It's sad, because it's a good place to do science in, but everything is really expensive. I come from Scandinavia, and things work much better there and are miles ahead in terms of affordability.
Until the government changes planning policy to be realistic, such that it's economically attractive for the big homebuilders to build at about twice the rate they are doing at the moment, or it's economically viable for individuals to buy a plot of land and get their own house built as more commonly happens in continental Europe, or both, no amount of tinkering around the edges is going to do anything particularly useful. Schemes like Help to Buy just pump money into the existing system, without actually generating much new housing stock. Token tax rises on second homes bought for letting out won't do anything either, as they'll just get passed on to the tenants through higher rents. And even if they didn't, many UK homes "earn" more than the people living in them, so taking a 3% hit on stamp duty is basically pocket change to professional landlords.
The bottom line is that what we need is lots more homes, but since any change in policy that brings that about will hurt the values of existing homes and/or the profits of the big homebuilders, it seems unlikely we'll see any meaningful change in this direction as long as the Tories are in power. That said, for a variety of reasons I wouldn't bet on the Tories still wielding much practical power in government by the end of the current five-year administration, and housing is the kind of issue that could come back to bite them at election time if we do see another 3-4 years of huge price rises between now and then.
http://www.businessinsider.com/hsbc-sweden-housing-bubble-no...
Compare to London, where the average deposit needed to buy a first home is £91,000 ($130,000) -- 25% of total price.
You really shouldn't buy a house with less than 20% down in the US, either. It's just that some banks have looser financing (and higher interest) to allow 15% or 10%, and there are government programs that subsidize first-time home purchases to allow a 3.5% down payment.
They need to save that money while also paying rent and paying off student debt.
The deposit required is more like 5-10%. I think a 25% deposit is pretty rare for a first time buyer. Of course this still means you need the income to afford the huge mortgage.
Are you getting confused with the average deposit used by purchasers?
I prefer a free market. At least people can rent out in UK and not get in trouble with the Co-op that only allows one year at a time.
It's a nice balance between salaries and house prices. Malmö is even better. Since housing is usually taking the majority of your income, this has a huge impact on the quality of life.
As a postdoc, you can easily buy a house in Copenhagen. Or you can rent, at it's barely 1/3 of your salary. In Cambridge, an equivalent flat is more like 1/2-3/4 of your salary.
Also the rental market in the UK is really wacky with regards to tenant protection.
Yeah but at least the UK got a rental market, think about it. Stockholms market is scattered and hard to come by without connections or help. But not only that, most people who rent out their apartments in Sweden will either go through the Co-op board and only get a year, or do it under the table, both situations adds a lot of insecurity to the tenant.
In Singapore, there is a broad market from super cheap and shitty, to super expensive and amazing. Having a broad, free market helps consumers a lot more than having it closed down for a queue-system.
Sure, I can get a closet space with no air condition and no kitchen for a 1/5, or I can pay 3/5 and get a condo, at least there is a choice.
I can't speak for rest of Scandinavia, but I know in Stockholm that choice doesn't exist. You're forced to buy.