First Time Buyers Are Screwed.

A recent report outlines the challenges faced by first-time buyers and proposes some potential solutions to the problem.
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The reports:
Full Report: www.bsa.org.uk/getmedia/e1daa...
Short summary: www.bsa.org.uk/getmedia/fb2a8...
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This video does not represent financial advice, and I am not a financial advisor. When investing, your capital is at risk. Investments can rise and fall and you may get back less than you invested. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Timestamps
00:00 - Since 2002
00:36 - Barriers
01:26 - How expensive?
04:16 - Regional data
05:00 - The broken ladder
06:38 - Sponsor
07:35 - How to fix this
Hair loss studies:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12196...
www.jaad.org/article/S0190-96...
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[@DamienTalksMoney]

Check out Manual here and get 55% off your first order using my code DTM55. bit.ly/4a13ZVi

[@loc4725]

[Looks like my comment has been deleted. Despite the replies presumably too many people downvoted it. I'm hoping posting it here will offer some protection.] -------- This isn't going to be a popular comment but I have zero sympathy - you get what you vote for. The young rarely vote and the Boomer generation only really cares about themselves, so you end up in the situation where Boomers block house building and suppress laws around renter's rights whilst simultaneously blaming other things & people (spending on lattes and immigration levels seem to be quite popular) whilst the young do next to nothing. Thing is if you let other people vote for you, you *will not* be happy with the results. I just hope the young of today doesn't blame other people when they get older and finally realise that they should have done something now.

[@dragosdragon7515]

Im 20 years old in the Yorkshire region in a small town The cheapest housing to buy here is £80,000 its not desirable they all have issuse whith mold poor insulation for both sound and heat there are no good job prospects for high earnings unless you commute for 1h every morning to the closest big city Saveing £1000 a month which is a 3rd of my take home pay it would take a decade to buy The situation is declining ontop of this as the government is trying to house migrants for cheeper so they have began moving new arrivals further north i now have to compete against the government eating up increasingly large proportions of the supply I dont think your graph took in to account the regional difference in pay ither or used a average that doesn't look at wages for young people who are trying for a 1st home Otherwise 😅 Great video, started investing a couple of months ago on 212 thanks to videos like yours

[@jonathanhowson6420]

"Put down the avocado you woke melt" Exceptional! Get that on a t shirt.

[@declanmcardle]

“Can’t buy a cheap flat white”. That’s the Costa living crisis…

[@DamienTalksMoney]

You legend.

[@purplemonkeydishwasher5269]

You need locking up for that 😂😂

[@reallymakesyouthink]

Ok that was good

[@hazmatproduction4562]

Genius comment. Kudos

[@NMiller80666]

😂 😂

[@Higuannn]

Made my first large buy with NVIDIA in 2020 and have literally been buying quarterly since then. I am thinking about trimming some at $4,200 per share.

[@Jaymilnere]

I just added some to my $200,000 portfolio and other share holdings doing incredible numbers in my portfolio. I’m up 47% from last year! I also own good blue chip companies and I have stop losses in place.

[@hullbruce]

@@Jaymilnere Do you invest on your own? What companies have performed best for you. I am actually new here.

[@Jaymilnere]

@@hullbruce Ofcourse I do not invest on my own, I and a few Neighbors in the Bel Air Area work with an advisor who prefers we DCA instead of a lump sum purchase, Following this, I have personally accrued over $250,000. in profits.

[@Jaymilnere]

Ofcourse I do not invest on my own, I and a few Neighbors in the Bel Air Area work with an advisor who prefers we DCA instead of a lump sum purchase, Following this, I have personally accrued over $250,000. in profits.

[@Higuannn]

@@Jaymilnere Hello Sir, Do you mind sharing info on the advisor you work with? I like to give this a try too.

[@markukblackmore]

I think this country has really not thought through the social impacts of the broken housing market. So many young and not so young people are deferring having kids. It’s going to cause big demographic issues in the future.

[@MLNLad]

Maybe that's the plan.

[@13mowe]

i think you are missing the bigger picture , what will happen when none can afford it ?? bet on that & you will be rich.

[@IAMMARTICUS1470]

Already is a problem, papered over by mass immigration which makes house prices go up and the future problem when the immigrant population ages even worse. It's a deadly spiral with no good end. Building houses is not the solution as it just allows the spiral to continue.

[@tortozza]

That's the solution to the climate crisis

[@pedazodetorpedo]

Don't worry immigration will continue at a million a year

[@versaceviper9798]

The problem with new homes is that when they’re built, they’re marketed with premium prices. New builds aren’t worth the prices that are assigned to them.

[@Flat-Five]

And the quality of the builds is often not up to par.

[@versaceviper9798]

@@Flat-Five I agree! I have a friend the bought a new build property on a new estate. The interior walls are hollow and the sound insulation is so poor from room to room. The cost to build the property was 220k, and Taylor Wimpey sold it for 375k. Massive margin.

[@Flat-Five]

@@versaceviper9798 Have a look at Gosforth Handyman, he just posted a video about new builds and mentioned cases of people ending up in negative equity because they’re being sold at inflated prices.

[@Natttttttttt]

@@versaceviper9798 not really there are costs to staffing, insurance, etc

[@Natttttttttt]

@@versaceviper9798the problem is the cost of building new builds, the labour is so much, we should take issue where they sell a 300k flat for 750k or 1mil that’s where they’re taking the piss

[@stewillo86]

Bought a house in 2007 at 19 years old thinking I'd made it. The crash in 2008 crippled me. I moved 130 miles north for work in 2014. I rented my house out and rented a house for me, my wife, and two children. In 2016 I had to sell that house and had to take out a 15k loan to pay off the negative equity. Trying to rent a house for a family of four (including a disabled child which statistically costs the same as three-four children) so technically a 6-7 person family and trying to save a deposit as well has crippled me. I only got back on the property ladder just over two years ago after working 72 hours a week for 6 years straight. As it was a physical job I'm now permanently injured so had to change job again and then we got battered with the interest rate increase, that hit us massively again. I'm now 37 and in a worse position with property than I was at 19 years old. I can't believe how every financial decision has gone so wrong. I've never owned a credit card, only ever been abroad 5 times for no longer than a week, own a 14 year old Skoda and have not been able to afford to carry out the work on my home to enjoy living in it. It's hand to mouth every single month.

[@MrJeffHead]

You probably live better than most brits that have ever lived simply from being born in the right generation. Be grateful you are not down the pits 6 and a half days a week with your kids.

[@barking_mad6649]

​@@MrJeffHead ridiculous reply. Give your head wobble.

[@thomas.8]

@@MrJeffHead What a moronic thing to say.

[@stevenrobinson5864]

You need a better job.

[@MonsterJuiced]

This is a terrible situation to be in. I think apart from the insane price hikes and randomly changing interest rates, and bills soaring up, the job market is completely ruined. You have to seek out a job that is in high demand. Ofcourse the problem is how do you qualify for it? How do you even find the job in the first place? It's extremely abstract because looking at job websites and apps aren't showing proper jobs anymore. A lot of jobs are even secretly marketing campaigns to get you into a training scheme you have to pay for. First step though, could be just making phone calls to all the biggest and most wealthy businesses you can think of and just asking the question to the owner (or emailing them directly): What jobs do you have that you are having trouble finding applicants for right now? Maybe even say you're doing it for research or something.

[@ratttttyyy]

What also makes it expensive is when your sale falls through on the date of exchange and you lose £3k in fees and have to start all over again.

[@pedazodetorpedo]

If that happens the sellers are liable for both the costs and "loss of bargain"

[@N0xN0ctis]

I was a first time buyer in January (32). This almost happened, it was very close and extremely stressful! If it fell through, I would have had to save for probably another 6 months to have another crack at it. Luckily it went through, but Jesus it was stressful.

[@matth8145]

Agreed. The system to buy/sell houses in this country is so outdated. It just puts so much stress on those involved. Surely it could all be digitised and streamlined, plus deposits placed so that you aren’t going through 3 months of conveyencing on purely the good will that a sale will be completed.

