Trying To Work Out What This Bloke Has Said Wrong

[bednobs]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67890334

i see thes comments are being lambasted all over.  However, i would have thought this person was ideally placed to know how many mortgages they are lending?

[Ellipsis]

There are a plethora of articles that demonstrate it's harder to get on the housing ladder now than ever in living memory, and none that show that it's easier ...

> “We probably both also benefited from a free university education. Now they come out with a 50k debt to start with.”

> Then that’s their fault

Yes, they shouldn't have become a doctor, dentist, architect, etc etc

The 10% of people who should have been going to university ... they are going to university. Their life is a lot harder for them that it would have been 30/40/50 years ago. Unquestionably. And it's not their fault, they are at the start of their lives. It's our fault.

[New Judge]

"The 10% of people who should have been going to university ... they are going to university. "

Indeed they are. But there is 40% alongside them who do not need to go there and who have little chance of repaying the debt they accumulated whilst doing so.

"It's our fault."

The "fault" I was referring to was that they emerge from University with huges debts. I can only speak for myself, but it's certainly not my fault. People going to University should assess what's in it for them. They are agreeing to pay something like £30k in tuition fees. What else would anybody in their right mind agree to spend that sort of sum on unless they were confident it was good value? It's scarcely my fault that the vast majority of graduates will see little or no return for that investment and not my fault that they did not investigate their prospects beforehand.

The tuition fees for medical students should be met by the taxpayer provided the graduate works full time for the NHS for a minimum period of, say, ten years. This may make the NHS less reliant on imported labour (and so ease the housing crisis). Potential architects and those seeking careers in other professions should establish whether £30k is a wise investment in their future. If it isn't but they still go ahead, it most certainy is their fault.

[Ellipsis]

There are some careers that require a degree. Perhaps you went to university yourself, NJ. So if you were a new graduate yourself now, NJ, would it be easier or harder to get on the housing ladder than when you actually did? For most people, it would be harder.

[Togo]

Why do we need University courses for Doctors, Dentists, Architects, Rocket Scientists or Nuclear Physicists anyway? We were told that all the illegal immigrants were going to do those jobs. The youngsters call me lucky. I tell them I knowwww  ...  the harder I worked the luckier I seemed to get, and they cringe at the prospect. 

[New Judge]

"There are some careers that require a degree."

I agree (see my earlier answer). But there are an awful lot that do not.

"So if you were a new graduate yourself now, NJ, would it be easier or harder to get on the housing ladder than when you actually did?"

It's neither. It's different. Today's first time buyers have no difficulty obtaining a mortgage. We did and at one time thought we would have to abandon the idea entirely, until I found a spiv who would do it for an extortinate price (which we had to find when our finances were extremely stretched). Today's buyers have to find hefty deposit. The requirements on us in that respect were lower. Today's mortgage payers have little difficulty making their repayments and until recently the payments they made were ridiculously low. Even now, with interest rates at a more realistic level (though, IMO, still far too low) they do not approach the levels we had to pay. Yes, property is dearer compared to salaries. That's only going to get tougher because there are too many people chasing too few properties. 

[Rosetta]

Is house owning more prevalent/ deemed desirable here than other countries in europe, other  parts of the world?

Although its not a major contributory factor in house ownership prices I would advocate that the purchase of property should not be allowed by non-doms, other countries do this , New Zealand if I remember correctly.

I would also tax/hit financily all second home owners. Visitors should rent, properties vacant for large parts of the year is unacceptable when so many locals are unable to afford the inflated house prices 

[Ellipsis]

OK. As I said before, there is a plethora of articles that demonstrate it's harder to get on the housing ladder now than ever in living memory, and none that I can see that show that it's easier. I provided one link at 22:46 on Friday. Here's another one:

https://bestadvice.co.uk/it-really-is-harder-than-ever-for-first-time-buyers/

If you can find some research that show that it's easier for young people than your generation, I'd like to see it ... because I haven't.

[jno]

the purchase of property should not be allowed by non-doms, other countries do this , New Zealand if I remember correctly

no longer, I believe. The new, right-wing government welcomes rich foreigners, much as ours does.

[campbellking]

Friend of mine has recently returned from Switzerland where she worked as a professor as she hit compulsory retirement age (64 for women) and also as a non-national could not purchase a permanent residence there. She is now working as the dean of one of the Oxbridge colleges.

[dave50]

Will there ever come a point when house prices hit a ceiling, to which nobody will be able to afford to get on the ladder?

[newmodarmy]

Students don't come out of University with £50k of debt as such. ( not Scotland). They come out with a potentially higher rate of income tax of the normal 20% plus an extra marginal rate of around 10% once their earnings exceed around £27000 pa ( forgotten the exact figure). Nevertheless that extra ' tax ' can leave a lot less spare money for affording a mortgage.

Youngsters also have higher expectations now than we did for things like holidays abroad, gym membership, Netflix and sky.

The bank of mum and dad or grandparents is needed to get many people now on the property ladder. But that extra source of income also helps push up prices even more for everyone. Some, especially in London, have little or no chance  of ownership ever.