Cities worldwide are experiencing a similar problem: as the demand for urban housing is outstripping supply, property prices in most metropolises are soaring and scrambles for real estate are growing.
Fuelled by a combination of foreign wealth, ruthless practices by rental agents and all kinds of strategies from the deep-pocketed house hunters, it is becoming increasingly challenging for the professional middle classes, not to mention lower-income workers, to afford to live in cities. For the young in many world cities, owning a home – or even renting one – seems like an increasingly unattainable dream.
Tell us how changes in house prices have affected your life. Have you had to move further away from where you work? Are you renting indefinitely? Have you lived through nightmarish experiences of flat hunting?
Share your comments in the thread below and we’ll post a selection here.
Here is a selection of your comments so far:
Arrived in London 30-plus years ago. Partner born in London, all family in London. Both lived in squats (bring back squatting!), on people's floors, in what used to be called "short-life" rented places (poor-quality social housing waiting to be sold or developed. No security, but cheap rent) for over two decades before eventually being allocated social housing. Have been saving money from insecure badly-paid but fulfilling and useful work in arts for 30 years to try and afford a mortgage; prices laughably outstrip savings: no hope of ever moving out of social housing (which we are so lucky to have - our work is only possible in London, but the exponential increase in private rents would rule that out for us). Children still living at home, probably forever.
Everyone should have a genuinely affordable and secure roof over her/his head. Properties that are empty should be allowed to be squatted.
Being a northerner I was brought up to be financial prudent. Rather than doing the same things as my peer group, taking a year our after university, travelling abroad, going to festivals and eating out, I saved and bought a house. I had rented for quite a number of years already as was getting fed up at the cost and lack of maintenance by private landlords. Whilst I lost out on what would have been some great life experiences, I am now one of the only people amongst my friends who owns their home. Many of my friends have no real hope of affording to buy a home. I only own a rather modest 2 bedroom back to back terrace, but my mortgage is equal to that of what most are paying for a house in a far less desirable location. Overall, I think I made the right choice.
My situation pretty well sums what is so disgusting about this country and the house prices. So we are a family of four. I work part-time earning a good wage (even after paying the ridiculous childcare fees) husband earns over £40,000 full time, We were fortunate to be left with over £50,000 from an inheritance fund so decided to purchase our first family home by borrowing 235,000 from the bank( an amount for 30 years that makes me feel slighty sick when I think about it but very able to afford the payments as they happen to be the same as our rent in a 2 bedroom flat). However, upon searching in our part of the south east armed with all that deposit, we discovered we could only afford a run down small ex-council house, miles from my daughters school and our work.....so there you go. Price rises by 10%!!! That's rubbish, the asking prices have risen by 30% in our area alone ina year and that is not a joke. If we can't even buy a small decent house then there is absolutely no way the generation below us can, including my children and it saddens me beyond belief. That upsets me more....so now my £50,000+ sits i the bank to serve the bankers and let others get on the ladder, maybe on help to buy borrowing up to the 600,000 limit.
I don't get it and it highlights whats tragic about this country........we are seriously thinking of moving abroad. What else is there left to do when its downhill from here. We are still renting and will continue to do so now until we retire...and then I haven't go t a clue! I might even end up taking that money to the casino as it means nothing at the moment....
Since the banks crashed the property market 5 years ago I have been in negative equity. This means I cannot re-mortgagee with a good interest rate, thus allowing the banks to maintain their strangle hold, preventing me from paying down my mortgage enough to get a better rate. Hopefully this year I will be back in the black. As you might have already guessed, I welcome the "rise of house prices".
Firstly, I'm a 23 year old whose enduldged in study and full time work in southern uk. I think it is a mix of affordability and expectation of lifestyle. Many friends and people I know who are my age are the products of a consumerist generation, we were brought up to have what we want and to buy new things all the time. My parents gave me £12000 when I turned 18 to help me study/buy a car or something (deposit for a house at the time not possible as nobody would lend me more than 20k and the best I could afford was a garage) so I went out and made money, added to the pot and saved every penny I could.
5 years later and I've almost doubled my savings but house prices have gone up, costs of living have gone up, but my wages haven't.
Currently to live in a city my full time wage in a graduate job allows me to afford a ROOM in a small house where every available space has been used to make rooms to make the landlord more money so there is hardly any communal area at all. I can't afford to drive so I have to be within commutable distance from my work. The buses recently went up by 50p per journey, but my wages went up with national inflation which was pennies.
I have a freezer full of reduced food because I can't afford to buy fill price and no matter what anybody says, Aldi and lidl fruit and veg doesn't last as long and I hate wasted food.
About 75% of people I know around my age live at home with their
Parents, which is a Luxury I don't have unfortunately.
I'm not even asking for a handout or asking to be able to keep up a fancy lifestyle and have someone else pay for the boring stuff, I work hard, I save and I pay my taxes and my standard of living gets worse and worse every year.