[@Boghopper9999]

Don't forget about the Truss factor (ironically also increased the price of lettuce); imagine if you were just about to lock in a relatively low rate and then the 'fiscal mini event' happened

[@bushmonster1702]

@@matth8145 that would require politicians to be useful.

[@LongbranchOlivetti]

Now imagine try buying your first house on your own. Single person tax is a real thing.

[@bailey125]

This is my current siituation. Single income and working in Essex. Basically impossible to get a house right now.

[@hydrocarbonsoup]

Oh man 1000% ‘I remember seeing some affluent lady being like “single people should pay a tax to help support those with children” like… nuh-uh, lady, parents and married couples already get tax advantages and support programs out the wazoo!

[@youtuber6193]

@@hydrocarbonsoupsingle people do already pay tax to help support those with kids. And those kids will eventually be the ones working in the hospitals, supermarkets, councils, doctors surgeries etc that single people use so it all balances out in the end.

[@Carlos-fv2fm]

@hydrocarbonsoup BC she, the almighty mother​ would like to take social and stop working and if not scum another single batchelor into paing

[@roxanneslate8661]

I bought with my sister in 2017 because as you say it's impossible to buy on your own. Even then i think the most we could borrow was £180,000 and the house cost £275,000. It's a new build so we used a council scheme similar to help to buy.

[@rusl12]

Anything that allows people to borrow more money (like the first suggestion) like all the previous schemes done by the tories, will drive up prices further. This is basically kicking the can down the road AND fascilitating wealth flow from poorer to richer people. We need to fix supply. We also need to fix inequality, more and more property is owned by the wealthy people.

[@821Drifter128]

Say it again louder. The way things work in this country is that you park spare wealth in property which will forever strangle the supply. There's a fundamental flaw in the system and its glaringly obvious.

[@varsas10]

Correct. Ironically helping first time buyers just makes houses more expensive, only really helping people who already own.

[@capcomgenius3974]

Tax the rich more, so they cant 'just buy' all of the property!.

[@aliensliveinme]

Yeah, a combination of house building, stamping out property developers land banking and making buy to let less attractive (before anyone kicks off, boo hoo my heart bleeds for someone who decided to monetise basic shelter as an investment) are viable for either increasing supply or reducing demand which would cool prices. It doesn't take a genius to realise that the massive increase in demand for cheap and/or starter homes as investments over the last 30 years would have an inflationary effect on house prices from the bottom of the market up. The problem is that a significant portion of government (~25% of tory MPs) are private landlords or have otherwise invested money in property and they don't want to see their own personal wealth decrease for the benefit of younger/future generations.

[@MrDuncl]

Bring back MIRAS funded by a tax on BTL mortgages.

[@Annie2229]

I grew up in an area of Miami that is mostly made up of * middle-class Cuban Americans where just five years ago a house would cost 250-350k for the most part. Now the cheapest one goes for 600k. Forget working class being able to afford them. A professional lawyer, engineer, etc. would now struggle to buy a home in that same neighborhood. Something needs to change and it will change.

[@V.stones]

Good point.. the market has been crazy lately, a few surprises here and there.. with all the global happenings taking place I think it’s safe to say that a severe global recession is looming..

[@har0ld551-hn6fm]

The fact that there is already an excessive amount of demand awaiting its absorption, despite how everyone is frightened and calling the crash, is another reason why it is less likely to occur that way. 2008 saw no one, at least not the broad public, making this forecast, as I'll explain below. The ownership rate was noted to have peaked in 2004 in the other comment. Having previously peaked in the second quarter of 2020, we are currently at the median level. Between 2008 and 2012, it dropped by 3%, and by the second quarter of 2020, it had dropped from 68 to 65.

[@Andres_853]

Real estate and stock investments may be good decisions, especially if you have a solid trading strategy that can see you through prosperous days.

[@wehrine]

You're not doing anything wrong; the problem is that you don't have the knowledge needed to succeed in a challenging market. Only highly qualified professionals who had to experience the 2008 financial crisis could hope to earn a high salary in these challenging conditions.

[@Linda.xing-tj2fh]

Recently, I've been considering the possibility of speaking with consultants. I need guidance because I'm an adult, but I'm not sure if their services would be all that helpful.

[@keegantimmermans9997]

It also doesnt help that affordable housing schemes have so many hoops to jump through. As a single dad on a good salary in the south east I am told that I am classed as unaffordable for shared ownership because the repayments combined with my fixed costs (childcare) cannot exceed 45% of my take home pay, but I can "afford" a rental property that works out significantly higher than the same repayment figure.

[@MrSebastianBlake]

Really sorry lad but you’re gonna have to come and move up to the north unfortunately is just becoming too expensive for the basics

[@RachaelStephanie]

This is something that definitely needs to be addressed by reevaluating lending policies. I get that financial institutions were forced to tighten lending criteria after 2008 but there needs to be some consistency. The rental market is crackers. I wouldn’t be able to rent a one bedroom flat in a cheaper village than where I live for the amount I pay for my mortgage. And a comparable rental house would be almost 3x what I pay for my mortgage. It serves to keep people who can’t pass affordability tests worse off because they have to pay premium amounts each month despite managing to build up their deposit. It doesn’t make sense, when there are no such checks in place to ensure you can afford a much higher rental commitment 🙄.

[@MrJeffHead]

Looks like renting is best for you in the south east.

[@shadowthi3f421]

That’s a depressing topic and not even addressing the massive issue that is leasehold.

[@SithoDude]

Leasehold is an outdated scam that needs some serious overhauling!!

[@voice.of.reason]

@@SithoDude It needs banning

[@Drian12_1-pn3oi]

Leasehold is the 2nd biggest scam after shared ownership

[@stuartfitch7093]

There are areas that are cheaper though. Take for example someone looking for property in London or Bristol, they are on £70k gross per year but struggle to find anywhere they can afford despite holding down a professional job. Even a small flat can be £500k+. Yet where I live you can easily buy a terraced house for £70k or a three bedroom semi detached house for £120k so if you are on a £30k like myself, then you can easily afford to buy a house. I bought mine on a single person mortgage and it's not like I even have a professional job. Though I acknowledge that there is a big overall housing shortage, a big factor is location. If all the professional, high paid jobs were not concentrated in just a few UK cities and were spread more evenly across the whole country, then the population would naturally spread out more. Then many of the houses around where I live that are empty would be taken up. People say, build more, that's OK but in some areas like my hometown that makes no sense when they can't even sell the ones that exist already but are sat empty. It is another consequence of the regional wealth gaps that exist in this country where there are not only wages that are lower but also a lack of investment and poor infrastructure, lack of decent jobs etc. The sad fact is there are young people in my hometown like my neice who are going to university, getting a degree, then moving away from the town to a city in search of the better jobs which is only adding to housing problems in those cities whilst in my own town I would say the population is probably going down and the average age is getting older. One day there will be no young people left in my town and all there will be is a town full of pensioners. The local businesses already can't find any staff. All this is adding towards creating housing hotspots in certain cities.

[@ngtraining5453]

Can you say which area this is? I know some parts of the North East can have relatively cheaper homes up for sale.

[@ruffey1748]

The government needing to have a "review" of anything is ridiculous. The last review got us inflationary policies such as Help to Buy, which drew a circle around a group of buyers who had money in their pockets to pay to play at the time, and screwed anyone who would've wanted a go in the following years. The suggested solutions were common sense, but an easy win is to tax the assets of the super-rich. That would trigger a sell off, bring down taxes on working people, who could use their increased disposable income to buy the increased supply on the market.

[@familyoffourdisneydreaming6081]

Much much worse since the mortgage companies allowed 2 earners to be considered in affordability. Quickly becomes the requirement, as the prices track the new money pouring in. It may be inevitable that attitudes need to change towards home ownership

[@sophieq71]

bought our 1st home back in 2019. I was 30 and my husband was 38. We were already considered late in buying, I feel sickened to all of those who want to get on the ladder and keep being left behind

[@jakeartis955]

Brought my first home last year in the East Midlands for £130k with 10% down as a deposit. The house had been neglected and the old boiler was last installed 24 years and the plaster was falling off the walls. The total renovation is projected to cost £50k. This was the only realistic home I could afford in a decent area.

