This is one of my favourite HN comments, it’s so true.
Here in the UK the boomers were able to work one job, get a house on an easy mortgage and now they’re old and have nothing to do they campaign against any development that might slightly inconvenience them or reduce their house price (spoiler, most developments wouldn’t)
They'll have had mortgages at 10% or higher, and tied to endowment policies that were often missold. Mortgages weren't easy for boomers, even if house prices were lower.
That is laughably incorrect. Mortgages were far easier to afford for boomers (typically 4 times income, whereas now they're more likely to be 9 or even 10 times income)
OK, but you've missed the point about relative interest rates on those mortgages. You can't reasonably comment on affordability without taking that into account. As a child in the 1980s with two working "boomer" parents and a modest house in a low COL area, we had no money at all due mostly to mortgage interest rates.
The very real problems with affordability of housing in the UK have a number of causes but the key issue is supply. Successive governments have simply failed to build sufficient housing to meet demand. NIMBYism alone can't explain this lack of investment.
Interest rates get brought up every time this topic is discussed and the math remains the same. Even accounting for the difference in interest rates, people are much worse off today than they were in the 80s.
I didn't believe your statement, so I looked up some numbers.
1989:
- Interest rate: 14.5%.
- Average house price: £58k.
- Monthly repayment: £650 (90% LTV, 25 year term).
- Average pre-tax income: £10k.
2024:
- Interest rate: 5.25%.
- Average house price: £282k.
- Monthly repayment: £1500 (90% LTV, 25 year term).
- Average pre-tax income: £35k.
So in 1989, an average mortgage was about 80% of an average gross income. In 2024, an average mortgage is about 50% of an average gross income.
I specifically chose 1989 because it was a year of high interest rates, but you can repeat the calculation for other years if you wish. I don't think the results will support your assertion.
Nationwide actually publish data about the monthly mortgage payment to take home pay ratios of first time buyers[0]. Compared to Q1 2014, repayments accounted for a lower proportion from when their data begins, in Q1 1983, until Q3 1988. Repayments remained higher until Q4 1990.
In 1989 interest rates were at record highs and mortgage interest relief was still a thing. Despite interest rates hovering between 8-12% for the rest of the 1980s, mortgage repayments were consistently a much lower proportion of income.
In 2024 there's no interest relief and we're exiting a period of record low rates. The rise to 5.25% already puts us in a worse position than when rates were at 10%, 14.5% would disastrous.
I think the younger generations (me and you both included) have failed to effectively direct British political discourse towards the issues that actually matter to us. Instead, we allow lazy cliches ("blame boomers", "blame Europe", "blame immigrants") to dominate the conversation. We need to stop doing that.
Here in the UK the boomers were able to work one job, get a house on an easy mortgage and now they’re old and have nothing to do they campaign against any development that might slightly inconvenience them or reduce their house price (spoiler, most developments wouldn’t)