Property prices are around 'nine times the earnings' says expert

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Kirstie Allsopp came under fire for saying that young people should stop paying for their Netflix and gym subscriptions in order to be able to afford to get on to the property ladder. She also suggested young people “find homes up North” although Ms Allsopp bought her own home at the age of 21 with help from her family. BBC The Nine host Amy Irons broke down the property prices around the country and discussed why young people are struggling more than previous generations to own their own homes with financial expert Iona Bain.

Ms Irons said: “So you’re saying her comments are a simplistic view of younger people and their spending habits.

“So what issues are facing first-time buyers now?”

Ms Bain said: “Well, as I said, the sheer sums that are involved with getting on the housing ladder now are so immense.

“And it’s not just a deposit, it’s also that cap on how much you can borrow as a multiple of your earnings, not just to mention the various costs involved with the transaction itself which can run to the thousands.

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Ms Bain added: “So, nationwide property prices are on average nine times earnings and that’s the highest ratio that we’ve seen for well over a century.

“Whereas from the mid to the late twentieth-century house prices were around four to five times average earnings.

“So you can see a real difference there, and of course, Kirsty is right that the picture really varies from across the country.

“So let’s take Edinburgh as an example, actually in Edinburgh that’s still an expensive place to try and buy a house.

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Ms Bain added: “And their first-time buyers are facing properties that are six times their earnings, in terms of their price.

“But if you look at somewhere like East Ayrshire, that’s actually the cheapest place to buy in the whole of the country, apparently.

“And their property prices are 2.4x average earnings, so it’s a very mixed picture across the country.”

Kristie Allsop caused a major Twitter storm for her comments as it was noted the average house prices in the UK were around £51,000 compared to now when the Location, Location, Location host bought her first property.

Chiming in on the backlash, Piers Morgan said: “Every time Kirstie Allsopp trends, I check why and see she’s said another unbelievably stupid, ludicrously ill-informed and woefully privileged thing.

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“Then I wait for her to respond to the entirely justified outrage by throwing her toys out of the pram and quitting Twitter again.”

Young people in the UK also took to Twitter to slam Ms Allsopp.

@LorrainemKing said: “The honourable Kirsty Allsopp is the daughter of Charles Allsopp who is the 6th Baron Hindlip. Kirsty also said it was ‘disgusting’ to have your washing machine in the kitchen. She really sounds like she doesn’t like people who are poorer than her….”

Another user @RickDHale said: “Kirstie Allsopp is right. Every single renter in the country can afford a mortgage, it’s just the system says they’re not allowed to have one so they must pay their landlord’s mortgage instead.”

And @Shckldg said: “Kirstie Allsopp says you can save £1600pa by cutting out Netflix, gym, holidays, etc. The average house price is £255k, so a 10% deposit would be £25k. That would require 15 years and 9 months of saving that £1600 to have that deposit. Stop interviewing her.”

@AVMikhailova said: “daughter of an Eton-educated Baron, tells young people struggling to buy a home to just look in cheaper areas and give up the gym and Netflix She says she gets ‘enraged’ when young people can’t buy their first home, something she did – with family help – aged 21”

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