Quote:
Originally Posted by tweetiepooh
But I don't think it's just the boomers hogging the houses but investment companies, sometimes overseas, who own large amounts of property and they won't be as affected by downturn in population.
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It's not just the boomers, as you say. I read an article in the guardian a while back. I don't have a link, but the author found a residential skyscraper in Elephant and Castle where apparently every apartment and flat had sold. He then checked the electoral roll, and found less than half were registered. Now, in fairness, when registering to vote, you don't have to be listed on the electoral roll, so it's likely there are people living in that block that aren't registered, but a few years laters, the Standard did a similar article where they tried to track down the occupants of Centre Point (the tower on Tottenham Court Road). At the time, they were only able to contact a few people, despite apparently high sales. One student (whose very wealthy parents had bought her a flat near the top of the tower for several million pounds) said it was lovely, as she had virtually unrestricted access to the facilities provided (gym, resident's bar etc). She was also apparently the only person living on her floor of the building. Each floor of Centre Point is massive.
Now, on to boomers. I'm not saying Boomers or Gen Xers have things easy. Every generation has it's problems, but in terms of housing, millenials are in a position where they are having to save up more than a lot of houses costed 30 years ago for a deposit before they can even be considered for a mortgage, and then when they actually do get enough for a mortgage, they are having to borrow up to 6 times their annual salary. Even when I was younger, it was likely 2 - 3 times your annual salary. We are getting to a situation where it is entirely possible that future homebuyers will normally pass on their mortgage to their children when they die.
Still, I am off topic a little.