Sunak Admits

[baggieal]

Home Ownership for the younger generation is now much harder! I would go one step further and say it’s harder than at any time.

I remember in the 80’s on a modest salary it was easy to get a decent first house at affordable prices. Now a young person on say a decent salary it’s almost impossible. No wonder girls now are having children much later because in this day and age - the girl needs to work. Years ago it was quite common for the girl to look after the home and kids and one salary was enough. Prices through the roof - student loans a huge debt whereas it used to be free when I left school!

Horrible time for the younger generation and god forbid if they want a GP appointment for mental health issues!

[mickd1961]

Home Ownership for the younger generation is now much harder! I would go one step further and say it’s harder than at any time.

I remember in the 80’s on a modest salary it was easy to get a decent first house at affordable prices. Now a young person on say a decent salary it’s almost impossible. No wonder girls now are having children much later because in this day and age - the girl needs to work. Years ago it was quite common for the girl to look after the home and kids and one salary was enough. Prices through the roof - student loans a huge debt whereas it used to be free when I left school!

Horrible time for the younger generation and god forbid if they want a GP appointment for mental health issues!

Too many parents too bloody selfish to help their adult kids out when it comes to helping them financially these days.

You don’t have to be mega rich to help your grown up kids and make a massive difference to them.

My dad gave us £1000 in 1991 to bridge the gap between our first house equity and the mortgage we could get that allowed us to buy our second house, it wasn’t massive money but it was *****.

In 1997 he gave me £10k from his retirement pay off to add to the £13k I’d saved to start my business.

A year later I’d expanded so much my cash flow was tight and he gave me £10k more, he did the same on both occasions for my brother, he gave away £40k of his £88k pay off.

Unbelievably kind was dad but also pragmatic, he told me it was more use to me at 37 than when I was 60 when I’d be likely to inherit.

I’m coming up for 63 and mum is as fit as a fiddle, it’s just as well he was pragmatic as well as kind.

I wish more parents would help their kids with house buying deposits, so many parents are sat in houses of medium to high value with little or no mortgage left on them, they should take out a small mortgage themselves of £25 to £50k to pass over to their 20 and 30 something kids.

I’ve done it with all three of mine, I’d say it’s my proudest personal achievement to have helped them all into the housing ladder when none of them would’ve been able to do it.

[Omegstrat6]

Parents helping out financially is fine Mick-provided you have the money to do so but whilst I agree with you that those who have it could do more, there are plenty who dont.

The bottom line is that there is simply not enough affordable housing being built and supply& demand means that some landlords are able to charge stupid money for rent. Under Blair, the government target of 200,000 new builds a year was almost met, under Brown and the financial crash it fell dramatically to around 125,000 by 2011. It began to pick up but whilst the Home Builders Federation target remained at 200,000 new builds a year, and despite his promise of a "crusade" to get them built, Cameron's gvt achieved about 135,000. The Conservatives pledge in 2019 of building a million new homes during their term (300,000 a year) to get things back on track has not been met either. It's not the whole picture of course, as the percentage of affordable homes amongst these new builds has been consistently too low to meet demand.

Other factors come in to play also. In the past, whilst both parents often had to work, most mother's were able to at least stay at home with their children until they went to school and were able to get jobs around this. The main wage was still able to cover the mortgage and most bills. These days, this is not the case and even on decent wages a mortgage is too often beyond one person. The days of most people being able to get a mortgage on 3 times their salary are over.

A cultural shift has also impacted on things though. I'm sure most of us remember that our first properties were very rarely the finished article when we bought them and it was accepted that you made improvements over time, as and when you could afford them whether that was saving for carpets, furniture or new bathroom or kitchen.

These days too many want everything at once-Boris's "oven ready" concept. Too often they are on decent wages but live at home because getting on the housing ladder is so difficult. Their parents don't charge them a realistic rent and rather than even attempting to save for a deposit they would rather lease the smart cars and have those holidays abroad. They don't want to give these things up. One ex-work colleague who has been an estate agent for the past 7 years tells me that this is not an uncommon attitude. His most recent example was a young guy on a good salary who could have afforded a mortgage but opted for a shared ownership scheme instead because he wanted to keep his big Audi and the holidays.

Another consequence of all this which is coming home to roost is the issues children are increasingly showing. The govt take the position of encouraging people -inc mothers of young children- into work asap which means offering cheap childcare. Cheap childcare is generally c rap and this effectively institutionalises children from a young age and at an age critical to their development. Small wonder that so many primary school children are not toilet trained or lack language. Far too many parents abdicate their responsibilities as it is.

Perhaps the govt would be better to offer means-tested funding for one parent to remain at home with their children until they reach school age and encouraging support groups to improve their parenting abilities. They can then put the benefit constraints on to get them back into work once the children reach school age. Providing such funding would obviously be far more costly in the short term but the longer term benefits would surely be worth it.

[boingy]

Parents having money to help their kids out? Now there’s a thought. Having parents? There’s another thought. Never had a penny off my dad (when I saw him). To me anybody who had a parent give them a tenner was rich. It’s all about perspectives I guess. I’m genuinely pleased for anyone who’s had supportive parents, it’s as it should be. I’m also gutted and angry for those of us who genuinely had little to nothing. Life is what it is though. We are all born into whatever we have. I must admit that owning a house was pretty low on my list of priorities. I’ve rented my whole life because I never wanted to be tied down by any lengthy period of time to buy something. I’ve battled against feeling controlled by anything or anybody so I’ve become very much a free spirit I suppose. However, where I live now I would have to be a millionaire to live here. The Landlady has been wonderful and we feel very secure or at least as secure as we could be. Renting for me hasn’t been a disaster. I’ve had bad experiences sure but I’ve lived in some amazing places too and a move if needed has only been a month away. My first wife’s mental health meant that we were moving often for reasons too long to go into, we moved 17 times in a 22 year marriage. If any of the kids today have supportive parents I don’t worry about them whether they own a house or not. If they don’t? Yes I worry about them for lots of reasons.

