House Prices

[Anne1448]

The fact that people still believe that poor people should not be allowed to have a good phone, one holiday a year and new clothes at least once is absolutely appalling. Are poor people supposed to never be able to take a break from poverty and have the worst things because they are born poor?

Poverty is not a choice and poor people should have the right to enjoy life too. The few hundreds that they spend on a phone or a holiday doesn't come close to what they could save when house prices went up 91% in 8 years (these are real figures in Ireland) but their salaries didn't. Why are poor people supposed to suffer in silence when they simply want to buy a roof over their head?

The fact that some people in this thread are trying to justify the greed of a few at the cost of a basic need for humanity reeks of privilege and an absolute if not total lack of empathy.

 

[JoeBloggs]

Wow I think you need to work on your attitude

Simple, we prioritised. We bought our flat in our mid 20’s having both worked at university alongside studying, before going straight on to grad jobs.

We don’t go on fancy holidays as we’ve prioritised having a home, we don’t really go clubbing and we eat sensibly. We usually go for a meal each week at a nice restaurant but other than that we take lunch to work etc. It’s pretty easy to save if you want to.

Many people buy lunch every day - over a year assuming £5 lunch and a 5 day working week thats £1,200 (5 days, allowing for 20 days holiday). People pay £50 a month for phones, pay crazy money for cars on finance, spend money on takeaways and it all adds up

Very judgemental, some people don't do all these things and still cannot save. Great that it worked for you, enjoy your lovely £425K home but it is not 'pretty easy to save if you want to' for everyone.

 

[BettyCrockerr]

Wow I think you need to work on your attitude

Simple, we prioritised. We bought our flat in our mid 20’s having both worked at university alongside studying, before going straight on to grad jobs.

We don’t go on fancy holidays as we’ve prioritised having a home, we don’t really go clubbing and we eat sensibly. We usually go for a meal each week at a nice restaurant but other than that we take lunch to work etc. It’s pretty easy to save if you want to.

Many people buy lunch every day - over a year assuming £5 lunch and a 5 day working week thats £1,200 (5 days, allowing for 20 days holiday). People pay £50 a month for phones, pay crazy money for cars on finance, spend money on takeaways and it all adds up

But where did you both live during Uni? where did you live after Uni, before you bought your flat?
it really isn’t that easy to save for the majority of people. People who from the age of 18 have had to pay their own way entirely, people who are having to pay their own rent/bills etc on low salaries, how on Earth can you claim it’s just so easy for those who only earn the minimum and when that only covers the cost of living?

you are speaking from a place of privilege, please remember that before making unfair sweeping statements like you have.

 

[Yel]

To many lazy fuckers these days, if only they didn't spend £20 a month for a phone that was their internet, computer, camera, calendar etc and didn't go on holiday once a year for a few hundred then they could buy a house that's gone up hundreds of thousands in recent years.

This luxury argument is a load of shit. These things have become so cheap while the essentials like a home have spiralled out of control.

I'm off to watch homes under the hammer, soon I'll remortgage to buy a few more properties and I'll never have to work again! I'll get some renter scum to people farm

 

[Caffeine Fiend]

Probably not a popular opinion but life is about experiences too. If you save every penny you make from 18 or whatever to buy a house and dont get to experience travel, festivals, lovely meals out, nights out with friends etc all because youre saving so much.

Id hate to think home ownership is all my children will focus on and their youth will pass them by.

Youre not going to be on your death bed and wishing you travelled less or seen friends less.

 

[slugella]

If those on minimum wage jobs want a home so badly and it matters to them they can do what a poster above did and study in there evenings or time off. This will reap the rewards down the line as they will have a profession/skill/trade which can earn them enough to save for a place.

Again, before those with a chip on their shoulder try and apply it to their own circumstances I am talking in general terms. Some might not want to own a home, some might prefer to work the hours they currently work etc, which as I’ve said all along is completely up to them

Gosh I could not scroll past this comment. This is so ridiculous. We all depend on people in low paid jobs. The pandemic showed this and it's a shame you haven't realised. Supermarket workers, cleaners, waste removers, carers, etc etc. Do they not deserve to own a house? What would we all do then if no one wanted to do those jobs? And this is the thanks they get. The delusion is insane.

 

[Yel]

I mean there's no chance they'll increase and anyone that says they will probably is trying to offload their own overpriced houses.

"Property expert" is pretty meaningless. Estate agents is just sales job with a very low barrier of entry that attracts people looking to make a quick buck. And that ghastly Kirsty makes a cheeky offer of 1000 under the asking price for a 400k flat in penge has no qualifications other than interior design. Phil's "property empire" it consisted of 2 full-time staff close to the last downturn. I can't stand those two and the untold misery they've caused by millions

 

[Yel]

It's getting grim, blaming people and telling them they're a failure and it's their own fault they can't buy (read sign up for a few decades of debt) a home that has gone up many multiples while wages have stagnated.

