Postwar homeowners should acknowledge their good fortune | Letters
Michael Pyke says those sitting on piles of unearned wealth should be willing to help out a less fortunate generation Your correspondent asserts that the increase in the value of...
By Guardian Staff · The Guardian Opinion
Michael Pyke says those sitting on piles of unearned wealth should be willing to help out a less fortunate generation Your correspondent asserts that the increase in the value of his house since he bought it “just about covers all associated costs over that time” ( Letters, 15 June ). If that is true he has been remarkably unlucky. A house bought in 1965 for £3,500 would now be worth around £87,500 had its value simply kept pace with the rate of inflation, rather than its current market value of £350,000. A house that cost £20,000 in 1975 would now be worth around £220,000 instead of £900,000. It is hard to imagine what “associated costs” would come anywhere near such huge increases in value. As for the idea that anyone could buy a house if they avoided “fancy holidays”, “£50,000 weddings” and “ridiculous £90,000 cars” (cars costing this much made up, at most, 0.75% of new registrations last year), this kind of thinking was parodied in the novels of Charles Dickens. Continue reading...