The Shame of Britain. Young shredded in inter-generational economic meat grinder

ukcarper

Bantex wrote: »

I bought a flat in London early 90s. Did then drop in value, but it was bought on a bus drivers pay with no extra input. Cannot see that happening now, the place would now cost £200k plus.

That was an exceptional time when prices were very low.

Bantex_2

ukcarper wrote: »

That was an exceptional time when prices were very low.

It wasn't. I bought Dec 89 completed Jan 90. Prices then dropped 25% over the next few years. Took 10 years to recover then took off.

A whole decade where a single bus driver could bu a place in London or a working couple on moderate wages could buy a smallish house

BillJones

Bantex wrote: »

I bought a flat in London early 90s. Did then drop in value, but it was bought on a bus drivers pay with no extra input. Cannot see that happening now, the place would now cost £200k plus.

I did the same, and yes, Docklands was affordable back then and is less affordable now. It was affordable in part because taxi drivers would not go there, and public transport shut down in the evenings and at weekends, and costs more now because it's far better served.

This doesn''t tell us, though, that young people cannot still get ahead. My p.a. earns £50,000 per year; doing a job that requires no degree. As I said, opportunities exist that stil let young people get ahead.

tiger_eyes

wotsthat wrote: »

Is there a word for a collection of anecdotal data?

Anecdata. .....

chucky

Bantex wrote: »

It wasn't. I bought Dec 89 completed Jan 90. Prices then dropped 25% over the next few years. Took 10 years to recover then took off.

A whole decade where a single bus driver could bu a place in London or a working couple on moderate wages could buy a smallish house

A working couple can buy a house in London, they can probably buy a smallish house in London too.

Maybe you mean another London. Can you clarify?

Bantex_2

chucky wrote: »

A working couple can buy a house in London, they can probably buy a smallish house in London too.

Maybe you mean another London. Can you clarify?

Say bus driver and nurse, joint income around £60k. Would that buy a house in london?

chucky

Bantex wrote: »

Say bus driver and nurse, joint income around £60k. Would that buy a house in london?

Yes. There are lots 3x income + 20% deposit, here's a link from Rightmove

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?searchType=SALE&locationIdentifier=REGION%5E87490&insId=1&radius=0.0&displayPropertyType=houses&minBedrooms=2&maxBedrooms=&minPrice=&maxPrice=200000&retirement=false&partBuyPartRent=false&maxDaysSinceAdded=&_includeSSTC=on&sortByPriceDescending=&primaryDisplayPropertyType=&secondaryDisplayPropertyType=&oldDisplayPropertyType=&oldPrimaryDisplayPropertyType=&newHome=&auction=false

jay213

chucky wrote: »

A working couple can buy a house in London, they can probably buy a smallish house in London too.

Maybe you mean another London. Can you clarify?

The point is in the 90s you didn't need 2 salaries to buy a house. There's a few people that I work with that bought houses on just 1 salary, some as a couple but still very low house prices of 40 - 60k for some of them. They still earn 20k now and have houses worth between 200 to 300k, one was nearly finished and was complaining about her mortgage payments of 200 and something pounds.

Couple of questions.

Since the 90s wages have increased by how much?

Since the 90s houses have increased by how much?

Do you think you would have got on the housing ladder in today's market? Well it's not really a housing ladder anymore is it, the prices have stopped going up so there ain't anymore hopping of the next rung up due to hpi that you guys experienced in your days and think is normal in these days.

jay213

Bantex wrote: »

Say bus driver and nurse, joint income around £60k. Would that buy a house in london?

So it's gone from 1 person to 2 people to get a mortgage. In the old days one could stay at home and raise the kid/s, now both have to get good jobs to pay inflated house prices. Let's not forget if they both want to continue working they'll have to pay for childcare which is also quite high.

A couple each working 40 hours a week just to put a roof over their heads and pay the babysitter. Are all these couples really going to stay together for the mortgage term?

chucky

jay213 wrote: »

The point is in the 90s you didn't need 2 salaries to buy a house.

It depends where you want to buy just like now but a number of things to consider...

- House prices were very low due to the large number of distressed sellers and the housing crisis in the 90s.
- House prices were undervalued compared to now.
- Salaries haven't kept up with the rise in house prices.
- House prices are dependent on supply and demand, the market price is what people pay.

Focusing exclusively on the price of houses tells you very little on why they have risen so much or if they are good value or not.