Society seems programmed to say renters are not succeeding in life.

You have to be exceptional or have help to get something very ordinary these days. Having a parents home you can live in rent free while you live like someone in a developing country is not an option for many. Nore is it something to celebrate. It gets as stupid as the numpties that tell unemployed people that all they need to do is get a bike and travel 20 miles a day and then they'd have a job.

 

[Yel]

Couple, 26 and 32, build their own TINY home in lockdown for £30,000

The tiny house on a farm in Worcester - which has been affectionately named Tiny Blue - belongs to gin distillery manager Grace Stringer, 26, and her DJ partner Craig Jukes, 32.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Good on them. They have worked hard to create something for themselves and avoid paying out too much rent to some robber known as a landlord.

Is it just me that rolls my eyes at stories like this?

If only your parents owned a farm then you could spend 30k on a glorified shed to live on their land

 

[BettyCrockerr]

Me - I did. I see where you’re coming from but I stand by what I say. If you want something there’s always a way to achieve. Don’t spend on things you don’t need to if you really want to own a house. Buy a flat if you can’t afford a house and don’t want to rent. Go and earn extra money from a second job, or do a qualification in your spare time.

It’s the same as people saying “I don’t have time to exercise”. You do, you just prioritise going out with friends, watching tv etc (again nothing wrong with doing that but it’s the fact that not having time is a shit excuse).




I wouldn’t say I’m privileged because I worked hard at school, worked in my spare time, was sensible with money, worked hard at my degree and then got a graduate job after spending my whole life working towards it?

You are completely missing the point. This isn’t a personal attack on you. But you need to accept and understand that sometimes, for some people, it is NOT a choice. It is not about working really hard and getting a second job, you cannot seriously be this naive?

for example


my sister is a nurse. She earns something like £25K a year, for argument sake. She rents a flat. Her rent/bills Etc etc etc consumes all of her monthly salary. All of it. It’s all gone. No money for savings, no money for “extras” no additional money at all for anything other than basic living. she doesn’t have a car, she doesn’t go on holidays, she shops at Aldi, she never buys new clothes or new anything, she works bloody hard yknow, saving lives, and keeping her head above water to keep all her bills paid etc


are you seriously trying to say she’s not doing enough? That she should work harder? Get another job?



I think you need to take off those rose tinted glasses and take a look around.

 

[BettyCrockerr]

If those on minimum wage jobs want a home so badly and it matters to them they can do what a poster above did and study in there evenings or time off. This will reap the rewards down the line as they will have a profession/skill/trade which can earn them enough to save for a place.

Again, before those with a chip on their shoulder try and apply it to their own circumstances I am talking in general terms. Some might not want to own a home, some might prefer to work the hours they currently work etc, which as I’ve said all along is completely up to them

SOME PEOPLE WHO WORK MINIMUM WAGE JOBS DO NOT HAVE TIME OR ENEGRY TO GET A SECOND JOB OR STUDY AT THE WEEKENDS OR EVENINGS BECAUSE THEY ARE ALREADY WORKING FLAT OUT TO PAY THEIR BILLS TO KEEP A ROOF OVER THEIR HEAD WHICH YOU THINK IS A CHOICE! WHAT IS SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND ABOUT THIS?! MULTIPLE PEOPLE ON THIS THREAD HAVE EXPLAINED THIS NOW IN VARIOUS DIFFERENT WAYS!!!!!!!!

 

[BettyCrockerr]

We can agree to disagree on that. Sure, it’s easier for some but it’s all down to choice.

No. No it isn’t all down to choice at all.

for example, some people come from fsmilies who have no money - who are living month to month and who just get by paying the essentials- no extra money, no way to save. This is a reality. This is not unusual, this is how a large proportion of real people live. So, if you grow up in a household where there is no additional money floating around and your leave home at 18 and you find a job and pay rent on a flat or a house and you yourself are just earning enough to pay your bills and no more….. please explain how exactly that’s “all down to choice”

 

[Caffeine Fiend]

Glad its not just me thats straight on rightmove when you realise a house on your street is up for sale.

 

[Bitofthebubbly]

Look, we could probably cut out all the joy in our lives and save a bit more, but it’s not really going to get us to our goal any quicker in the grand scheme of things. If we cut out our once a week takeaway, we wouldn’t be that much closer to our goal in a years time than if we hadn’t. You can’t save more than you earn in a year after all. We could stop our children’s activities but then they’d be losing out on skills and experiences and I’m not going to have them miss out on normal childhood things just so we can buy a house. Maybe we should have waited to have children but life doesn’t always work out in that perfect linear way for everyone.

As other posters have shown with their experiences, It’s mental out there. You finally think you’ve got enough to go and then the goal posts move again. It gets to a point where you can either spend your life working and saving and saving and working and it’s still not enough, or have some balance and save what you can, but still allow yourself things that make you happy. Buying a house, although would be nice feels like a luxury that is out of our reach, so we may as well make the best of our circumstances and maybe one day this shit show will calm down or we will come into some money somehow.