[@ecoterrorist1402]

well done 👍

[@CB5413]

Similar situation to yourself bought a fixer upper would rather have that than pay for a landlords retirement plan

[@averagejoeinvestor8770]

You can buy a fixer upper but the cost of any renovations would be sickening

[@DamienTalksMoney]

Well done! I hope it doesn’t take you too long to get the money together to do the place up

[@JonathanWillis]

​@@averagejoeinvestor8770 renovation costs are high since about 2020 the cost to fix is so much higher than previous years of get a fixer upper. In addition so many properties are priced as "already fixed" so are overpriced compared to fixed houses

[@glennwhitlock1272]

My eldest is looking at investing £15,000 on a used, high-mileage, tall, long-wheeled van to live in. In 1996 i invested £15,000 on a deposit on a 3-bedroom, semi-detached house on the canal side in Chester. To be fair, the van will be hers, whereas i still owed £45,000.

[@maksimso5300]

what a sad world we live in, to compromise on a house for a van instead

[@MyAirMyles]

She will not be safe in that. Also no address problems

[@maksimso5300]

@@MyAirMyles I mean you can either live with your parents or buy a van, what are the choices?

[@glennwhitlock1272]

@@MyAirMyles she'll be travelling/working remotely, and, believe it or not, it's what the kids are doing these days.

[@adamek9750]

@@glennwhitlock1272 its just homelessness with extra steps

[@Banor]

Im 32 and finally got a decent job with progression prospects - 37k working remotely. Home ownership is not in my reach.

[@gileswilliams3014]

I have more than 2 years gross salary, live in the Midlands and, only being able to borrow about £90K, still can't afford anything!

[@latristessdurera8763]

My friend was looking at a shared ownership scheme in south London/affordable housing. She was denied a chance as they said she’d need to earn over 65k a year to qualify. This is modern Britain where key workers can’t afford affordable housing but the rich can own multiple houses and houses are left empty by overseas investors.

[@nathangreen6286]

Saw the notification and instantly felt sick. The situation for us youngsters wanting to get into property is not looking good 😥

[@bushmonster1702]

I feel for you. It's outrageous what's going on.

[@maksimso5300]

Just do what my mates are doing right now, save up all your money to buy a cool car instead. Great solution btw😂. And then also get f*ked by insurance prices while ur at it.

[@nathangreen6286]

@@maksimso5300 yeah you can live in your car but you can't drive your house 🙌🏼😂😭

[@newsoftheday420]

Don't panic, if the WEF get their way, no one is owning a house.

[@CosmicBrain21]

The situation makes it more difficult than it has been in recent history, but that’s not to say it’s impossible. If you’re young and still living at home, live there longer but save everything you can and if you’re older and you’re renting then you’ll need to work a bit harder to put savings aside. I should add, there’s nothing wrong with not becoming a property owner, I think it’s sometimes made out that ‘getting on the ladder’ is the thing to do when today young people move around (and abroad) much more than they used to so owning a property might not even be the best bet.

[@TheMrChugger]

Currently buying a house in Solihull, 3 bed semi, mortgage is gonna be £1650 a month. Yeah, okay it's Solihull. But, we're still talking a modest sized 3 bed semi at £340k. It's mental. I've honestly doubted whether it's actually worth it. When we have a kid, add £1200 a month child-care. Our combined income's pretty good, so we can just about manage it. But I'm thinking, how is someone on the average wage buying a house and having a kid or two? It just doesn't seem possible

[@livviloolah]

I am in a similar situation. it is so frustrating as a young couple thinking "I can't afford kids" when you want them in the next 5 years or so. and we're the lucky ones who just about got on the housing ladder! most of my friends rent in a shared HMO, so kids are the last thing on their minds when they can barely cover their own living costs. huge population problems are looming but older generations will blame it on subscription culture and avo toast. it's like talking into a void.

[@TheMrChugger]

@@livviloolah 100%, we're heading towards a population collapse, and that's not down to Pret or Disney+ ffs

[@odds87]

All of the backdrop of falling birth rates and government calls to actions for us to have more kids. It’s positively dystopian…

[@prolarka]

I am pretty sure if the population was not increasing as much, you know by not settling in the rest of the world in the UK, especially illegally. That would result in houses being more affordable.

[@cornbeef]

At 41 with about 10% of my yearly salary saved up, I've had to move back into with my mum to make any form of serious saving. I recon it will take me about 4 years to save up and I'm getting to a point where I'm thinking I may as well just save up such a large deposit, that I can buy an house outright. Trouble is, by the time I've done that, the house prices will have doubled, so I would probably be chasing moving goal posts. It's sad when your only "hope" is inheritance.

[@ritalally7018]

No mention of almost unfettered immigration since 1997 which has increased demand and depressed wages, so no surprise the cost of housing has soared. Add into this mix the printing of money which also causes asset prices to increase and we end up with the shocking situation we find ourselves in - more of the same is just going to exacerbate the problem so we need radically different politicians and radically different political solutions.

[@voice.of.reason]

yes indeed

[@mrdanieljamesuk]

As a 26 year old living in Berkshire (South East) I'm currently in the process of completing on my first property with my partner, a 2 bedroom flat. The main thing that got us over the finish line was utilising our Lifetime ISA, which I feel a majority of people my age don't actually utilise as much as they should. Some still have the HelpToBuy ISA capped to £250,000 purchases outside London, and £450,000 in London. They put in a pound in when Martin Lewis told them to, and they have contributed into it since, because there was a sense of urgency, In my opinion what lacks the most in our society is Financial Education, and learning how money works; emergency fund, tax etc. Majority of it is behavioural, and that's taught by parent's and family members, well those fortunate enough to. So thank you Damian for sharing your videos, and I think we can all do our bit also to stop making finance a taboo subject and encourage to share information we learn with one another.

[@pedazodetorpedo]

Congratulations! I also used a LISA for my purchase, though I'm a bit older than you. I've now opened a new LISA as a backup retirement fund.

[@Antony-qp7jr]

Just a heads up mate if it's a leasehold flat u don't own a brick

[@jakkuwolfinsomnia8058]

This is very true, I would’ve started a stocks and shares ISA years ago I only had a savings ISA but I wasn’t making returns on my money. The amount of compound growth I would’ve had would’ve made big difference today. But better late than never

[@UKGeezer]

@@jakkuwolfinsomnia8058 Yes same here, even just a little knowledge on this subject can make a huge difference.

[@midlifecarsis6420]

LISA is criminally under-utilised even for those already owning or not wanting to own a home (for BRTP). No tax on the way out means it can be a bridge to pension or, even better, invest in a pension at withdrawal for double tax-efficiency. I whack £4k in my HSBC All-World Accum LISA every April, that's £5k a year without any market gains.

[@victoriab8186]

That comparison of interest rates with earnings multipliers was really useful, and not something I’ve seen done before. Really it makes a lot of sense - what you’re paying interest on determines how much interest you’re paying, so if your interest rate halves but the price of the house compared to income doubles, you are paying the same amount. But these statistics are so infrequently seen together that it can seem as if things would be hard but essentially we’d get through it if interest rates go higher

[@willhobbs3884]

@DamienTalksMoney I work for a Building Society and will be at the BSA conference next week discussing ways we can innovate to help solve this issue. Your video though as always was a beautifully articulate and accessible summary of the issue and the report. Thank you for continuing to highlight important issues in such a well produced manner

[@MrDuncl]

Stop doing Buy to Let mortgages. Years ago in a newspaper financial advice column a parent was asking where their daughter could put the money she was saving for a house deposit without it being lent out to a Landlord competing against her to buy a house. In 1999 I had never even heard of a Buy to let mortgage. Check and there are figures showing their numbers were miniscule back then.

[@ThyTrueNightmare]

nearly 30 still don't have our own place as a high earner and the best I can seem to find is flats or houses only meant allowed for retirees or investors were all the walls are moldy

[@oneeleven9832]

Until uncontrolled immigration legal & illegal is addressed any ‘solution’ is pissing in the wind

[@user-kx3fq1zo6f]

You mustn't say that!

