I never escape unscathed from a trip to see family in my sleepy Warwickshire village - there’s always a question from some loose relative about when I’ll be looking at buying my first home. The first impulse is to either scream in exasperation, or to remind them, kindly, that I’d escaped the high cost of Bristol living for a weekend for a chance not to be reminded of my dwindling bank account, thank you very much.
Bristol rent prices have shot up since the pandemic - and even before that they were on a par with the capital. On average, a property in Bristol now costs £1,125 a month to rent, the Valuation Office Agency has revealed.
Why exactly is the onus always on buying, buying, buying? And why, if you rent instead of buy, are you seen as a ‘lesser’ human?
Read more : Private rents in Bristol have shot up since the pandemic
Growing up, I always saw becoming the proud owner of a house as a true marker of adulthood. Now, I actually see not maxing my overdraft coping with the cost of living crisis and keeping up with extortionate rent payments in Bristol as the true test of my maturity.
Zoopla has recently found that rent prices in Bristol have increased by 12.0% over the last twelve months. Across the rest of the UK, the increase has been between 9.1%-11.0% - and many are areas that were cheaper to live in than Bristol, pre-pandemic.
And in June, it was announced that four Bristol locations had seen the UK’s biggest house price increase in the past 10 years. That’s four of the 10 locations - nearly half of the biggest increases happen to be in Bristol.
The local neighbourhoods my family recommend to me as options for my first house purchase have seen an eye-watering increase in property prices over recent years. In Brislington, the average asking price on a property has increased by 104 per cent in the past 10 years, from £166,192 in 2012 to £338,800 now.
St George house prices have almost doubled from £146,344 to £293,269. And both Bedminster and Patchway have seen house prices rise 98 per cent.
In my home village in Warwickshire, I can get a first-time buyer home (yes, a house, with multiple floors) for £250,000. In Bristol, you'd be incredibly lucky to get a one-bedroom flat with that.
Right now, it feels like I will never buy a property I can call mine. But I’m trying not to see becoming a homeowner as the only life goal I should aspire towards.
The world is harder for young people now than it’s ever been before. Instead of constantly living in fear whenever I purchase something or peek at my bank account, I’m trying to see Generation Rent as a positive endeavour.
Us renters do not need to be tied down to one location. You can move once your tenancy is up if you’d like - to a completely different suburb, or city.
When something goes wrong structurally with the property, the onus is on your landlord, and not on you as a ‘homeowner’. Yes, landlords can be a massive pain, but at least that patch of mould isn’t entirely your problem.
Young people are told to have their lives figured out in their early 20s. However, the world is increasingly more fraught and complex than ever before.
Buying a property is a decision not to be taken lightly, and with the cost of living not just a newly coined phrase but a difficult reality for who knows how long as the pandemic ebbs and flows, you cannot guarantee that your home (which is your investment) will yield return in years to come. People hark back to the ‘good old days’ for a reason - and whilst people will say, rightfully so, that times were tough in years gone by, there is also no doubting that Gen Z and beyond will find it harder than ever before to build up savings and investments.
If the UK enters a recession, renters have flexibility to leave contracts and move to cheaper properties. Selling a home is a difficult move to make when there are cracks in the economy.
In an unstable job market, too, renters find themselves with the upper hand. If you have to leave a job role, you’re no longer tied down to a specific location - you could move, without your owned home to take into consideration.
And you become ever more appreciative of the things you do have. Making memories with loved ones instead of pushing for materialistic drives in life.
Life has changed - and it doesn’t mean that young people are flailing around, throwing up cash for their fancy gym memberships, Netflix subscriptions and avocado brunches. It also doesn’t mean that if you rent, you are ‘worse off’ or ‘lesser’ than a homeowner.
Life has changed whether we like it or not. Whilst we'd all adore to be homeowners with the positives home ownership brings, as Bristol rentals and homes skyrocket in cost, I’ll be sticking to my extortionately-priced rental, trying not to have an existential crisis because society of the past felt that getting on the property ladder was the most important thing to do.
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