 

[Lanavalentine]

100% this. I also don’t understand the mentality of ‘well I had to suffer to get my home, so should you.’ Surely that experience would make anyone with a shred of empathy want things to be different for other people?
For example all this talk of ‘just do another college course it’s not that hard.’ I actually did a part time degree while I was finishing another full time time degree. It was bloody hard work and not at all something I would ever wish on someone who has to work draining 12 hour shifts, or someone who has little kids to look after in the evenings, just so that they can afford to buy a home. Being able to pay for or spare the time for further education IS a privilege. I really pity people who think they’ve worked so much harder than everyone else just because they’ve done alright for themselves. I guarantee you that most of the time those on minimum wage have far worse working conditions and more draining jobs than those of us fortunate to have busy, well paid/respected jobs.

I really think a lot of people in this country think of themselves as some kind of major success story when ultimately they’ve simply benefitted from privilege, luck and timing. I know I have.

Lots of people were able to ride a wave to better financial circumstances, but the tide has now turned, and to ignore it is to insult a huge percentage of the country, and especially young millennials/Gen Z.

 

[Bitofthebubbly]

Nah - disrespectful are just that - they don't notice damage and can't be bothered to report things to the landlord/agent when it first goes wrong. References are everything and getting 3 months rental, if not 6, up-front. Make it clear in the rental agreement that you will be coming round every 3 months for an inspection. Good luck.

Is this a serious post? 6 months rent upfront? A lot of people don’t even have a 3 months rent sitting in the bank. How entitled to think that tenants should have 6 months rent ready to hand over before they’ve even moved in. Like they don’t have other things they may want/need to save that much money up for (like a deposit for a mortgage). Way to make housing even more out of reach for many and keep people stuck in the renting cycle.

As for 3 monthly inspections? No thanks. Been living in my place for 6 years and the only thing that’s ever been inspected is the boiler (which of course is necessary). Maybe I’m ‘lucky’ but I would not rent somewhere that demanded a snoop round my home every 12 weeks. Ridiculous.

 

[Bitofthebubbly]

It annoys me when watching homes under the hammer how the presenters will be like “this is going to be a rental so this room is fine” and it’s a bathroom or kitchen dating back to the 70’s and quite frankly looks naff. I mean it doesn’t have to be top of the range but come on. If you wouldn’t be happy to live with a room like that you shouldn’t expect anyone else to imo. It’s far too common for landlords to scrimp on the upkeep and renovation of their properties.

 

[BettyCrockerr]

Clearly some people have taken this as a personal attack when I was simply making a point that a lot of people who say they can’t buy couldn’t if they really prioritised.

Everyone is different and has different circumstances so what I said of course will not apply to everybody. However I stand by the fact that if people want to buy, a lot of the time they can (after saving hardcore for a few years obviously). Whether people want to prioritise this over the lifestyle they currently have is a completely different argument and that is down to each person, I can completely understand both points of view on that one.

Not going to reply on this topic further as people have taken it as an attack when that wasn’t the case, so apologies for any offence caused on that.

You are still not getting it.


sometimes people CANNOT make saving money - for a mortgage or for anything else - a priority because they only have enough money coming in to make PAYING THEIR ESSENTIAL BILLS A PRIORITY.

I think you’ve said it all when you made the point that you chose to rent a flat in a “shitty area” which wasn’t in great condition. Some people don’t have a choice. The fact that you had a choice, is the entire point.

 

[heretoreaditall2019]

Just received a flyer in the post saying how sellers are disappointed nothing is on the market and have we considered selling our house….. what a compelling argument for uprooting our lives and spending thousands and thousands of pounds, thanks hun x

 

[Clickbait]

The next level of insanity/scam I’ve encountered is a woman in her 30s being signed over her nan’s house as they don’t want it to be used for potential care costs in the future Apparently the paperwork is only £1,500 - I find it obscene that families are being allowed to pass wealth down like this then ask the underfunded state to pick up the bill?!!

I can see the flip side to this - selling off someone’s home and all their assets to fund time in a care home feels unfair to some. They have worked all their life and paid NI and taxes to now be told they’re on their own when it comes to supported living. They have to pay every penny they have to a care home and then when that’s run out they’ll be removed from that one into a cheaper one to see out their last days.

It brings in a much wider argument about how public money is spent. For example - non-funding of IVF on the NHS but paying for free school meals could be seen as ‘I won’t support you to have a child but I will expect you to pay for other people’s children who they can’t afford to have’.

Obviously that’s an extreme statement but if we pay into a system we would want it to be there for us when we need to make a claim/draw down some assistance. If we’re told ‘no - your needs do not qualify you’ or ‘you have too much money to get anything’ I think people have a right to feel pretty pissed off. Often these aren’t people with huge amounts of wealth - the real wealthy don’t have to worry about anything like that and can squirrel away money using loop holes and the like.