Homes

My name‿ is Rachel. My partner‿ and‿ I bought‿ a flat las(t) year,│ an(d) the nine years spent‿ accumulating‿ a deposit taught me more‿ about the housing market than‿ any amount‿ of formal study would have done.

Affordability is the substance‿ of the matter^ma-der,│ and‿ it‿ is seldom discussed with candour,│ largely because those│ who benefit from the arrangement‿ are‿ also those│ who write‿ about‿ it. Prices‿ in my city^ci-dy have‿ outstripped wages for two decades,│ which means that‿ equity has been transferred from my generation to my parents' for no reason‿ other than chronology. Renting‿ is not‿ inherently irrational;│ it‿ is‿ an‿ entirely rational response to a market‿ in│ which buying‿ is viable‿ only│ if prices continue to climb. Were‿ interes(t) rates to rise by two further points,│ a substantial proportion‿ of las(t) year's buyers would fin(d) themselves‿ in genuine difficulty,│ an(d) speculation would be revealed‿ as what‿ it‿ is.

We compromised‿ an(d) settled half‿ an‿ hour from the centre,│ an(d) the mortgage will be discharged│ when‿ I am sixty-three. Whether that was pruden(t) depends‿ upon‿ a variable that nobody controls. My parents purchased‿ a house for the price‿ of‿ a motor car‿ an(d) consider│ that we need merely to be more frugal,│ which‿ is‿ a comfortable position to occupy│ when you are the beneficiary. My generation‿ is not feckless;│ it‿ is‿ underwriting‿ a risk that was transferred to it,│ an(d) the transfer was never negotiated. What‿ irritates me is the implication│ that we consented.