[@jonny9071]

Yeah right, it's impoverished Eritrean refugees buying up all the housing stock to rent out...

[@shelle.angelo]

Keep in mind that during the 80’s people were encouraged to save due to the interest rates. Right now there’s very little incentive to save because those who are saving are watching those who are reckless taking it in. I’ve been trying to save for a home and it’s been discouraging to watch prices continue to not budge because there’s people willing to get into a mortgage where they’re paying 40% of their income. It’s insane.

[@emmaarmando]

The housing market in 2024 poses difficulties due to uncertainties about the Federal Reserve's ability to curb inflation and reduce borrowing costs without adversely affecting demand for assets like homes and automobiles.

[@spacecadet6]

Consider shifting from real estate to stocks during severe recessions. While market volatility presents short-term trading opportunities, it's crucial to approach with caution. This isn't financial advice, but investing during such times may be a strategic move, consider adopting the services of a financial expert.

[@MrDuncl]

They should take house prices into account when measuring inflation and thus setting interest rates. I still find it strange that there is a big fuss when a can of beans goes up 20p, but when the average house goes up £20K it is deemed to be a sign of a successful economy.

[@noah-greene]

In fact, I had no prior experience or understanding when I began investing in 2020, but by the end of 2023, I had made a profit of almost $850k. All I had been doing was going by what my financial advisor had told me. This demonstrates that all you truly need is a professional to assist you; you don't even need to be a great investor or put in a lot of work.

[@BiancaSherly]

@@noah-greenewho is your advisor please, if you don't mind me asking?

[@teamfusion7218]

Conveyancing fees are an absolute con and I believe these need to have a validity period for certain elements. You could be so close to the purchasing a house, and for whatever reason it could fall through after you've paid conveyancing fees. Joe Bloggs and his avocado toast could rock up a month later, and pay for a conveyancing fees, and some of the searches Jo and his avocado are paying for, have just been undertaken a few weeks earlier. A validity certificate should be issued by the land registry to the property seller / agent excluding some searches as the search has just been undertaken. Just my ramblings on yet another fab video!

[@thomasmanning477]

I've always thought this! I bet it's not that uncommon for the same surveyor to return to a house they've already been to and carry out another survey..

[@midgeman90]

Best thing to do would be to go with a solicitor that only charges fees on completion. This not only saves you money if the purchase falls through, but the solicitor is motivated to get the purchase to completion so they get their fee for their work. You will still need to pay for searches and a survey (if you want one), but mitigates the costs a bit. Best of a bad situation I guess.

[@90PaMa]

​@@midgeman90yeah I wish... I was in this position, thinking he will get the motivation to bring it over the line. It took him 8 months from mandate to completion

[@midgeman90]

@@90PaMa Some factors will be out of the solicitor’s control. The offer to completion time in The UK is currently 18 weeks.

[@90PaMa]

@@midgeman90 maybe, not our case as both parties had to step in to speed up the process

[@andrewoakley4957]

Cracking video Damien! Good information interspersed with well thought out humour. 😊 I have 1st time buyers viewing my house this week, but despite it being cheaper because there are some issues that will over time need to be addressed, I'm sure that they will have so much of the money withheld pending works they'll not be able to buy. In many respects it is perfect for a young couple. 🤞

[@DamienTalksMoney]

Fingers crossed the viewings go well!

[@grantbeerling4396]

1970's land value as a proportion of the house purchase was about 5%, now 70% (North East) to 300+% (South East). Its land values as a commodity further gaining value post-1996 (buy-to-let law change) as buy-to-let has meant that the

[@sirianofmorley]

Young people often want a lot of left wing policy that does not help them one ounce in this particular thing. More people incoming. More people working. Higher taxation. A desire to have more people reliant on benefits. ...the list goes on

[@KelticStingray]

​@@sirianofmorleywhen young people can't even start accumulating wealth you've got a recipe for disaster

[@sirianofmorley]

@@KelticStingray but they can... they chose not to.

[@MrDuncl]

This. I live on a 1970s estate built on what used to be an airfield. Given that the house cost £12500 back in 1974 and that had to include all the roads etc I wonder how much a plot cost. On the other side of the estate a friend lives in what started off as a self build house. A bunch of tradesmen and amateurs bought the plots and materials and built the houses themselves to a high standard. One way of cutting out building companies excess profits.

[@RachaelStephanie]

It is so difficult for first time buyers! I managed to buy my own house at the age of 29 (as a single buyer). I put a 20% deposit down and my house is in a desirable and sought after area. I didn’t have any help from family, but I am very fortunate to have a decent job, and I am very financially disciplined. I was also extremely lucky as I locked in a laughably low interest rate and bought at a great time. I now have a massive amount of equity in my property as well. For most people, it isn’t impossible, but the odds are stacked against you - it takes a lot of patience and sacrifice to save up a large sum of money, (and I acknowledge the sacrifice is bigger or longer, if you earn less). Some people aren’t willing to do it and others just simply aren’t able to save enough 😢.

[@randomblogger2474]

great video Damien, all the major problems begin in 1979 when Thatcher gets into power, everything changed when she sold off the council houses all the big problems start from there because that generation that were able to buy their houses cheaply were going to have an advantage over the generations coming behind them, (anyone born post 1979) basically had a massive uphill struggle as there were so few council houses left to rent as no new stock was allowed to be built. This is why there is such a huge financial divide between those generations after Thatcher and before her...and why the young are struggling so much now, the only way to fix it is to allow there to be more houses to be built for people to rent etc as not everyone can afford a house. But we both know that they older generations dont wont this as it brings down the paper value of their houses as they are investments...selfish to their cores for the most part and the main reason we are in this mess.

[@mrmeldrew693]

I bought eight years ago. Despite having reasonable pay rises since, I'd have zero hope of buying this house now. The money I paid for a four bed detached house would at a push get me a three bed semi now and the interest rate would mean the monthly cost would be far higher. That's before all the other costs that have jumped too. Nightmare.

[@charlesbridgford254]

Similar. I bought 14 years ago. Had above inflation pay rises every year since. I couldn't afford to buy my house now.

[@sillyrabbit8879]

We're in a funny middle ground having bought several years ago. At the time I felt a little disadvantaged even comparing to those a 4/5 years ahead, yet can only count myself lucky in comparison to anyone looking to start now :/

[@capcomgenius3974]

Couldn't agree more, I purchased my first house 2018 in Bournemouth area for £340k its worth around £500-£550k now. I would no way be able to afford it either if buying today. My brother is looking to move out of Bungalow from my Mum & Dads garden with his GF but has no chance of getting anything like what I have Its such a shame

[@aliensliveinme]

I bought 6 years ago and I'm in the same position. I picked up a 4 bed semi and I'd now be lucky to get a 2 up 2 down for the price that I paid (admittedly my house needed a new boiler and woodworm treatment before I moved in). There's no way I'd have been able to get anywhere near this house with the deposit I had then and the income multiplier. It's insanity that in half a decade things have deteriorated so much that like for like I couldn't even afford my own house! On top of that my lodger (friend from uni) has just got himself a mortgage in principle too. When I first took on the house despite having a signficantly lower income I felt reasonably confident in my ability to keep it running on my own if he moved out. Now between energy bills, food inflation and my mortgage repayments increasing by 30% last year I'm far less confident that I'll be able to keep things ticking over solo now that he's actually on his way out.

[@MrDuncl]

Bought in 2011 after waiting three years for the crash that never seemed to happen. To my surprise I recently discovered that the people who bought next door to a house I had in the 1990s lost money between 2006 and 2013. Of course the person who bought in 2001 and sold fifteen months later at a 46% profit probably thought buying that house was the best thing they ever did.

[@Alex-cw3rz]

10:16 this is such an important point and something everyone needs to know. As you say this is not borrowing and throwing the money away with zero return. This would be borrowing with a garentueed return and a big return at that and due to it being the government it's even better as it is gaining them mutiple revenue streams from less spent on benefits due to more people employed, to economic boost as more is spent in local areas, transport links are improved, more can be invested in job creation for these new estates, lower rent and house prices means people spend more money on goods and services increasing GDP and tax returns it's a win, win.

