Are houses unaffordable?

SailorSam

Any of the youngsters reading this who are paying silly figures just to rent some tiny bedsit, must be pulling their hair out when they look at what us oldies paid to get on the housing ladder.

debtdawg

In the area we'd like to move to, a new build house that cost £106000 18 years ago, would now cost £320000 minimum and rents for a minimum of £1100 per month. Wages certainly haven't risen in line with house prices here (South West).
Where we are right now, houses have risen in price around £200000 in 15 years and rent for £1200.
Houses to buy are certainly unaffordable. The average house price is 10 x the average wage and landlords take full advantage of that by charging high rents.

Innys1

Lala2015 wrote: »

Hi Ognum,

I rent alone, but that's due to the situation I'm in.. I acquired the pet from the prior relationship, and I haven't managed to find a flat-share within a commutable distance to work that accommodates pets.

I have my own car that I've worked hard to fully pay off and it's relatively cheap - less than £60 for a full months petrol.

I recently got a better paying job in a very well-known company that is once-in-a-lifetime, so starting again and moving away is out of the question.

I save every penny I can & do anything else i can think off - freelance work on the side, selling on ebay, survey sites, even an occasional second evening job.

The amount of people who tell me to get rid of my long-term pet, up sticks and 'move to a cheaper area' must have no connections whatsoever - :mad:
I'm single - so moving even further away from work would only up the petrol costs!

WHEN - not if! - I get there, I will have the happiness knowing that I truly got there entirely on my own.

Some people have a good job, family and friends to think about - it's not as simple as people who have had the luxury of the bank of mum/dad/granny etc make out.

I assume from the text above a lot of people have told you the above but you have decided not to. If so, are you right and they are all wrong? Sounds unlikely to me.

Have you even costed the effect of living somewhere cheaper but without a car? The SE has pretty good public transport so do you really need that car? Plus, if you get rid of it, you'll liberate more money for a deposit.

Getting rid of the pet and moving somewhere cheaper to live are obvious ways to cut your outgoings.

If you don't want to take this advice, fine - but then don't be surprised if your accommodation costs remain a strain on your finances.

ukcarper

debtdawg wrote: »

In the area we'd like to move to, a new build house that cost £106000 18 years ago, would now cost £320000 minimum and rents for a minimum of £1100 per month. Wages certainly haven't risen in line with house prices here (South West).
Where we are right now, houses have risen in price around £200000 in 15 years and rent for £1200.
Houses to buy are certainly unaffordable. The average house price is 10 x the average wage and landlords take full advantage of that by charging high rents.

Problem comparing prices to mid 90s is prices were exceptionally low the average price was higher in 1989 than 1997.

ognum

Lala2015 wrote: »

Hi Ognum,

I rent alone, but that's due to the situation I'm in.. I acquired the pet from the prior relationship, and I haven't managed to find a flat-share within a commutable distance to work that accommodates pets.

I have my own car that I've worked hard to fully pay off and it's relatively cheap - less than £60 for a full months petrol.

I recently got a better paying job in a very well-known company that is once-in-a-lifetime, so starting again and moving away is out of the question.

I save every penny I can & do anything else i can think off - freelance work on the side, selling on ebay, survey sites, even an occasional second evening job.

The amount of people who tell me to get rid of my long-term pet, up sticks and 'move to a cheaper area' must have no connections whatsoever - :mad:
I'm single - so moving even further away from work would only up the petrol costs!

WHEN - not if! - I get there, I will have the happiness knowing that I truly got there entirely on my own.

Some people have a good job, family and friends to think about - it's not as simple as people who have had the luxury of the bank of mum/dad/granny etc make out.

Only you can work out what the things you make savings on and what you don't.

The bank of mum and dad didn't exist when many people bought houses and still doesn't for the majority.

The problem at the moment in the SE is that house prices are rising quicker than you can save, maybe buy something that is less aspirational and get a property that you can move on from.

SG27

My sister bought her first house for £7000, well her husband did she didn't work. It was a 3 bed terrace. His salary was £2000 per year. I can't remeber the year would have been early 80s I think.

So the actual house cost about 3.5x his sole salary. If I tried that now I would have £87k to spend. Similar houses are now £250k+!

It's harder than it has ever been for first time buyers. Even harder now than 3 years ago when I bought my first home.

marksoton

Bottom line is yes it must be if the booming rental market and trends are anything to go by.

I purchased my first flat late last year for around £110,000. Trust me there are very few of those in the SE!

Simply saying move isn't also viable. I spent 8 years doing a 2/3 hour commute (each way) into the London/Thames region because my job is relatively specialised.

It is by simple fluke that at the same time i was purchasing my next project came up one motorway junction away.

danslenoir

Anyone who says they had it just as hard 20 or 30 years ago is living in cloud cuckoo land and denying probably the biggest crisis facing our young people today.

Price to income ratios have risen from 3.2-4.4 in 1995 to 6.1-12.2 in 2012/2013, and are continuing to rise.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/sep/02/housing-market-gulf-salaries-house-prices

teddysmum

Aged 23,we bought a new three bed semi in 1972, but had very little furniture. There was a bed, two piece suite with only the the sofa usable, as the chair had a damaged leg (loaned by the upholstery seller, as the new suite was on very slow order and came 3 months later), cooker (cheap as husband worked for a manufacturer) and my parents' old table and chairs (the sideboard had to be scrapped). Cookware, cutlery and cheap Pyrex tableware were wedding presents. The curtains were made by me from fabric off-cuts, bought from a relative's market stall.

A year on,we bought a wardrobe, were given an old fridge whose freezer compartment didn't work and m-i-l rented a black and white tv for us. We also had a gas fire fitted, instead of the coal fire,which had meant cold mornings when getting ready for work,as we couldn't leave it burning while out.

We didn't have a phone until 1980 and ran an old Fiat 124 (We were lucky to work in the same area, but not on a bus route, so I had to arrive at work early and wait an hour afterwards, to be taken home.)

ukcarper

According to Nationwide the long term average earnings to house price ratio is 4.2 and is now 5.8 so property is more expensive. People who bought in the mid 90s were fortunate as prices were 3x average earnings.