In the UK, and probably many parts of the world, property is the main way for normal people in real jobs to earn any serious money. Traditionally, we were able to buy houses, sell them for more than we bought them for, and then buy a bigger one. There is this pressure then, for young people to ‘get on the property ladder’, ie buy that first little house and get started. The problem is that average house prices in the UK have done this:
The average price of a flat where I live is £305,987, and prices are rising so fast that if I bought a house next thursday, it would cost me £1178 more than if I bought it today. So unless I got a pay rise of at least £1178 every single week, the house market is running away from me. To get in, young people need to take on an absolutely crippling mortgage, and commit themselves to a life of very serious debt. Despite this, there are 80 buyers for every house that comes onto the market in London.
Alongside this, the Consumer Price Index reckons that prices have gone up 3.1% since the beginning of the year. So, your money today buys you 3.1% less than it did in January, across all consumer products. The Bank of England will then adjust its interest rates, and repayments on loans and mortgages will go up. People buying houses now are taking a very big risk. Anyone who can only just afford their mortgage rates now, may not be able to pay them at all by the end of the year.
I mention all this in the context of making wealth history, because the property ladder is a prime example of how we make wants into needs, and then become trapped by our needs when our circumstances change. You don’t need to own a house. What you need is warmth and shelter. Anything above that is a want, and following that under present circumstances is a mistake.
The answer is of course, don’t buy. At least not now. Say no to the property market. Don’t envy those making money off property. Reject the idea that if you don’t own your house by the time you’re 25, you are a bit of a failure. Embrace the fact that your worth is not in your possessions. And be happy to rent for a little bit longer…
(more on interest rates, and more on house prices here)
The Earthbound Report 
Good thoughts man, important stuff. Please keep this going.
Cheers,
Bryan
Yes. Paul the apostle says if we have food and clothing we should be content (I Tim6:8). Actually Paul’s whole argument in this part of Timothy is very relevant to the whole debate on equitable living and deserves serious attention today.
As to property markets in particular, I found it a real irritant when we were in Madagascar and lived in rented property that our rent money was only being used to make the rich richer. We tried to get around this by searching for properties that belonged to Christians, in the hope that they would be more ethical in the use of their wealth. Sometimes they were, sometimes they were not. At this point I could name outstanding examples of each, but I refrain from doing so in a public forum.
As with so many issues, I do not believe owning property per se is necessarily the problem, it is what we do with it. In the present property market the rich are into rampant profiteering at the expense of the poor. So how could Christian property owners cut a new groove, using their assets to benefit others rather than empoverish them? They have done in the past, with Housing Associations etc, many of them having a Christian foundation at their inception. I don’t know enough about the property market to suggest how this could be done currently. I would love to hear other people’s ideas.
Good points. I think the problem, as you say, is not with owning property as such, but why we want to own property. At the moment people are buying property not just because we need warmth and shelter, but because we see the potential for huge monetary gain. All around us we see others making huge sums, and we want in. So the property market ends up being driven by envy and avarice, rather than people’s real needs.
It’s an important issue at the moment in the UK. I think we’ll be dealing with it again.