House buying dreams are dying

ruggedtoast

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/918085-british-dream-of-owning-your-own-home-is-dying-say-experts

The number of people who own their own home has fallen to a 24-year low – and 5million people who want to buy a property can’t afford to.

London has become a city of renters, with the majority of the capital’s residents living in someone else’s property, the HomeOwners Alliance report said.

The average house price is now more than £235,000, 11 times as much as the average salary of £21,000.

And many banks currently require a deposit equal to almost three years worth of an average salary,

‘This decline in home ownership is depriving a generation of the chance to own the roof over their head, shattering their dreams and aspirations,’ said Paula Higgins, chief executive of the HomeOwners Alliance.

‘It is preventing millions of people from living the sort of lives they want to. Buying your first home is no longer a joyful rite of passage for young adults, but returning to being a privilege of elites.’
Britain has also lost its status as a ‘nation of home owners’, falling to 11th from bottom in the EU for home owning levels – below Romania, Bulgaria and Ireland.

Labour’s housing spokesman Jack Dromey told Metro: ‘For 5million of our citizens, the dream of home ownership is dying as Britain slips beneath Bulgaria.

'Many of them are paying more in rent for substandard homes than they would if they could get a mortgage.’
He warned the decline would lead to a rise in poverty and a rocketing bill for housing benefit.

I didn't know there was a homeowners alliance. I wonder what the membership criteria are.

moneyinmypocket

Get banks lending and the yooth should learn to save = job sorted

Carl31

more to life than worrying about over priced bricks

like i phones and coffee

grizzly1911

Is the average London wage £21000 or is closer to £30000?

House prices in and around London have always been high one of the reason national employers used to pay London supplements.

When my inlaws moved to London (with work) in the late eighties that had to double the price and halve the house and still commute 30 miles. They went from a 3ish multiplier to 6x.

Pupnik

It will be 'interesting' to see what the knock-on effects will be in decades to come when much fewer people have property to pay for care home fees. Too many people paying landlords instead of paying into their own property will ultimately lead to even more people relying on the state to looker after them in old age.

Zekko

Pupnik wrote: »

It will be 'interesting' to see what the knock-on effects will be in decades to come when much fewer people have property to pay for care home fees. Too many people paying landlords instead of paying into their own property will ultimately lead to even more people relying on the state to looker after them in old age.

It's more filtering of money to the 1% instead of people enriching themselves, but there are many who 'can' afford to buy but don't have the willpower or knowhow to save a deposit.

somethingcorporate

Should the average wage earner actually be able to afford the average house? It strikes me as an odd concept given there is a "renter" class below home-ownership that should make up a chunk of the below average wage earners.

Additionally, over their lifetime I think 2 average wage earners could afford to buy the average house.

2people * £21k * 4 times salary = £170k + 50k deposit = almost average house. Very simple sums but does not look too unreasonable.

It appears lots of people want to correlate the words averages when they are not considering the same thing. The "average" house (probably a 2-3 bed terrace or semi) is probably not the desired house of the "average" single wage earner.

Carl31

somethingcorporate wrote: »

Should the average wage earner actually be able to afford the average house? It strikes me as an odd concept given there is a "renter" class below home-ownership that should make up a chunk of the below average wage earners.

Additionally, over their lifetime I think 2 average wage earners could afford to buy the average house.

2people * £21k * 4 times salary = £170k + 50k deposit = almost average house. Very simple sums but does not look too unreasonable.

It appears lots of people want to correlate the words averages when they are not considering the same thing. The "average" house (probably a 2-3 bed terrace or semi) is probably not the desired house of the "average" single wage earner.

and for the average wage earner that is single?

or mr and mrs average that want to put children in their average house? one average salary is no longer an average salary

buying a house is not a right or should be easy to do, but it shouldnt be something that you have to walk over hit coals for either. The way it is now, for some, no matter how hard they work and save, it wont happen. Housing is the only asset class where there is not a purchase available for all levels of earning, which makes no sense. Even the lowest earners should be able to buy a poor property in their local area

Graham_Devon

somethingcorporate wrote: »

Should the average wage earner actually be able to afford the average house? It strikes me as an odd concept given there is a "renter" class below home-ownership that should make up a chunk of the below average wage earners.

Additionally, over their lifetime I think 2 average wage earners could afford to buy the average house.

2people * £21k * 4 times salary = £170k + 50k deposit = almost average house. Very simple sums but does not look too unreasonable.

It appears lots of people want to correlate the words averages when they are not considering the same thing. The "average" house (probably a 2-3 bed terrace or semi) is probably not the desired house of the "average" single wage earner.

Should and Shouldn't are strong words.

I've asked this before, but why shouldn't someone be able to afford a house if they are on a certain wage? It's a market. Not a rule.

ruggedtoast

There is a housing shortage, and whenever there is a shortage its the have nots or not quite haves who are crowded out.

You're very fortunate if you own a property at the moment.

pqrdef

ruggedtoast wrote: »

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/918085-british-dream-of-owning-your-own-home-is-dying-say-experts
Buying your first home is no longer a joyful rite of passage for young adults, but returning to being a privilege of elites

It was always a privilege of elites. The more usual rite of passage used to be putting your name down on the council house waiting list. That was deemed quite good enough for the working classes.

When did we decide we could afford for the whole country to be middle-class?