Vent - My Mother (and her generation?)

Person_one

pollypenny wrote: »

I still don't agree that house prices are relatively higher now.

Some things are true whether you believe them or not I'm afraid.

This covers just the last 20 years, but its pretty clear: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/sep/02/housing-market-gulf-salaries-house-prices

This is interesting: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-2462753/How-items-cost-risen-line-house-prices.html

"the average house price should actually be £67,483 if it had risen in line with inflation over the last 42 years...if wages had risen at the same rate as house price inflation, the average wage would be £87,720"

pollypenny

Person_one wrote: »

Some things are true whether you believe them or not I'm afraid.

This covers just the last 20 years, but its pretty clear: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/sep/02/housing-market-gulf-salaries-house-prices

This is interesting: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-2462753/How-items-cost-risen-line-house-prices.html

"the average house price should actually be £67,483 if it had risen in line with inflation over the last 42 years...if wages had risen at the same rate as house price inflation, the average wage would be £87,720"

You're missing the point.

If houses were built to the same basic standard as in the 70s, what sort of price would they be?

Another important thing I forgot: one electrical point per room.

tea_lover

pollypenny wrote: »

Another important thing I forgot: one electrical point per room.

Well there was a lot less to plug in!

fierystormcloud

pollypenny wrote: »

I still don't agree that house prices are relatively higher now. We had to pay for top soil and lawn seed, lay a garden path and our drive was only roughly finished.

Think back to the new builds in the boom of the late 60s and 70s. Wimpy etc and compare with now.

Mostly semis - now mostly detached
One bathroom - now even two bedrooms often have an en suite
Sink unit only. Now fully fitted kitchen, including appliances, very often.

We couldn't even afford central heating. It was £350 more!

Person_one wrote: »

Some things are true whether you believe them or not I'm afraid.

This covers just the last 20 years, but its pretty clear: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/sep/02/housing-market-gulf-salaries-house-prices

This is interesting: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-2462753/How-items-cost-risen-line-house-prices.html

"the average house price should actually be £67,483 if it had risen in line with inflation over the last 42 years...if wages had risen at the same rate as house price inflation, the average wage would be £87,720"

Have to agree with Person One. Sorry Pollypenny, but you're very wrong about this, and Person One is on the money.

My uncle bought a 4 bed detached house around 1970 for £5,000. Taking into account inflation, that should now be around £75,000, but the house is valued at £290,000, which means the house is 4 times higher than it should be. This is why it's nigh on impossible for many people to get on the property ladder/buy a house...

Also, my parents friend bought a small terraced house for £2,000 in 1975, and in today's money, that is about £20,000, yet the house is valued at £90,000. Again, about 4 times more.

Similarly, many jobs paid around £1.50 an hour around the early seventies; that is around £20 an hour now if you take inflation into account; yet the average pay for non-professionals now is about £6.50 an hour or so...

Also, the rent on a little 2 bed house my sister rented (privately) in the mid 1980s was £20 a week, and that's around £50 a week now. Yet the rent for that same house now is around £120 a week.

So taking all this into account, it's no wonder people struggle so badly to survive.

And yes there were a LOT less electrical points. My friend's old 30s house, only has 2 in her lounge; one either side of the fireplace... One for the tv and one for the radiogram haha

Well there were no sky boxes, or cable tv, or dvd players, or playstations then.

lulu_92

fierystormcloud wrote: »

And yes there were a LOT less electrical points. My friend's old 30s house, only has 2 in her lounge; one either side of the fireplace... One for the tv and one for the radiogram haha

Well there were no sky boxes, or cable tv, or dvd players, or playstations then.

I'm genuinely wondering, is this a massive issue? In my two bed terrace I have two electrical points in the downstairs rooms, and three in the upstairs rooms and we don't use four of them!

Jagraf

of course it's easier now. More lifestyle choices, more food, certainly more options for women, more cheap clothing, proper heating, electric, appliances.

Perhaps we are less happy now though because we blame society more.

Person_one

pollypenny wrote: »

You're missing the point.

If houses were built to the same basic standard as in the 70s, what sort of price would they be?

Another important thing I forgot: one electrical point per room.

I don't think I am missing the point. My house was built in the sixties, if modern developers built to the same high standards as mine rather than flimsy boxes with tiny rooms, they'd probably charge double!

The point is, that you could buy a house for 3x the average earnings in the sixties. In what way does a kitchen, a bit of turf, a few extra power points or an ensuite toilet mean that's equivalent to the 7-12x salary it takes now?

missbiggles1

lulu_92 wrote: »

I'm genuinely wondering, is this a massive issue? In my two bed terrace I have two electrical points in the downstairs rooms, and three in the upstairs rooms and we don't use four of them!

We had our 2 bed semi rewired a couple of years ago with 3 double sockets in each downstairs room and 4 double sockets in each bedroom and we're still needing extension leads.

I don't know how you manage with so few.

[Deleted User]

lulu_92 wrote: »

I'm genuinely wondering, is this a massive issue? In my two bed terrace I have two electrical points in the downstairs rooms, and three in the upstairs rooms and we don't use four of them!

Electrical points? Honestly, you can just get an electrician in to add those.

It is land that has risen in value, due to the rise of two-earners in a household, the rise of 'property as an investment' and population pressure. It isn't going to get any better unless we build a lot more houses, and maybe a few new towns or cities to put people in.

We should also look at building more town-house style homes to maximise space. It is a shame just how small new-build gardens are now.

However, there's still large areas of the country that are still affordable. They just don't happen to be in the South of England.

heartbreak_star

fierystormcloud wrote: »

And what the hell IS a silverfish? :huh:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverfish

My ex had them in his 7th floor flat. He had to keep the plug in in the bath...

HBS x