[@drifty_grifty]

Won't work with mass low skilled immigration.

[@capcomgenius3974]

Problem in Bournemouth area is that they are building loads of homes, but not thought about the additional traffic etc. Places that are already overcrowded and busy will be getting worse. Youngsters can not get on the property ladder around here as the prices to buy are crazy and more and more rich people are moving into the area.

[@MrDuncl]

And then you go over the Hampshire Border and there are fields North and East of Hinton Admiral Railway Station. I thought they were about to build more houses in New Milton next to where I used to live, but it turned out to be a Crematorium !

[@Ahrimas]

We need houses built by the government and sold at cost. The problem is a lack of supply, it always has been, and the selling off of social housing has made it worse.

[@MalcolmXpat]

who would have priority to buy them?

[@MrDuncl]

Even better built by the Government and NOT sold off. Put the right people in (e.g. Hospital Workers) and they could actually be a cost benefit to the Government.

[@stevo728822]

Using pension pots for a deposit on a house just throws more fuel on the fire.

[@steveinstamford]

The main issue i believe is the monopoly the house builders have. These guys are screwing everyone in the country for no reason and are keeping the prices of new property very high which has a knock on effect on older properties. The government need to get a grip of them, problem is the mps are invested in said property builders so its not in their interest to level the market lower

[@purplemonkeydishwasher5269]

My dad had the right idea. Buy a 3 bed as young as possible and get your mates in as lodgers. I didnt take that advice as I was travelling a lot for wor. But hindsight is 20/20.

[@kamj2948]

The UK government has not made a policy in favour of the little guy for the last 2 decades at least. I've no doubt they would love to do the 100 year mortgage so their banker friends can live off the interest.

[@SashaGrace94]

The average cost of building an MMC social sector home in the county I work in in North Wales is now £266,000. Tell me how a Housing Association is expected to finance that without decent grant rates. We really struggle to develop new homes, even to sell or rent at private market prices. Source - I’m a Chartered Housing professional working for a Housing Association.

[@DamienTalksMoney]

Thanks for this Sasha, The question I have is why is the cost so high?

[@SashaGrace94]

@@DamienTalksMoneycost of land, materials and labour have all skyrocketed. Timber is over 4 times more expensive than it was 4 years ago, in Wales we have to do PAC’s, basically pre planning applications before planning permission goes in to secure developments and that needs to be done before grant funding is finally allocated. All new homes in the social sector in Wales must be built to EPC A/SAP 92 standard and a landlords whole stock is targeted to Net Zero by 2033. You get a higher MMC (modern methods construction) grant in Wales and usually grant funding makes up 50% of the overall development cost and that’s higher than England but it’s still hugely expensive. We collect £28million ish a year in rent across 4,100 homes. If our arrears rise we can’t afford to repair the properties or develop new ones so the impact of poor welfare continues to compound. We also have WHQS 2023 standards to start to achieve which is more comprehensive than the Decent Homes standard. If we invest in housing we can see those savings back on health, and in education as overcrowded living conditions can cost a child a whole grade at GCSE on average with repercussions down the line. If you’ve not read the Joseph Rowntree Foundations A Framing Toolkit: How to talk about homes paper please do, it’s an interesting read.

[@SashaGrace94]

@@DamienTalksMoney​​⁠cost of land, materials and labour have all skyrocketed. Timber is over 4 times more expensive than it was 4 years ago, in Wales we have to do PAC’s, basically pre planning applications before planning permission goes in to secure developments and that needs to be done before grant funding is finally allocated. You get a higher MMC (modern methods construction) grant in Wales and usually grant funding makes up 50% of the overall development cost and that’s higher than England but it’s still hugely expensive. Also all social new builds must be EPC A/SAP 92 and the whole stock must be net zero by 2033 under WHQS 2023 which is more comprehensive then the Decent Homes standard. If you’ve not read the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s A framing toolkit: How to talk about homes I would recommend.

[@gadagaz]

I think we might have to start resorting to printing houses, like they do in China. They have actually started to look at it here too, there is one housing association I was involved with through a material supply business who were proposing it as an idea subject to BREEAM and RIBA approval.

[@philthewriter]

@@gadagaz Makes little to no difference when developable land is valued at similar rates to entire houses. You could live in a shed, but it's not really a solution when the land it's on still costs £200k+.

[@JW20236]

I think there can only be worse to come before it gets better. We are on an island with limited space (unless we want to pave over our countryside). We have astronomical national debt. Even the hedge funds are losing faith in government bonds. I can only think there is a shock to come. I look to The North for affordable property. Anything remotely near London is just out of reach.

[@stevenwilsondrummer5956]

There isn’t a property ladder anymore. It’s a single step, that you can either get up onto or (more increasingly) you cannot….

[@hoodrider61]

As a single person what I did was become a land lord. The bank would lend me more money compared to me getting a residential mortgage. So now I rent out the property on a buy to let repayment mortgage and when the time is right I’ll change my mortgage and move into it. Although you need a minimum of 25% for buy to let mortgage, so that can be tough

[@caz6152]

Large building developers are not incentivized to build quickly. If house prices go down the profit margins go down. They already own enough land and have planning permission to build millions of homes. Incentives need to be restructured

[@gejer123]

I think using the pension to pay for deposit will only increase house prices, same as reducing the percentage of the deposit over the house price. Unfortunately, it's not a matter of trying to make already existing houses more affordable, but to make more houses. In that matter, leaseholds policies have to be reviewed, as flats in tall buildings will be the only (humanly) viable option

[@sallangel]

I'm single in my early 30s, and bought a small one-bedroom flat 5 years ago. In just those 5 years I've seen the costs of just being alive, from my mortgage to electricity, jump up in price. I'd love to move to a house, but I can't afford to. The costs I'm paying now scare me - how could I possibly afford more? I think being able to do it on your own will one day be impossible.

[@thomascuvillier7250]

When people think of housing price they think only of speculation on land value. But it is more complicated. A house is also material cost, which followed inflation the past 20/30 years when wages haven't. A house is also a location and demand can outstrip offer, if we don't build enough of them. Depending on where you live your house cost depends more or less on land value speculation.

Was that a triple at the end 12:35 ? “Do you still (have a car 🚗 though/have Ocado/avocado 🥑)?” Nice 😂

[@DamienTalksMoney]

I wish i was smart enough to think of the Ocado one. You are a better man than me

[@phooogle]

Not really on topic but I was talking to my brother in a "Let's set the world to rights" type convo tonight, and I raised the idea of what's going to happen in general with people if the current trend of effectively having less and less money each year continues. As in, how long can people keep having 6% less money each year in real terms (for example) until the whole world breaks? Ten years more of declining real terms income could mean people are 30% to 60% worse off - where's the breaking point?

[@anarchodandyist]

Great insightful vid for me who is soon to be a first time buyer. Did appreciate the pun at the end to 😂🤙

[@001sander2]

Very similar to Canada. Federal government used to build tens of thousands of homes each year.

[@Gonk_83]

Make some good points. There societal issue here. Do youth need to go Uni get decent paying job? & and get in to all that debt before, you even buy property. Do need go and get nice car on finance. I don’t have degree it’s choices me and the mrs brought our first home 2005 2 bed terrace £93K both of us stacking shelves at local supermarket 100% northern rock mortgage remember those 😂 I’m 40 now have 4 bed detached double en-suite and no degree yes it was hard we both sacrificed didn’t go out much for those first few years but we had each other and own home. Our social life suffered but worth it the end. Enjoyed the video.

[@mangadud]

I'm 30 a lot of people when I was in my teens were pressured to go to uni. They were told if they don't go they will have no future. This was manipulation not a choice.

