Another Man's Castle

You would have thought that with a family income(admittedly only just) in the 50,000 UKP bracket (That's about 80,000 USD) and a good credit rating that it would not be too much of a problem to get onto the property ladder in the UK wouldn't you? But no. The Gnomads have explored every possibility they can think of for getting a mortgage and all we can raise is, at best, half the cost of buying a house. It all goes swimmingly with whatever mortgage lender or broker we talk to, oh yes with your income you should be able to get 200,000 over 20 odd years etc etc etc, until we then get to "oh, you have a student loan" *grumpy look* "well in that case the best we an do then is about 110,000". So the Gnomad's are in a position where to buy a house they need a 50% deposit, minimum. Hang on, Gnomad will check his loose change.

How does having a student loan, which is about halfway paid off by now, create such a problem with buying a house? Being a graduate surely means that the Gnomad has a better prospect as an earner than a non-graduate (in general)? Surely the fact that the loan is being paid off means that the Gnomad is an acceptable risk? No, apparently not.

Can it be coincidence that the average age of the UK first time buyer has gone from age 27 just before student loans came in to a little over 37 now? Can the fact that having a student loan more-or-less precludes a person from getting a mortgage have anything to do with the slump in the housing market? Can the de-regulation of the housing market, which means that it's almost impossible to rent and save up at the same time, be a contributory factor too? The Gnomad is , of course, aware of the other gloabl factors affecting the economy but believes that the housing market will not pick up while this state of affairs continues and that is bad for the whole economy. It all seems obvious to the Gnomad, but then the Gnomad is not a politician or a self serving banker.

Oh, and the price of petrol is the highest it has ever been - 7 UKP (11 USD) a gallon. It would almost be cheaper to run the car on cheap whisky, except there's a minimum price being introduced on alcohol too...