So what does the current housing crisis look like? Well, on Sunday, The Observer took an in-depth look into London’s current property problems, which also included a little look into our lounge and our thoughts on renting.
We started our blog to discuss renting in London and although we didn’t necessarily have any major problems, you can’t help but hate the cost of renting. For us it’s 40% of our wage however when reading further into the article this isn’t half as bad as some who are paying a whopping 70% of their income.
In short, there’s a housing crisis because we have too few homes. The homes we do have in general are either really crap or ridiculously expensive and many aren’t even lived in – instead being purchased as investment opportunities by wealthy people.
The Observer survey noted that many who were born between 1980 and 2000 (that includes us) have anxiety over buying a home. I’m sure most of us agree that when we were growing up, as well as marriage, babies and a high-flying career, you think that by your mid-20s you’ll have bought your own three bedroom home, sitting on your leather Chesterfield, surrounded by all your hard earned cash laughing away into the sunset.
Instead, we bet you’re sitting on a beanbag, swiping left through Tinder, crying into a bag of last nights cold McDonalds fries.
However, the survey showed that 46% of us still hold on to that dream of buying a home. We’re certainly one of them and have already taken the next steps with our Help to Buy ISA to get on that ladder. Although most still feel that without the help from family, the thought of buying a home is becoming an increasingly hard idea to grasp.
There is hope however. A friend of ours has recently moved into her very own, brand new apartment in Wandsworth which she purchased in an unheard of, lightening quick, 6 weeks (not the norm, she was lucky) through Shared Ownership. She’s in her mid-20s which goes to show it is possible.
With all that said, the moral is, London property and renting in London is rubbish. You feel like you’ll be poor forever and you’ll never properly grow up. Fear not though fellow renters. Through clever schemes such as Help to Buy and Share to Buy, there are options for all.
If you’d like to read more about the topic then we’d recommend Rosie Walker and Samir Jeraji’s book The Rent Trap: How we Fell into It and How we Get Out of It.
Do you have any advice on renting and buying your first home? If so, we’d love to hear. Drop us a comment or join us on Twitter.
David & Mark x
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