[@toiletrollholder]

​@@mangadudyes it was - so you start off in a debt trap. Then a mortgage. Wage slave for life! Of course it's lovely to hear happy couples living happily ever after without degrees but not the norm I'm afraid. Best of luck for your future 👍

[@grantbeerling4396]

12.50; Reminder; Clement Attlee's government defaulted on a huge US loan in 1947 (due to the winter of 46/47 where the government spent the money stopping people from freezing to death over the 6-month freeze, we have never had a winter since like that one) he had a choice abandon the proposed 1948 NHS and welfare acts as the government were 250% GDP ratio in debt, or go ahead, thank God he ( and it was him and him alone, lonely at the top) went ahead rather than buckling. Gov debt is not like a household (Deficit Myth by Stephanie Keltion) as Gov owns, issues and collects their own currency nobody else can do that. The credit card analogy is a classic neoliberal meme.

[@apeacock233]

Government deficit public surplus 0 sum game appart from the interest which can obviously only be repaid via the issues of more debt.

[@ehazael]

It's not an issue of supply, it's landlordism, therefore cost. The UK doesn't have a housing shortage - our homes per capita is higher than many countries but we have 4x more landlords than teachers and no rent control. Multiple home ownership and the unregulated private rental sector is the genuine biggest factor behind the crisis but housing supply is the scapegoat. Also, let's not forget the shocking standards of new homes - developers are increasing their margins by foregoing quality control.

[@jamesdaly1111]

I have tried to think ahead on this one and I think the truly unsolvable puzzle arrives when a generation of renters retires as pensioners are still eligible for housing benefit. At a certain point (maybe 40 years from now) this cost is unsustainable. So even if this is allowed to continue, there is a hard stop there.

[@trob1299]

Damien is the best . Can you do a video on creating a pension for someone starting one in their 20s?

[@kw8757]

Do you have an employer? If you do what are the terms of their pension scheme regarding contribution matching? Or do they have a defined benefit scheme (unlikely)? Your employers scheme should be your first port of call for their extra contribution on top of the tax benefit. Pete Mathews at Meaningful Money has some good videos on pensions and investing kzbin.info/www/bejne/ioDbZKOQoal7j5Ysi=qnYAjYDWMYuDlbd-

[@JonathanWillis]

He's done videos before, in short, one option is open a vanguard account, and invest in FTSE Global All Cap accumulation every month what you can afford.

[@mikester4896]

The issue is that the Government are homeowners and landlords themselves so their self interest in keeping house prices high is why they don't want to do anything about it.

[@NMiller80666]

Absolutely, and they got us by the balls with their leasehold system on flats and some houses.

[@NMiller80666]

The idea of buying a cheap flat white, doubling in value is a fallacy. I bought a lease for a flat near London, you get trapped as you have ground rent and escalating service charges etc. Flats are a lot more expensive to run than a cheap freehold. So much rogue freeholders (incluing the Crown) crippling and trapping flat owners by fleecing them. Time to get rid of the fuedal leasehold system.

[@danteburritar2822]

hmm… different areas of the country have different markets. when I first bought a house a staff nurse starting salary was £7k per year, now it’s quadrupled, and guess what? so has the price of that same house. interest rates now are actually lower than when I bought that house too. as I said, other parts of the country have prices that have more than quadrupled in the last 45 years though. there is no single housing market.

[@MoneyGist]

The Nigerian government introduced the option of accessing your pensions for a mortgage down payment a couple of years ago. You're limited to 25% of your pensions so people don't exhaust the entire pot.

[@DamienTalksMoney]

I don't think the average pot is all that big in the UK to make a difference young enough but the impact to the overall effect of compounding returns will be massive at the other end.

[@DafyddMorse]

Here's a hot take that may not be popular. The real issue is the rapidly declining value of the pound. The pound has lost half its value since 2000 and 25% since the beginning of the pandemic! Average house prices in the UK are 84% cheaper if you don't value your house in fiat pound tokens and use another popular store of value.

[@bye-72]

I never bought till I was 45, I bought a 1 bed flat ex council flat just outside London. It was pretty cheap, so buy a property you can afford. I wouldn’t give up, it’s definitely possible.

[@wild4fp]

Have you been on right move, type location say Burnley then put radius 10 miles. See the house prices...

[@FlyingFun.]

Low interest rates have allowed prices to go up too high, the current rates are actually pretty normal. Gov should have never dropped rates so low for so long.

[@voice.of.reason]

Spot on

[@StormadoMan]

Screw the UK housing market, I'm seeing property overseas that costs 10x less than similar property in the UK, just that post Brexit it's not exactly straight forward to leave the sinking ship.

[@voice.of.reason]

So where is that? Lots of houses are cheap but you get there then realise why they are cheap. And can you speak the language? Get a job there?

[@salkoharper2908]

@@voice.of.reason At this point, it is the only hope for many of the youth. I know your generation of English think it's impossible a foreign country could be better. Times have changed. In 20 yrs, English young will go to Poland to find work. They will be leaving England. Stay in the UK and be a rental serf is now the only other option.

[@laraveinberg5648]

Everything from the visuals, to jokes and even music are always spot on and on par with the theme of the video. The sheer amount of effort is amazing! Well done Damien and thank you for another excellent video!

[@DamienTalksMoney]

Such lovely feedback thank you so much

[@shoganai1310]

Sorry, can someone explain to me why the average deposit is £60000? Isn't it normally 10%, I'm not going for a £600,000 house.

[@Al_Does_Stuff]

Subscriptions are a much bigger part of modern life than it used to be. Want good entertainment - subscription, play a videogame 9/10 times subscription, need to do taxes subscription, phone finance/contract, charity, gym, therapy, food plans, adblocker, antivirus, software for sidehustle, all subscriptions. Now you dont need all of these but more than likely you will have one or two. Now some of these would've been applicable before (particularly charity) but i think the normalisation of monthly subs for soooo many of our services is frankly terrible. So many of these are close to necessitys whearas before they wouldve been one off costs if you didnt have the money you would skip the service as it was more likely to be a one off cost.

[@billB101]

I work in music, video and motion graphics, everything has turned to subscription models ( even for software I already own that was supposed to be a perpetual licence) It's ridiculous the amount I'm now paying monthly just to do my job. Factor in the everyday services that are subscription too and it's becoming very expensive.

[@midlifecarsis6420]

The more people subscribe to unnecessary shit then more things will move to a subscription model. It's called making a rod for your own back. I have Amazon at what? £80 a year, phone SIM at £20pm and Muay Thai gym at £70pm. Are you seriously trying to suggest that's stopping anyone from buying a house?

[@bobjames6622]

Videogame sub = not needed Taxes sub = never even heard of it. Do your own taxes, if self employed, or hire a book keeper Phone = buy 2nd hand phone for peanuts and get cheap sub Charity = begins at home. If you're skint, that's where it ends too Gym = go running Therapy = really? Food plans = there are things called "shops", where you pay for what you need without any plans necessary Adblocker = there are free ones readily available Antivirus = see Adblocker Software for sidehustle = if that makes you money then its a business expense. If not, then it's a hobby you don't need See how much money I've just saved you!

[@Al_Does_Stuff]

@@bobjames6622 I did say these are not all needed. There are also many free options. It doesn't mean subscriptions aren't an issue. Not using them can cost either a large amount of time or incur a one off cost (but the options for that are increasingly limited which was my original point). Well done if you can navigate modern life without any. Many people are picking up these subscriptions long before they have any financial literacy at all and so don't even realise the damage they can be doing. Ps. These are not my personal subs just a off the top of my head list.

[@Al_Does_Stuff]

@@midlifecarsis6420 your doing great keeping your monthlys that low. Presumably you've avoided as many as you can. It's still an extra 1160 for a deposit potentially or 1450 in a Lisa. I'm not advocating you cut anymore btw just these things mount up and some people won't even realise.

[@graham2806]

The situation is diabolical and a national embarrassment. 2nd homes should not be allowed, the system is based on explotation and greed and houses should be homes, not investments. I'm lucky enough to be able to move to Devon and retain my London job but working from home. Appreciate this is rare, and without this, my wife and I would have the the depressing reality of not being able to afford to start a family and wasting our lives commuting to London and becoming corporate slaves, like many do blindly without realising.

[@rsmith4407]

People know, Graham. They just aren’t part of the privileged and siloed laptop class that you are currently part of. I could see those kinds of middleman laptop jobs becoming more vulnerable to AI in future so the job market will change yet again. Late stage capitalism is quite the “interesting time”.

