Coffee and drink it! 4.5 times salary for new home buyers with £30k a year salaries
Brilliant.
Except the government seems determined to punish private landlords, while the working person ends up suffering again. Yes, generally speaking, buying is far better than renting—except when you lose huge sums of money in negative equity.
And that will happen again. Much of today’s property market is overvalued. In truth, market forces—like those that govern gold, antiques, and most other assets—should be allowed to take their course.
But they aren’t.
Governments manipulate the market through interest rates and irresponsible lending. As long as the number of borrowers slightly outnumbers the non-paying debtors, the system holds together.
I bought a house in the 1990s for around £50,000. Back in 1988, a similar four-bed house cost £175,000. But due to a combination of bad tenants (ironically, students backed by government schemes), and excessive costs—stamp duty, estate agent fees, solicitor fees—I had to sell it at a loss in the early 90s even after some poor soul had lost £125000 on it. All of this made worse by a government that overcharges on every front.
The mortgage companies don’t really care. As long as more people borrow than default, they’re happy. Labour governments tend to borrow even more, and no one seems to mind. The housing market rises, everyone cheers—except first-time buyers, of course. Especially when they're being asked to overpay for new builds on flood plains with little real value.
What we need is dedication—to saving, to long-term planning, to living within our means.
Here’s a thought: £5,000 more on your mortgage is the same as you and your partner giving up two barista coffees a day. At £3.50 a coffee, that’s £7 daily. Do the math—as our American cousins would say—that’s £2,555 a year. Over two years, you’ve saved the £5,000.
But of course, no one wants that. Least of all the coffee shops. They want you to have your coffee—and drink it.
Leave a comment
Comments will be approved before showing up.
