Anyone want to know what I paid for a fixer up one bed flat a miles walk from Oxford city centre in 1993?
Edit it came with a separate garage.
Deadliftdeadlife on
31 when I got mine and it was a tough slog.
Saved for 2 years and put down the biggest deposit on the smallest house in my area.
Regular_Block9876542 on
It’s simply an affordability issue. People still like the idea of owning their own home and having that stability.
Wages just haven’t kept up with asset prices at all in the UK and now it means people have to save for longer or wait until they are in a relationship to use both incomes for affordability.
killmetruck on
Yeah well, I could afford my parents house at their original price in cash. If we took inflation into account, I would need a small mortgage (double my salary).
At its current value, I would need a mortgage over 4 times my affordability.
irishgeologist on
I bought my first flat when I was 25, in 2014. All it took was hard work, grit, and a £200k gift from my parents.
Mammoth_Park7184 on
Lots of new building of FTB houses now but no bigger, family houses. That causes the issue that those in smaller houses can’t move up the ladder unless they move out of area, so freeing up the “cheaper” house for FTBs doesn’t happen. They’re usually the ones with more money so could move if the option was there.
DucktapeCorkfeet on
I bought my first house at 21. It should still be as easy today, disgraceful that people can’t get onto the property ladder.
JunKazama2024 on
It’s about time we stop claiming we can build our way out of this. The ratio of homes to households has only improved over the last few decades but it makes no difference to overall prices when the only people who can afford them are landlords.
The governments forecasts on house building say if we doubled the house building rate prices would only fall by around 1% per year which is far less than the predicted increases over the same period. The current goal to build 1.5 million homes over five years (with planning reforms projected to add an extra 170,000) is projected to cause average house prices to be around 0.8% lower by 2029 than they would have been otherwise but still 6% higher than now.
SoulStuckInAthens on
My sister is nearly 31 and I cannot see her getting anything before 40 tbh. NHS worker mind you.
Arseypoowank on
Sounds about right, 37 when i got mine so in the same ballpark and a lot of people I know were the same ~3-4yrs
FlaviousTiberius on
Even ignoring the sheer price of housing, the sheer amount of fuckery going on causing interest rates to swing wildly and an unstable jobs market it seems like buying a house won’t be viable for a good ten years even with a decent deposit. Trump until 2028, then we potentially have whatever the fuck Farage is planning in 2029 considering his policy to not pay off voluntary government interest could also spike interest rates.
I guess if interest rates are reasonable close to 2029 you could grab a decent fixed rate for five years, otherwise you’re paying Russian roulette with your finances taking out a mortgage.
BulkyAccident on
Londoner here and most of my single friends (late 30s/early 40s) have basically given up on the idea of ever owning here. We’ve really let the rot set in when it comes to housing and salaries.
james2183 on
35 when I bought mine just before lockdown. Had to save pretty hard and cut back on a lot of stuff to get the deposit.
travestyofPeZ on
I’m about to turn 39 about to buy my first property. Albeit it’s 50% shared ownership of a 2-bed flat. Would cost 275k to buy outright but this is the best I can do.
Minky_Dave_the_Giant on
The solution, as with so many other issues facing this country, is to reduce the population to a more sensible level. We have more people than Australia and Canada combined but with a fraction of the space. The impact on our natural environment, our infrastructure and housing situation is immense. But it seems like a sore subject that no-one wants to address.Â
Mkwdr on
As it says. It depends where you are. Potentially the problem is that cheap housing and good jobs aren’t in the same places as much as there generally not being enough housing,
I also wonder is we always compare things to a certain time. I imagine that the era of buying your own house young was a relatively short lived time and if you go back further it was generally expected that you would live as an extended family?
A94MC on
I’d imagine the only thing keeping this in the low 30s right now is those who have received inheritance to enable them to buy, and the actual age without that is probably nearer 40…
And the knock on effect of this is going to be people having mortgages in to their late 50s/60s and therefore reduced private pension savings for a generation for whom public pensions only accessible at 68 (currently).