[@graham2806]

@@rsmith4407 I guess being packed into a train like a can of sardines for hours upon hours every week is considered the norm for some people. You only have to observe the faces on the train to feel the misery of the people, and yes I have been there. People are backed into a corner and many have little choice but to go to London for work, whilst paying ridiculous rail fares and rents/mortgages. IMO London is not worth it you have a choice or are earning less than £50/60k. There's also a misconception that working from home = isolation - it allows more time and energy to go to social events and see friends/family and lead a healthier lifestyle. It's what you make of it, isolation is a choice. I understand that working from home is not for every type of personality (my wife hates it) but modern working is about flexibility.

[@graham2806]

@@rsmith4407 I guess being packed into a train like a can of sardines for hours upon hours every week is considered the norm for some people. You only have to observe the faces on the train to feel the misery of the people, and yes I have been there. People are backed into a corner and many have little choice but to go to London for work, whilst paying ridiculous rail fares and rents/mortgages. IMO London is not worth it you have a choice or are earning less than £50/60k. There's also a misconception that working from home = isolation - it allows more time and energy to go to social events and see friends/family and lead a healthier lifestyle. It's what you make of it, isolation is a choice. I understand that working from home is not for every type of personality (my wife hates it) but modern working is about flexibility.

[@toiletrollholder]

Good news Graham - best of luck 👍

[@craigsteel5629]

This is very much a regional topic and the ladder does still work as your not throwing your money away on rent which is likely more than your mortgage repayment so therefore you build wealth via equity over time. Now that's not overnight but long term like +5 years while as a young person you build your career and increase your pay which then in turn increase your buying power. However what is developing is almost two markets in the majority of the country; New build and ex-council build. Then there is stamp duty or Lbtt in Scotland which is also damaging and is essentially a double tax. It is a tax designed to keep the working and middle class low in available cash and reduce there buying power as at there higher end of the market that money is made back via compounding effect. Another example of the how the rich get richer and or stay rich. Combine that with wealth band stats and where they hold wealth a video you done recently and it explains a lot so learn from that and use it. Note you only pay the tax at purchase so buy cheap with potential and do it up and push that home into another band and sell it and repeat as a useable side hustle while having a roof over your head

[@amandam480]

i live in a major city in the south. people i know have bought in their 40s/50s and moved to places like Bedford, Luton, and the north.

[@iancooksley1]

We currently build 200k houses per year. The govt would like us to double this. So we either double the workforce to pick up the slack or we get the current workforce to work longer days. Immigration is not helping as this is increasing demand. None of the above would be considered so the problem will continue to exist.

[@clarkeysam]

The fundamental problem is that people perceive that property prices cannot fall, and that's because of various governments' actions. The result of this is that people are rewarded more by buying the most expensive property that they can. Even if prices rise by only, say, 2% a year, when you're geared up to your eyeballs (no, not like a young George Osborne) then you gain a huge ROI. This in turn reduces the workforce flexibility and gobbles up larger percentages of people's incomes in repayments, both of which have a negative impact on the economy. E.g. the death of the high street isn't JUST because of online shopping and out of town shopping centres, it's also because people are not spending as freely.

[@MrDuncl]

Re the point about older people in large houses they should offer them HPI linked savings accounts. Until recently if they sold their house they would have then been offered 0.25% in a "high interest" savings account.

[@clarkeysam]

@@MrDuncl I'd like to see council tax reform. It's not fair that some people pay 3% of the property's value in tax, while the rich pay less than 0.1%. This could also help motivate elderly people to downsize, as the council tax saving could be significant.

[@harlyslamm2888]

Everyone seems to forget Sunak's wasteful spending and then a huge amount of taxation! For instance, not content with giving our ludicrous contract to his friends, he failed to increase tax on the very rich! When push comes to shove, he increased the greatest tax burden on the middle class, by freezing tax allowance until 2028...just when inflation has been at its highest for nearly 30 years. This means, every day britons who never benefitted from the last 20 years of debt build up are asked to pay for it, Sunak's wife instead pays less than 5% in tax! The Sunak's wealth increased by £106m but yet they are not paying any more tax than before, but everyone else is! Going back to what we had 3 years ago can go along way, but we need a whole change in the way we elect our parties and who exactly do they work for!

[@kjeksklaus7944]

It’s not just first time buyers. I recently sold my house for £250k giving me over £100k capital, so I’m buying a house the same price as at 4.5% anything over £280k it’s just over leveraged money going to the bank on interest. But it’s costing me £8k to move including agents and then when I remortgage I’ll be paying £200pm more on a £30k less borrowing that when I took the mortgage. And I consider myself so fortunate even though it’s me being screwed. I can’t access my Lisa which could be an option but I’m planning to use that instead of the 25% pension withdrawal to buy a bigger annuity which I’ve calculated will by me 20 years of more money from retirement, if I get to retire of course as that’s getting further and further away.

[@Vickie...]

I have just bought my first home with a 95% ltv and deposit of 7000 (E.Midlands), it is a nice little 2 bed terrace with a decent garden, detached garage, loft conversion, new bathroom and overlooking the countryside. If people are needing to put down a 60k deposit outside of London then there is something seriously wrong, they need to be looking at cheaper properties, there are still some around! 😊

[@liamwarren7590]

You're 100% right about government house building.

[@vdyson9655]

Great work, Damian! Every generation is challenged differently, but a lack of housing is the fundamental factor. And no real government strategy!

[@Judep4237]

Surely Right to Buy would need to be revoked before Councils resume house building

[@blademaiden4498]

The “Right to Buy” was the worst piece of legislation ever, it totally distorted the housing market.

[@tonyh1460]

Wealth will trickle down as today’s youngsters likely have property owing parents Those that don’t will find it very difficult The haves and have not divide will grow

[@simbo52bn22]

Exactly this - the next 10-20 yrs will turn in to a simple lottery for all young people - a divide between those who are fortunate to inherit £100k/£200k/£300k or more from parents or grandparents in their will when they pass away vs those (otherwise identical) young people who do not get this good fortune.

[@user-ch8ku6qe3x]

And don’t worry … for those of us with property owning parents … we will be hit with IHT so we don’t keep the lump sum as it is .

[@davidr7819]

We paid for my late mother’s care home fees by selling her house. There was still £300k left after she passed away…

[@junaidahmad1492]

The best solutions are often the simplest which is to build more houses and some sort of law to prevent the hording of houses. Trying to create a complicated system of taxation, pensions and mortgage terms won't make the situation any better. It will only put a temporary bandaid on the problem.

I think the property ladder idea is not right. If you factor in the costs of moving out, solicitor fees, stamp duty, etc ends up being worse than just starting bigger and paying more interest. I decided to get a 2 bed because of this, I’m only a first time buyer once.

[@vvwalker7261]

Until immigration is brought down to managable levels, the housing market (rent and purchase) will continue to be disfunctional. The UK has run a house building deficit for decades and now the chickens have come home and the people that are affected are predominantly young people. The leithvo YT channel covers this for Australia. People talk about immigrating there but they have the same problem

[@knowledgeseeker5499]

Actual issue is cheap labour and more people for government to pay taxes. Majority of English speaking countries have aged population and unsustainable pensioners if they don’t inject immigrants. Big issue is systemic corruption of politicians and rich people and not immigration

[@johnkay4701]

As usual, the answer given is simply to build more houses. Note: there are more residential properties in the UK than there have EVER been! The real reason has been totally ignored yet again; it always is. Take a look at house price unaffordability & compare that to the net immigration; plot the two on a time series graph; it ain't rocket science. Mass uncontrolled immigration stuffs ever more people into the county, thus increasing demand. It's simple 101 economics. The supply has still increased but has not kept up with immigration numbers. Strange how immigration is RARELY mentioned & NEVER blamed. So what's your bias?

[@voice.of.reason]

Good point - he should have mentioned immigration. But that's the elephant in the room

[@salkoharper2908]

@@voice.of.reason It's not an Elephant in the room anymore. Everyone is talking about it now. Old, young, men, women, white, black etc. Everyone who does not have a financial investment in mass migration (politicians & corporations) can see it is literally destroying the country, it's economy and now its youth. Half the young men I know have a parent from somewhere else and even they want migration to be lessened, because they can see with their own eyes, they are getting replaced and priced out by the new cheaper migrants.

