There is no crisis. Buying your own home is a luxury, not a right

[EternalOptimist]

Whilst this is true it doesn't account for the satisfaction that the home owner gets in living in his own house for the 25 years it takes the renter to save sufficent cash to make the purchase. There is something about living in your own place that is far more satisfying than paying someone elses mortgage by renting.

Wrong, you are simply paying someone elses mortgage. Have you ever seen a poor bank manager or mortgage lender ?
Pay cash then laugh in their faces. I lived in a sh1te hole for eight years so I could buy this place, I also drove a banger so I could save up for a decent new car cash. Maybe its just the way I was brought up, but it works for me

[oracleslave]

I lived in a tulipe hole for eight years so I could buy this place

So you lived in a craphole to scrape together enough to buy in a high crime area in Manchester and that works for you? Genius.

Personally I refuse to live in a craphole but maybe that's just me and the way I was brought up.

[EternalOptimist]

So you lived in a craphole to scrape together enough to buy in a high crime area in Manchester and that works for you? Genius.

Personally I refuse to live in a craphole but maybe that's just me and the way I was brought up.

a 'so-called' rough area. I find it quite nice actually. The point I am making is that there is a third option, in addition to renting or mortgaging, you could scrimp and make-do, save then pay cash.

[oracleslave]

The point I am making is that there is a third option, in addition to renting or mortgaging, you could scrimp and make-do, save then pay cash.

Then we are in agreement

[Churchill]

Quite the most odious piece I've read in a long time. In the far past people built their own shelter, nowadays this right has been removed and replaced with what: the right to have some smug git tell you it's a luxury.

Stabbin's to good for 'em.

WCS!

[ratewhore]

...Far too many think that that all they have to do is have kids and visit the benefits office for housing and support, with no desire to work to improve their lot. Then they bring up their kids to have the same parasitic philosophy on life.

And that is the fundamental problem with this country today. It cuts across far more than just the current housing issue.

And, just to keep it on topic, I bought my house to live in. I don't care how much I could save per year by renting or whatever. It's a home for me and my family. I could afford it so I bought it, with finance I could also afford.

There is no right to home ownership, just like there is no right to owning an Aston Martin. You have the right to buy what you can afford subject to the effort you put in to make something of your life.

Problem is, that's not the current thinking of our Government.

IMHO of course...

[Churchill]

And that is the fundamental problem with this country today. It cuts across far more than just the current housing issue.

And, just to keep it on topic, I bought my house to live in. I don't care how much I could save per year by renting or whatever. It's a home for me and my family. I could afford it so I bought it, with finance I could also afford.

There is no right to home ownership, just like there is no right to owning an Aston Martin. You have the right to buy what you can afford subject to the effort you put in to make something of your life.

Problem is, that's not the current thinking of our Government.

IMHO of course...

Fair point, well put!

[expat]

...in the long-run houses always appreciate in value. ...

Not really. In many countries, including Britain until after WWII, you would expect to sell a house for pretty much what you paid for it. The housing market was stable.

Now it is unstable in the UK, and the instability is going completely unadressed because people like it. And describe uncontrolled inflation punctuated by ruinous busts as a "healthy" housing market!

The situation here is abnormal, not to say pathological. Yes one can gain by speculating on a single-commodity inflation, but is that good for the economy?

It is just a transfer of wealth from the young to the old; from those who work and earn, to those who own and do not earn. the young who have to pay more and more to "get on the housing ladder" smoke the same stuff and start to see the same visions.... but it's not really a ladder, it's a Ponzi pyramid.

[Cyberman]

a 'so-called' rough area. I find it quite nice actually. The point I am making is that there is a third option, in addition to renting or mortgaging, you could scrimp and make-do, save then pay cash.

Even with your third option you must have been paying some rent to parents, or were you a squatter or camping in a field ?

[Moscow Mule]

... in the long-run houses always appreciate in value. ...

Not really....

Er, yes they do - at 2.5% a year (on average since record began).