It’s a mess and the only solution is more houses/flats being built. And those I see being built lack the infrastructure around them to be able to sustain a community.
culture_vulture_1961 on
Yes but if those millennials just worked harder and didn’t splash out on chai lattes and wellness weekends they could have a three bedroom house in Putney by 34 just like I did in the 80s.
jangrol on
This is basically the same age it’s been since 2021 according to the English Housing Survey. We saw the average increase by a couple of years at pretty much the exact same time the Boriswave kicked off and it’s not come down since.
NGeoTeacher on
I paid more for my tiny one-bedroom fixer-upper flat in a rural area with crap public transport connections than my parents did for the large four-bedroom semi-detached house 10 minutes walk from a mainline station to London and 15 minutes from the town centre. Purchased for £160,000, sold for £625,000 15 years later.
Inflation accounts for some of that, but not most of it.
It’s a fairly grim feeling knowing it’s unlikely I’ll ever be able to afford the house I grew up in. I’m lucky to own anything though.
PomPomBumblebee on
I’m 41 and still trying to buy our first place.
Got a decent deposit but can only afford flats here. Looking to relocate in the future but it’s problematic for work with jobs being like how they are (cheaper up north nearer our families but the job market is worse for what we do)
So buy a small ok flat here or an overpriced ok house up north and find work where I can with my husband working from home full time if he can.
Or live where we don’t want to, even nearer to our parents where there are cheap new builds but I might get my car keyed multiple times going to work unless I use public transport where I’m likely to witness someone kicking off every journey.
It’s tough but my mum’s giving me so much shit even thinking about buying where I am far from her and it being a flat top. I can’t win.
RoyalJacko on
People won’t like this, but housing prices need to be lower, which means more supply, which means more building. When you’ve got NIMBYs always blocking housing developments, you have limited supply.
Bright_Software_5747 on
30, I have to leave where I am very soon. I could afford to buy but the average timeframes it takes for a property purchase means I’ll be forced to rent in the meanwhile, as I don’t have the probably 6 months or more to wait for a purchase to go through.
I’ve read of property purchases taking as quick as a few weeks in Scotland which I am jealous of.
chrisl182 on
Don’t tell my boomer parents, they still proudly brag how they bought their first house at 17
Prestigious-Beach190 on
I’m 47 and can’t see myself being able to buy a property any time soon.
-starchy- on
For anyone complaining about not being able to buy a house you should have just been born earlier. It’s a proven strategy. Shame on you for not listening.
26 Comments
Anyone want to know what I paid for a fixer up one bed flat a miles walk from Oxford city centre in 1993?
Edit it came with a separate garage.
31 when I got mine and it was a tough slog.
Saved for 2 years and put down the biggest deposit on the smallest house in my area.
It’s simply an affordability issue. People still like the idea of owning their own home and having that stability.
Wages just haven’t kept up with asset prices at all in the UK and now it means people have to save for longer or wait until they are in a relationship to use both incomes for affordability.
Yeah well, I could afford my parents house at their original price in cash. If we took inflation into account, I would need a small mortgage (double my salary).
At its current value, I would need a mortgage over 4 times my affordability.
I bought my first flat when I was 25, in 2014. All it took was hard work, grit, and a £200k gift from my parents.
Lots of new building of FTB houses now but no bigger, family houses. That causes the issue that those in smaller houses can’t move up the ladder unless they move out of area, so freeing up the “cheaper” house for FTBs doesn’t happen. They’re usually the ones with more money so could move if the option was there.
I bought my first house at 21. It should still be as easy today, disgraceful that people can’t get onto the property ladder.
It’s about time we stop claiming we can build our way out of this. The ratio of homes to households has only improved over the last few decades but it makes no difference to overall prices when the only people who can afford them are landlords.
The governments forecasts on house building say if we doubled the house building rate prices would only fall by around 1% per year which is far less than the predicted increases over the same period. The current goal to build 1.5 million homes over five years (with planning reforms projected to add an extra 170,000) is projected to cause average house prices to be around 0.8% lower by 2029 than they would have been otherwise but still 6% higher than now.
My sister is nearly 31 and I cannot see her getting anything before 40 tbh. NHS worker mind you.
