Relative values, becoming very introspective.

At a local history exhibition there was an original newspaper advert from the 1930s, for new houses in a large development near here. Prices ranged from a little over £500 for a small 3 bed terrace, to about £950 for a 4 bed semi.

It said, ‘A £5 deposit secures any house!’
Those same houses now go for a minimum of about £600k, to over £1m.

None of the above is available to young folk now....

Oblivious of the stock market crash and associated financial disasters: monevator.com/the-uks-worst-stock-market-crash-1972-1974/ we moved to Orkney with a young baby. Interviewing and removal expenses were paid, we were allocated a key worker's 3 bed house and went on to buy a house 5 years later with a 95% mortgage from the council and a £300 deposit. It was a listed building which needed renovating so we also received a grant of about £4,000 to carry out the works which including re-roofing. When we both became seriously ill, our mortgage interest was paid for until I recovered sufficiently to complete professional training with the help of a full grant from the government, a Conservative government. Relative values indeed....

M0nica

annsixty It is caused by inflation.

Supposing that you and your DH bought your house in 1965 with a £100 deposit, Today you would need over £2,000 to buy what £100 would buy in 1965.

The house we paid £5750 for in 1969 - and it was a struggle, now sells for £425,000. Back in 1968, £425,000 would have bought us a house in a select area of central London or a large stately home with acres of land.

Yes, it is all relative
My dad sold a six bedroom house with a wonderful Seaview in the late 60s for £6000,(detached in a quarter acre of land) it’s been turned into flats now and worth well over 1 million but…
He bought a house in a small village in North Devon, the house was a 3 bedroom terrace,£3000.I’m not sure how much he put down but I know he had a mortgage of £9 a month but was only earning £17 a week so yes it is all relative..

Norah

Callistemon21

We've had to relocate due to work.

I remember offering the vendors £50 less than the asking price for the first house we bought.
They refused so we had to pay the asking price and struggled with a larger mortgage!!

Forgive me. I worded improperly.

I should have said "people who move house, without relocating for work or important reason, unfortunately have had to waste money."

Or that was our thought whilst having the housing cost talk.

We calculated the cost of moving recently when we looked to downsize and it's a very large sum.

Our first house cost £2,750 in 1971. The deposit was £150, it took us a year to save and we were both earning around £20 a week. The mortgage cost us around £20 a month and I remember electricity was about £5 a month.

The house I am in now cost £84,000 in 1999. It is now valued at £370,000, an increase of nearly £300,000 in 23 years! No wonder salaries of 30 or 40,000 pounds aren't enough to live on.

Callistemon21

We've had to relocate due to work.

I remember offering the vendors £50 less than the asking price for the first house we bought.
They refused so we had to pay the asking price and struggled with a larger mortgage!!

Forgive me. I worded improperly.

I should have said "people who move house, without relocating for work or important reason, unfortunately have had to waste money."

Or that was our thought whilst having the housing cost talk.

We've had to relocate due to work.

I remember offering the vendors £50 less than the asking price for the first house we bought.
They refused so we had to pay the asking price and struggled with a larger mortgage!!

MerylStreep

Annsixty
We were having much the same conversation today.

Our daughters have been having the exact conversation quite often. They are clever enough to realize how very much wages have exploded since they were babies in the late 50s to 80s.

We've never moved house, a money waster, many times, I suspect.

annsixty It is caused by inflation.

Supposing that you and your DH bought your house in 1965 with a £100 deposit, Today you would need over £2,000 to buy what £100 would buy in 1965.

The house we paid £5750 for in 1969 - and it was a struggle, now sells for £425,000. Back in 1968, £425,000 would have bought us a house in a select area of central London or a large stately home with acres of land.

My first wage was £8 a week and he who became my husband for a few years was earning £6
I paid rent on a small flat, bought food, coke for the fire, and went home by train every weekend 🤣

Annsixty
We were having much the same conversation today.

Our home cost £1,800 and the interest was 5%.

But his wage was £10 a week. If I recall the numbers correctly.

Then to now? Homes have gone up as much as wages?

I know what you mean. I recently bought a nice apple and enjoyed it until I realised it had cost 15/-!
You couldn't even buy a small car for what our first home cost us.