They Think It’s All Over… But It’s Not!
SHARE OUR STORY
As England dreams of football glory once again, we compare today’s housing market with that of 1966 and explore how six decades have transformed home ownership in the UK.
A nation dares to dream. I am one of the millions of English men and women who are willing Harry Kane and the boys to go all the way and win the World Cup next Sunday.
Of course, the last time that England lifted the Jules Rimet Trophy was 60 years ago, in 1966. The world was a very different place then, not least in the housing market. The average UK house price when Bobby Moore led England to glory was just £3,558.
Granted, the average salary was only £798, but even so, it was much easier to get on the housing ladder. The ratio of average house price to average income was around 4.5 and the deposit required was often only around £300, equivalent to less than five months’ salary.
Compare that with today, when the average house price has jumped 84 times to £299,330, while the median salary has only increased 48 times to just over £39,000. That means that the price/income ratio is now a much less achievable 7.67.
Unsurprisingly, the age at which a first-time buyer gets on the housing ladder has also soared. Back in 1966, you could reasonably expect to buy your first home at just 23 years old; today that figure is 34, and often only then with the help of the good old Bank of Mum and Dad. Sixty years of hurt indeed.
It’s not just affordability which has changed in those six decades, either. Back when England were world champions, it took between two and four weeks between making an offer on a property and exchanging contracts; today the average is a depressing 22 weeks.
The market was helped back in the 1960s by an unprecedented house building boom in both the private and public sector, as Blitz-damaged homes were replaced and slums cleared. In 1966, just under 400,000 new homes were built.
Today’s politicians are finally cottoning on to the need to replicate that rate of new home building. Our outgoing Prime Minister promised 1.5 million new homes would be built during this Parliament; his heir apparent has talked of ‘the biggest programme of house building since the Second World War’.
Of course, promises made by politicians and reality don’t always coincide, but nevertheless we should applaud the general political consensus that an increase in supply is vital to solving the UK’s housing crisis.
Notwithstanding all that has changed, the housing market remains remarkably resilient. In 1966 Kenneth Wolstenholme famously said, “They think it’s all over.” Despite everything, when it comes to the housing market, that is far from true.
Clive Hedges is manager at Arnolds Keys’ Coastal Hub in Sheringham.
WHAT CAN WE HELP YOU WITH?
INSIGHTS
