At what age should our kids leave the nest?

[Rampent]

I agree.

 

The people on here saying kick your siblings out in late teens and early 20's, 30's, 40's and 50's are wide of the mark. Many, like me, liked my parents so much, that we did not want to leave. We may have looked odd walking around shops with OAP's for parents and asking and demanding waffles and beans for tea, but so what? My mum never asked me to get my haircut cut or wear trendy attires from that shop on Castle Market that was near the bloke selling illegal socks.

 

I never had to give my seat up on the bus to other OAP's, just because I was no longer a teen sat next to my mum.

 

Yes, people may laugh, and that's your problem. When I passed my driving test at 41, I took my mum to the shops then. Instead of the bus. I repaided her faith in me in full.

 

All my peers looked down on me, because I lived at home with mum. She got me my first NHS glasses and helped me avoid women who only wanted me for my knowledge of Lada automobiles. And owning a car.

 

Without my mum, I would have ended up a right wreck of a person.

[chem1st]

My bold

 

I quite agree with you that a house is to live in and not just an asset, but the property ladder does, quite sensibly, exist for many people.

 

People may only be able to afford a 1-bedroom flat to start with, so they buy that, then move to a bigger property when they can afford to/want to have children. Or perhaps they start in a poorer area and move to be nearer to a good school for their children. Or somebody who really wants to live in the country, with a huge garden to enjoy, will start off in the inner-city and gradually move up the ladder until they can afford their dream house.

 

Although they are using their property as asset, it's also their home, and they're better spending their money on a mortgage, rather than on rent.

 

I think a lot of the problems these days are because some people want their "last home" first!! They're not happy to settle for a small terrace but want to start off in a new, 4-bedroomed house on a nice estate, the sort of place that would have been their parents' dream house!

 

I don't think that is the case. Granted people might upgrade a few times, but the youth ain't greedy, give them a pokey slum and for the most part they are happy.

 

Time and time again the high price of housing is being blamed on the youth. But this is the greedy elders fault.

 

My grandparents bought at 23, a 4 bed house in Dore on a teachers wage. My parents bought at 23, a 3 bed house in the East of Sheffield after a year in a 2 bed council house.

 

I haven't bought at their age, but I have a 1 bed flat that I rent. To be honest I don't see the point in buying. Currently renting is cheaper than negative equity. And the value of money and hard work (labour) has gone right out of the window. Until wages rise or property prices fall by another 50% on top of the 20% or so already wiped off, I'll be renting.

 

Why pay more, when you can pay less?

 

Why should somebody get wealthy due to property appreciation, it's no wonder this country is in the state it is in. People are afraid of hard work, borrowing to the hilt and complaining the youth can't afford a house that is twice the real price vs earnings.

 

What is an house?

 

About 1000 hours labour and materials and land. 1000 hours labour is half a years work for a man. And people value their homes at 14* that value! Homes they do not own, but merely pay a mortgage on.

[chem1st]

People can't even get a council flat anymore, let alone a house.

 

We need a massive building program, we need homes fit for humans.

[Cyclone]

I don't know anyone who blames house prices on the young, and nothing in your last two posts counters the examples of the housing ladder, ie people buying small/cheap and through life buying more desirable houses until they get the house they would have liked all along.

[Kthebean]

From my experience there are two types of my peers that still live at home:

 

those that are struggling to make ends meet but get up every day and go out, are grateful for a roof over their head, rely on their parents for guidance and support but still have friends/partner, and are saving madly to move out

 

and also those who dont get up til three in the afternoon and then only to cadge a tenner and go straight out to the pub, who still ask whats fer tea mam, whose mums still do their washing and ask 'who are you going out with tonight' - unhealthy if you ask me!

[chem1st]

I don't know anyone who blames house prices on the young, and nothing in your last two posts counters the examples of the housing ladder, ie people buying small/cheap and through life buying more desirable houses until they get the house they would have liked all along.

 

My parents and grandparents bought the nice house straight away. They didn't have to start off with a 1 bed flat and upgrade. The council made available 2 bed houses for couples too.

[Cyclone]

And does one anecdote mean that no one buys several houses over a lifetime, I bert even you can think of people you know who moved up the ladder to a better house.

[Aviate]

They need to be either leaving at 16-18 or at least contributing to the bills in some way.

[Ms Macbeth]

My parents and grandparents bought the nice house straight away. They didn't have to start off with a 1 bed flat and upgrade. The council made available 2 bed houses for couples too.

 

When we moved to Doncaster in 1970, with a baby, our only option was to rent privately. We scraped a deposit together after a few years and bought for the first time. We weren't well off, but it was either stay in a substandard private slum, or wait years for the council to view us as local enough to be accepted on their waiting list. (Rules have changed so much over the years!) Many couples of our age started life living with in-laws, or renting rooms whilst they waited for their council house. They will be the ones who mainly benefitted from the right to buy. Should I feel bitter that we were denied that opportunity by the way councils operated when we wanted a house?

 

My grown up children, both in professional jobs, were in their 30s when they bought their homes. One actually had a small council flat in another town for a while, but mainly they rented shared houses and flats. We could all cite experiences that are different from today, but the reality is around 70% of homes are now owner occupied, a huge increase over the last 40+ years.

 

I noted that you quoted average prices of houses, but surely a first time buyer would buy at the cheaper end of the market? There are plenty for sale in Sheffield and surrounds for £70k.

[espadrille]

They say the greatest gift that you can give your children is their independence.

 

I can see some circumstances where young people are not able to leave home but what generally happens when they stay too long at home is that they get looked after too well and dont know how to cope on their own.

Making a young person dependant on the parent is detrimental.

 

Leaving home and living independently is a big shock for all of us but it is just another step on the ladder of life, not necessarily on the property one.