Any thoughts.
Any thoughts?
The lady maybe

Mine was via the 'great' Thatcher give-a-way. There was no chance of owning one otherwise. The only people I knew who were home owners were builders or white collar workers.

Tied house for mine, which is why I decided early on I was going to buy my own.

When I decided I wanted my own house, I saved and I took an evening job to earn some extra money and I stopped smoking and drinking.
It wasn't easy but it had to be done.

100% mortgage backed by employer and payments taken direct from salary.

Oh, and by the way the price if a 3 bed semi was 3.2 x salary then.

I bought my first house by borrowing as much as I could (2.5 times salary), borrowed some more from my parents, and took in two lodgers to help pay for the borrowing.

I was lucky - house prices were comparatively lower, my parents could afford to help out (I repaid them as soon as possible) and inflation kicked in and rapidly reduced the value of the mortgage.

Answering the original question - my parents moved out of rented accomodation in their 40s, when my mother's parents died and she inherited enough to buy a house.

Soon after arriving on this world I became part of the evacuation of Persian oilfields and the major refinery ports.
I was a nipper and we ended up in a rather posh area of Middleton-on-Sea.

I had a mooch round the village with my brother a while ago.
And as we left the area the conversation revolved around how the heck did we end up there?

It seems that there was a fair amount of requisitioning of empty or unused property.
And there was an old lady living with us, certainly not the owner.

This did cause stress for those returning from Far East internment after the war.
Looking at Times on line from those days the matter was never resolved for the homeowners.
I ended up in another hot country a short while later.

I think my parents rented through "small ads" in The Lady.
And then when NM minor was on the way they did the same.
Another advert. It wasn't a viewing...more of an interview.
ce
So Woolton Hill was home for a bit.

Got some GCE's, got an apprenticeship with a decent employer, went on to decent job with them, saved up a deposit and got a mortgage.
Think the house (end semi) was £17,500!

Or maybe a palace... My first house in a village near Chippenham (new build semi) cost £4,500 and I had to take on extra work to save up the deposit for a (I think) 90% mortgage. Would have loved one of the detached houses just down the road, but at £5,000 they were way beyond my means.

How did our (my) parents buy houses?
They saved, took 2nd jobs, worked to a budget based on what they had. No glamorous holidays, no flashy possessions, no prepared meals (not that they existed) and no waste.
Walked to the shops - and back unless the bus was near.

Same here and in most cases I should imagine.

They had to get up in the morning at ten o'clock at night half an hour before they went to bed, drink a cup of sulphuric acid, work twenty-nine hours a day down mill, and pay mill owner for permission to come to work, and when They got home, their Dad and our mother would kill 'em and dance about on their graves singing Hallelujah.

You were lucky!

I s'pose you had it tough!

This were our first house.
They built flats across the road......

Careful, you'll be giving Simon ideas!

Ha!

Lol!

I see they built a lot of flats in SportsDirect!

AC, I knew that if I told that to you today you wouldn't believe me!

Bloggo, just noticed you're back after a long absence.
Where have you been?
Been fighting a losing battle here on my own you know!

Lord T`up..Lady P
bring it on.
ce

Bring it on!!!
The Liberal Left are taking over the forum!!
It's like the bloody Grauniad on here!

Biker; you aren't still reading newspapers are you? The digital revolution is here, as you can see, most get their daily news fix from the State information service...

I buy the odd organ. Something to fall asleep to while reading.
Not much else to do when I go to bed these days!

....thought it was only me!!!

I am not sure about this.
I have been offloading such unnecessary items as I can.
So I have been talked into a family trust. The intent is that a much loved family home of over 30
years now will be protected as I pass on the long and lonely road. Taxes have to be paid at some time.
My theme for the night is of the anarchy and the undoubted genetic humour of my child

I have to declare stuff for HMRC ,mostly for money laundering ,
So I emailed my NI number today so she could fill in a form .
These are the replies over an afternoon.

Is this your cereal number?....

Hospital number?...

Ok ok I got it…….NI number
Cereal number was funny though!!

Maybe lunatic asylum number?

I gave up and went to the pub!
ce

There was another line on the form.
Occupation of the other part.

I posted "wastrel and retired layabout"
She has not exactly replied to that.
ce

Thanks for the "welcome back" Biker. Been away for a while but looking forward to adding to the debates again.

I have been doing a similar exercise with much encouragement from my heirs although my collections of various "tat" have not been received very graciously.
Oh well I'll see you up the tip.