We got a LOCAL AUTHORITY MORTGAGE on a house in Catford for £14k in 1979. They insisted on giving us 16k because we'd have to do it up. They said to let them know if times got tough, they would (and DID) pause payments for months while I struggled to earn. Yeah, EXACTLY like now, you fucking berk. - ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

ianmartin.bsky.social • 53 days ago

We got a LOCAL AUTHORITY MORTGAGE on a house in Catford for £14k in 1979. They insisted on giving us 16k because we'd have to do it up. They said to let them know if times got tough, they would (and DID) pause payments for months while I struggled to earn. Yeah, EXACTLY like now, you fucking berk.

Reposted from Lewis Goodall

No…it wasn’t. 🤦🏻‍♂️

Comments

missthesmith.bsky.social•53 days ago

He's wrong, with one exception. In the 1970s single women struggled to get mortgages without a man countersigning the paperwork. Thankfully that has changed, but the prices today are way out of whack. The terrace houses on my street were built for railway workers. Today cost c £700 k.

garyinscotland.bsky.social•53 days ago

Single women couldn't get a bank account w/o a man's (usually a father) signature until about 1974 I think. Unbelievable.

rossmc11.bsky.social•53 days ago

My parents bought a (newbuild, 3 bed) house in 1972 for half what our second hand Corsa cost. That house is now worth four times what ours is.

heyheygillian.bsky.social•53 days ago

The entire cost of my parents' first house in 1971, and the one I grew up in which they bought a decade later, would not cover the deposit needed to buy either house now.

donnarees.bsky.social•53 days ago

Alan needs to get his head out of the King's arse pronto, he hasn't a clue what's going on.

trouteyes.bsky.social•53 days ago

Marsh Tits

shiviita.bsky.social•53 days ago

When me Grandad was trying to get his first mortgage he was working 7 days a week labouring. He got knocked back because the accounts fella hadn’t put down his overtime. The boss went mad & marched him in the office & said this fella wants a house you put whatever he tells you to on the form.

pencilsqueezer.bsky.social•53 days ago

I'm a boomer and it's obviously ridiculously more difficult to purchase a home now than it was back in the day and to not recognise that shows a serious disconnect with reality or in some cases a wilful disregard for simple facts.

bobhawkins.bsky.social•53 days ago

The two up,two down we bought in Bromley for £14,200 in 1978 sold for over £400,000 last year..baby boomers won life’s lottery.

ianmartin.bsky.social•53 days ago

truth

thechurchmouse.bsky.social•53 days ago

What was Catford like in 1979?

ianmartin.bsky.social•53 days ago

cheap

heyheygillian.bsky.social•53 days ago

Someone I know bought a shared ownership flat there recently, as it was the only option (even on a decent salary) as a single person wanting not to rent anymore. Sadly not so cheap now.

garyinscotland.bsky.social•53 days ago

You did have to dress smart and see a building society manager. But the cost difference between salary and price was nothing like it is now.

mrsnodes.bsky.social•53 days ago

He’s just showing how out of touch he is.

Buying a house was a doddle before the Tories exploded interest rates in the late 80s and we went into ridiculous price surges and drops.

sevillana.bsky.social•53 days ago

Look at him. The Daily Heil personified.

preachypreach.bsky.social•53 days ago

That’s the point that people tend to mistily obscure, isn’t it? £16k was a lot of money back then and when interest rates were high, 15% interest on that was chunky- but with inflation being what it was back then and salaries keeping up, if you could make it past the initial hump…

vertigowooyay.bsky.social•53 days ago

£16,000 in 1979 is £103,450 now.

The average house price in England is £308,781, Scotland £222,316, Wales £197,451. So just the starting block is a mountain climb for anyone wanting to get on the property ladder, when at minimum the average price is nearly double the adjusted 1979 level in 2025

preachypreach.bsky.social•53 days ago

I agree entirely! The upfront deposit needed to buy in is ridiculous; but what’s scarred a lot of people’s memories is borrowing £15k at 16% in 1980 (ignoring that after a few hairy years this became a lot lot more bearable)

paulchandler.bsky.social•53 days ago

They need to think if they would rather borrow £15k at 16% or 300k at 5%.

preachypreach.bsky.social•53 days ago

(I was busy being 1 in 1979, but have listened to my dad talk about the times they had to max out the credit cards when interest rates went through the roof *a lot*)

preachypreach.bsky.social•53 days ago

(I can also compare very easily the respective houses we live in)

heyheygillian.bsky.social•53 days ago

15% on 16k isn't as onerous as 5% on £600k, but the real hurdle for those renting is managing to save enough for a deposit when a room in Catford is £800 and a flat £1500pcm.

sheridandictates.bsky.social•52 days ago

The house prices in the south are ridiculous but you can earn almost as much up north and buy a much better house that is more affordable.

What I would say is if you grew up in the 70s you might realise that life was pretty dire compared to the comparative luxury and things taken for granted today.

heyheygillian.bsky.social•52 days ago

Not everyone can move "up north", for a variety of reasons, and migration for housing purposes pushes up prices in "up north" too - look at Manchester, where rents have gone crackers since WFH became a thing.

preachypreach.bsky.social•53 days ago

Yeah, agreed entirely!

heyheygillian.bsky.social•53 days ago

There's also the cost of having to move every time your landlord puts the rent up, which with overlapping rents, cost of shifting things etc could be hundreds or more each year.

But I'm guessing Alan hasn't rented, never mind had to apply for a mortgage, for quite a while now...

beardybanjo.bsky.social•53 days ago

Quite, and it was inflation and wage inflation running higher than house price inflation which allowed for the concept of a starter home/ housing ladder- both concepts have been dead now for at least 15 years

vacantlot1.bsky.social•53 days ago

A 'local authority mortgage'... What is this new devilry?

ianmartin.bsky.social•53 days ago

it was an old angelry

fenmonkey.bsky.social•53 days ago

Aye, right sparky.

twinklebutt.bsky.social•53 days ago

Yup. I bought my first flat then and told the estate agent that I'd buy it if they got me a 100% mortgage. They did just that. Easy.

jim.londoncentric.media•53 days ago

G’awn, stick it into rightmove, what’s its most recent price.

adamhewitt198.bsky.social•53 days ago

Does the full quote justify the headline? I'd be a bit annoyed if I were him.

I think in context, the "it" he is saying was just as hard is generally living. Not specifically buying houses.

Comment image

ianmartin.bsky.social•53 days ago

can't find our old one but looks like c600k elsewhere in the street, which was a bit weary-Victorian in '79 but now all the front gardens have been scraped for parking and it looks very Daily Mail

louis-helpits.bsky.social•53 days ago

Corbett Estate?

ianmartin.bsky.social•53 days ago

Engleheart Rd

louis-helpits.bsky.social•53 days ago

Lovely! We actually lived there for a couple of months before we ended up on Muirkirk, although about 35 years after you…loved Catford though

jim.londoncentric.media•53 days ago

Catford’s the new Peckham!

ianmartin.bsky.social•53 days ago

We moved north in 1988. I'm struggling to recall the old Peckham.

ianmartin.bsky.social•53 days ago

oh, never occurred...curious myself now...

frankbascombe.bsky.social•53 days ago

Man's a clown.

kateweb.bsky.social•53 days ago

Which is amazing and what loads of people need starting out. But not remotely in the same universe as now.