Sounds about right, 37 when i got mine so in the same ballpark and a lot of people I know were the same ~3-4yrs
Even ignoring the sheer price of housing, the sheer amount of fuckery going on causing interest rates to swing wildly and an unstable jobs market it seems like buying a house won’t be viable for a good ten years even with a decent deposit. Trump until 2028, then we potentially have whatever the fuck Farage is planning in 2029 considering his policy to not pay off voluntary government interest could also spike interest rates.
I guess if interest rates are reasonable close to 2029 you could grab a decent fixed rate for five years, otherwise you’re paying Russian roulette with your finances taking out a mortgage.
Londoner here and most of my single friends (late 30s/early 40s) have basically given up on the idea of ever owning here. We’ve really let the rot set in when it comes to housing and salaries.
35 when I bought mine just before lockdown. Had to save pretty hard and cut back on a lot of stuff to get the deposit.
I’m about to turn 39 about to buy my first property. Albeit it’s 50% shared ownership of a 2-bed flat. Would cost 275k to buy outright but this is the best I can do.
The solution, as with so many other issues facing this country, is to reduce the population to a more sensible level. We have more people than Australia and Canada combined but with a fraction of the space. The impact on our natural environment, our infrastructure and housing situation is immense. But it seems like a sore subject that no-one wants to address.Â
As it says. It depends where you are. Potentially the problem is that cheap housing and good jobs aren’t in the same places as much as there generally not being enough housing,
I also wonder is we always compare things to a certain time. I imagine that the era of buying your own house young was a relatively short lived time and if you go back further it was generally expected that you would live as an extended family?
I’d imagine the only thing keeping this in the low 30s right now is those who have received inheritance to enable them to buy, and the actual age without that is probably nearer 40…
And the knock on effect of this is going to be people having mortgages in to their late 50s/60s and therefore reduced private pension savings for a generation for whom public pensions only accessible at 68 (currently).
It’s a mess and the only solution is more houses/flats being built. And those I see being built lack the infrastructure around them to be able to sustain a community.
Yes but if those millennials just worked harder and didn’t splash out on chai lattes and wellness weekends they could have a three bedroom house in Putney by 34 just like I did in the 80s.
This is basically the same age it’s been since 2021 according to the English Housing Survey. We saw the average increase by a couple of years at pretty much the exact same time the Boriswave kicked off and it’s not come down since.
I paid more for my tiny one-bedroom fixer-upper flat in a rural area with crap public transport connections than my parents did for the large four-bedroom semi-detached house 10 minutes walk from a mainline station to London and 15 minutes from the town centre. Purchased for £160,000, sold for £625,000 15 years later.
Inflation accounts for some of that, but not most of it.
It’s a fairly grim feeling knowing it’s unlikely I’ll ever be able to afford the house I grew up in. I’m lucky to own anything though.
I’m 41 and still trying to buy our first place.
Got a decent deposit but can only afford flats here. Looking to relocate in the future but it’s problematic for work with jobs being like how they are (cheaper up north nearer our families but the job market is worse for what we do)
So buy a small ok flat here or an overpriced ok house up north and find work where I can with my husband working from home full time if he can.
Or live where we don’t want to, even nearer to our parents where there are cheap new builds but I might get my car keyed multiple times going to work unless I use public transport where I’m likely to witness someone kicking off every journey.
It’s tough but my mum’s giving me so much shit even thinking about buying where I am far from her and it being a flat top. I can’t win.
People won’t like this, but housing prices need to be lower, which means more supply, which means more building. When you’ve got NIMBYs always blocking housing developments, you have limited supply.
30, I have to leave where I am very soon. I could afford to buy but the average timeframes it takes for a property purchase means I’ll be forced to rent in the meanwhile, as I don’t have the probably 6 months or more to wait for a purchase to go through.
I’ve read of property purchases taking as quick as a few weeks in Scotland which I am jealous of.
Don’t tell my boomer parents, they still proudly brag how they bought their first house at 17
I’m 47 and can’t see myself being able to buy a property any time soon.
For anyone complaining about not being able to buy a house you should have just been born earlier. It’s a proven strategy. Shame on you for not listening.