[@drifty_grifty]

No one will ever mention it, you'll get banned and lose your job.

[@tribes2archivist]

Correlation is not causation. I doubt you work in the strawberry fields.

[@johnkay4701]

​@@tribes2archivist I partially agree, also if anyone plots QE - money printing plotted on a graph against stock market prices, they correlate remarkably closely. I think there is a strong element of causation of both house price & stock market inflation in both instances. You make an erroneous assumption about me. I've had done a lot of commercial fruit picking as a teenager & worked on a farm later full-time; mucking out pigsties, building haystacks, potatoes sorting, refurbishing giant chemical storage tanks, harrowing fields; many, many years ago now. Also as a keen edible produce gardener now, among many varied plants, I have two large beds of strawberries currently.

[@jonny3308]

"Borrowing money to invest in housing and infrastructure... is like taking out a loan to invest in new equipment. Very different proposition." I completely agree. Now we just need every news outlet to stop deliberately conflating 'all state debt'='bad' and we might get somewhere...

[@Mikey_NoCap]

We are screwed! Maybe one option would be a quasi equity release from parents main residence (maybe government backed to keep out the shameless profiteers from invading the market). Given that parents residence is outside of inheritance tax, then maybe just maybe a way to access inheritance from those exempt assets could be a route. Wow, there you go, I have just solved the issue (as long as mum and dad have an asset to tap). Great vid again my man.

[@lteredcarbon]

One cannot ignore the fact that the new generations of youth can no longer count on the social conditions in which their parents, the baby boomers, found themselves after graduating from universities: they face either unemployment, or work not in their specialty, or, at best, casualization. Over the past decades, the proletariat has turned into the precariat - an entire class of partially or temporarily working and therefore socially unsettled people, who have neither stable work, nor full employment, nor guaranteed labor rights, nor, in fact, a future, since in such conditions it is impossible to have family planning, or to acquire housing, or to have a secure old age. The Keynesian model alleviated the social tension generated by capitalism through the expansion of social guarantees, while a welfare society ensured employment and social security for the majority. Neoliberalism is not about that. It focuses on production efficiency and profit

[@TheDoosh79]

This generation's parents aren't boomers though, mine are but I'm 45 😂

[@klawlor3659]

Agree with the above. I'm mid 40s with boomer parents in their 70s. I think you'll find this generation tends to have Gen X parents who have much less financials to offer to their offspring.

[@equin9309]

Unchecked immigration since 1990's. Foreign investors buying properties in places like London like they're gold bullion and leaving them empty. People buying second/holiday homes when interest rates were near zero as a way to invest. Older people living longer, stagnant construction industry. Hmmm i can't understand why there's a shortage of housing 🤔

[@pedazodetorpedo]

Mass immigration is the elephant in the room, the young don't want to hear about it

[@pipobscure]

And years of austerity and Tory mismanagement had nothing to do with it. Things like stagnating wages, insufficient building, increasing rents weren’t caused by “unchecked migration”, “foreign investors”, “second homes” or any of that. It was you and yours voting conservative within 100 years of the disaster that Mrs. Thatcher was for this country. But go ahead, it’s easier to blame unchecked immigration than to look into a mirror.

[@pedazodetorpedo]

​@@pipobscureright, so whether it's 50,000 or 750,000 people a year makes no difference to housing 👍 it seems it's true that maths skills are really lacking in this country

[@equin9309]

@@pipobscure 😄 I've never voted Tory in my entire life i can't stand them 😄. Think about it, In a country with a plummeting birthrate what other reasons could there be for this situation. 😄

[@vecsy90]

It's the same everywhere I guess. There's plummeting birth rate here in Spain too, but there's still a housing crisis. If you talk about foreign investors in UK; multiply that 10 times for Spain 😅 Foreign people buying holiday homes and Airbnb's... In 2023, 60% of property purchase was completed by cash whilst AVERAGE SALARY in Spain is around €25k a year. That shows you it isn't the local Spanish people who are buying houses 🤷‍♂️

[@Dontgankmeplx]

There is lots of shared ownership or 'affordable' flats being built near where I live in Croydon. As it turns out these new build 'affordable' flats (which seem to be quite small and basic) are being valued at ~£420k for a 2 bed property which is probably 6-8 times prices a decade or two ago!

[@imprsk6729]

And they are small and boxy...zero character and very limited control since you only own part of it. They are price over inflated and very very difficult to sell on.

[@JonathanWillis]

I didn't see it in the video. But another difference between 1980 and now it's wage growth. One would take out a big mortgage relative to income but salary would rise making it increasingly affordable over time, that doesn't happen now

[@maksimso5300]

I thought of something like a cap on how many family homes a landlord could buy, for example if we set a cap of 2 then most of the very rich guys wouldn't be able to buy more houses, However I think buildings such as apartments should remain untouched and shouldn't have a cap since they are basically built for renters anyway and people who want to temporarily stay. I think this solution is a bit extreme but it might help redistribute the wealth and fix the inequality we have right now.

[@tomfox747]

This is papering over a bigger issue, the question is WHY have landlords bought lots of houses in the first place? When you have 500k in savings it loses x% of it's value every year because the government prints money and causes inflation, (inflation is actually just a wealth extraction mechanism), so you have no choice but to invest that money. Most people have invested in housing. The only way to actually fix this issue, is for the government and banks to stop printing money.

[@maksimso5300]

@@tomfox747 No there are more solutions for this for example the stock market. However our domestic stock market (Ftse 100) makes like no returns due to the under investment provided. I mean just compare the market cap of the S&P 500 and FTSE 100 you will see a massive difference. If investor money was actually flowing into the UK economy I think we would see very good returns. Also its not like you 'invest' in housing you just exploit the people who cant afford it by making them pay rent instead, pay off the mortgage and so on

[@tomfox747]

​@@maksimso5300 The people who "invest" in housing are unlikely to see it as exploitation. They're simply trying to maintain their purchasing power. So if the wealthy hypothetically use the stock market instead of housing, the government keeps printing money, the stock market goes bonkers, the housing market crashes and existing home owners get destroyed. Imagine being a first time buyer, buying your first home with 85% mortgage, then the price of your house halves because the government heavy handed-ly restricts landlords. I'm not defending landlords. I'm saying all this discussion is basically pointless. Unless the government stops stealing from everyone using inflation.

[@maksimso5300]

@tomfox747 it doesn't matter if gov prints money because the stock market automatically adjusts for inflation

[@tomfox747]

@maksimso5300 Fun fact for you. The s&P 500 has barely made any gains whatsoever in the last 60 odd years if you adjust it to the M2 money supply, or to the real inflation numbers which are higher than reported. Wealth isn't being created when the stock market goes up. The stock market is basically a function of money printing. It transfers wealth from people who don't own stocks (the poor) to people who do (the rich). By owning the s&P 500 all people are really doing is keeping up with the true inflation values maybe plus a little bit, by sucking wealth out of the savings and wages of poor people who's money is being debased.

[@leicestersq1]

Mass immigration has consequences.

[@MsJustice4ever]

In 2010 at the age of 30 and 31 we bought our first house with my husband on the outskirts of London (zone 5). 14 years on, the same house is now double the price. We would have no chance now. We bought a second house in 2020 in an affluent rural small town in the East Midlands, we wanted more space, better schools, less crime, fresh air. That house 4 years on increased in valuation by 15%, despite the market downturn and interest rate rises. It’s simply insane and completely unaffordable to buy for young people without help from the parents. Not only that, but renting a place is also out of budget for many young people, let alone saving while renting. On our street, every other house still has the “children” in their late twenties living at home. I’m speechless and angry. It should not be a luxury to move out.

[@gandhi9936]

Suggest renting until the property cycle turns down. Save instead in assets that are relatively cheap. I hit the jobs market in late 80s when property prices were unaffordable, especially in London. I rented a room in a multi-occupied house for a few years, during which house prices fell by 40-50%.