[mickd1961]

Parents having money to help their kids out? Now there’s a thought. Having parents? There’s another thought. Never had a penny off my dad (when I saw him). To me anybody who had a parent give them a tenner was rich. It’s all about perspectives I guess. I’m genuinely pleased for anyone who’s had supportive parents, it’s as it should be. I’m also gutted and angry for those of us who genuinely had little to nothing. Life is what it is though. We are all born into whatever we have. I must admit that owning a house was pretty low on my list of priorities. I’ve rented my whole life because I never wanted to be tied down by any lengthy period of time to buy something. I’ve battled against feeling controlled by anything or anybody so I’ve become very much a free spirit I suppose. However, where I live now I would have to be a millionaire to live here. The Landlady has been wonderful and we feel very secure or at least as secure as we could be. Renting for me hasn’t been a disaster. I’ve had bad experiences sure but I’ve lived in some amazing places too and a move if needed has only been a month away. My first wife’s mental health meant that we were moving often for reasons too long to go into, we moved 17 times in a 22 year marriage. If any of the kids today have supportive parents I don’t worry about them whether they own a house or not. If they don’t? Yes I worry about them for lots of reasons.

I completely understand the situation is different for people like yourself mate.

I’m talking about the millions of parents who own their homes and who are comfortable.

A stable home is one of the most important things in life, I wish more family would assist their younger ones in this regard.

I also think that much more flexibility should be shown when it comes to deposit levels required for home purchases.

Back in the 80’s the lenders had a much better way of dealing with people who wanted a mortgage, especially first time buyers, much more personal attention was paid by lenders, they treated you as an individual and closely scrutinised your finances.

If someone has a flash lifestyle and has outgoings for expensive cars on lease agreements, multiple holidays etc and is constantly going overdrawn and has loaded credit card debt then they should need to show they can knuckle down and save a decent deposit.

On the other hand if you’ve got an applicant who is stuck in rental but proves they are circumspect with their income and can clearly manage finances then they should be able to obtain a 100% mortgage if required.

Too many are trapped by being in rental property and stymied because they can’t save and rent.

A more personal investigation into personal finances would show who can cope with repayments.

In regards to deposits, there could also be a scheme whereby the deposit is government funded and can be guaranteed by parents or family. This way they wouldn’t have to find any money up front and would only be on the hook if the owner got into difficulty.

There are actually so many simple ways of sorting this deposit issue out.

[boingy]

I completely understand the situation is different for people like yourself mate.

I’m talking about the millions of parents who own their homes and who are comfortable.

A stable home is one of the most important things in life, I wish more family would assist their younger ones in this regard.

I also think that much more flexibility should be shown when it comes to deposit levels required for home purchases.

Back in the 80’s the lenders had a much better way of dealing with people who wanted a mortgage, especially first time buyers, much more personal attention was paid by lenders, they treated you as an individual and closely scrutinised your finances.

If someone has a flash lifestyle and has outgoings for expensive cars on lease agreements, multiple holidays etc and is constantly going overdrawn and has loaded credit card debt then they should need to show they can knuckle down and save a decent deposit.

On the other hand if you’ve got an applicant who is stuck in rental but proves they are circumspect with their income and can clearly manage finances then they should be able to obtain a 100% mortgage if required.

Too many are trapped by being in rental property and stymied because they can’t save and rent.

A more personal investigation into personal finances would show who can cope with repayments.

In regards to deposits, there could also be a scheme whereby the deposit is government funded and can be guaranteed by parents or family. This way they wouldn’t have to find any money up front and would only be on the hook if the owner got into difficulty.

There are actually so many simple ways of sorting this deposit issue out.

Sounds very fair Mick. Despite renting my whole life I’ve never owed anyone a penny and only needed government assistance for a total of 6 weeks. Totally self reliant albeit on a low amount of money compared to many. My wife and myself budget like no one I know but we don’t go short at all. We live well.

[mickd1961]

Sounds very fair Mick. Despite renting my whole life I’ve never owed anyone a penny and only needed government assistance for a total of 6 weeks. Totally self reliant albeit on a low amount of money compared to many. My wife and myself budget like no one I know but we don’t go short at all. We live well.

There’s a great deal of pride to be had in doing that mate, fair play to you.

I presume you’ve never had kids and who could blame you?

If you had, you seem the sort who would’ve continued to help them.

[boingy]

There’s a great deal of pride to be had in doing that mate, fair play to you.

I presume you’ve never had kids and who could blame you?

If you had, you seem the sort who would’ve continued to help them.

No sadly, people tell me I’m good with kids but my first marriage didn’t allow. My wife and myself still keep an eye on her, she was sectioned recently and my wife knitted her a poncho. She’s great with her.

[mickd1961]

No sadly, people tell me I’m good with kids but my first marriage didn’t allow. My wife and myself still keep an eye on her, she was sectioned recently and my wife knitted her a poncho. She’s great with her.

Sounds like you got as lucky second time around as I did first time!

Very generous spirit to be like that.

[boingy]

Sounds like you got as lucky second time around as I did first time!

Very generous spirit to be like that.

Ive loved them both Mick. My first wife was very intelligent but very damaged, she actually left me to save me from being completely destroyed. My second wife (who knew us both for 20 years before we split up) started putting the shopping in two different parts of the trolley, I asked her why and she said I want to make a food parcel for your first wife. She did that every year for years so that she got a big food parcel once a year. Every week put food aside then delivered the food in December when she might feel the loneliest. She’s a gem.