my job provided me with accommodation.

But I did it again 11 years ago, I bought a real shed of an Astra of my sister for £200 and used most of the rest of any cash I had for a deposit.
The main difference between 11 years ago and now was how easy it was to get a mortgage. I had only been in UK for 4 months and had an agreed a mortgage.( maybe offering a 7 or 8% deposit rather than the bare minimum matters)

I just think you can look at all the difficulties around getting a home and use it as an excuse to not do anything ...or you can look for some kind of compromise on the assumption that some progress is better than nothing,which is the way I see it.

ukcarper

Yakubu22 wrote: »

PRECISELY



why do some of the older posters insist that they're being attacked simply because someone younger expresses an opinion that things are tough these days?

try this

"Seriously this pretty much sums up the out of touch attitude of some of the older generation. I'm not sure what planet you live on. But how on earth does someone who graduates at the very earliest 21. Then save "tens of thousands" while paying tax, student loan repayments, and living costs in less than 4 years.

What a disgusting level of ignorance"

Graham_Devon

ruggedtoast wrote: »

Wait, what?

Is Graham your actual name?

No, its Paul.

Andy_L

dtsazza wrote: »

Actually, this is something that's been bothering me recently (and this isn't aimed at you personally Yakubu in any way)...

Why are we all so poor generally when it comes to inheritances? By definition we all come from lines with dozens of previous generations; what's happened to their excess wealth over the decades? Even if only a small portion gets passed on, the values of compounding should have made this quite a large amount.

I can understand a fair few cases of the accumulated fortune being squandered away, but for 90-something percent of the population to effectively have to start from scratch every generation - what happened? Why aren't we all living in our great-grandparents' summer house?

</naive mode>

Go back a few generations and few people bought houses so no house to inherit
Life expetancy has increased so any inheritance hasn't reached the current generation of FTBers
Previous generations have taken the mantra of "my house is my pension" to heart & SKIed (quite understandably IMO) the money on themselves.
Its been sold to pay for care home costs so they don't have to go to the cheapest dump of a care home that society is prepared to pay for