Bank has no right to advise on life choices
ARECENT Bank of Ireland ad campaign raised the ire of many when it outlined how a young customer was able to save for a mortgage by moving back in with her parents.
The minute the ad went live, the public backlash was unflinching with many people outraged at the notion that a financial institution would tell customers what life choices to make in order to secure a mortgage.
No bank has the right to tell customers how to live in order to save money. Sound financial advice is what young house-hunters need, not to be preached at on how to save their deposit in a shorter space of time - so that ultimately the bank can secure their business.
If moving home is a viable option for the young customer and their parents, then it is a matter for them alone to agree on. The thing is, that in many cases, it most certainly is not an option and this sort of ad campaign puts pressure on both sides. Not everyone has a family home open to return to and parents who have spent their lives raising (and funding) children shouldn’t have to start doing so again in their retirement.
For many this would be hell on earth and would certainly put a strain on relationships.
The current housing crisis has come about largely because of the irresponsibility of all the banks and so now, the very notion that they would patronise the current generation who are struggling to get on the property ladder is going to hurt.
This is the generation that is reaping the unwanted rewards of the most turbulent financial crisis of our time and to be told that the answer to their problems is to move back home with mum and dad is an insult.
Shouldn’t the ‘child’ be paying some sort of rent at home if they plan to be there for another five or six years? That is the estimated time required to save a deposit for an average property in Dublin - reduced to four years or so outside of the capital.
To assume that the older generation is going to take the medicine once again and bankroll their children (and sometimes with grandchildren) into their thirties and forties so they can achieve a home of their own is ludicrous.
What situation will that leave them in once they move into old age proper? Will the State pension be increased to assist them after they have spent all their savings on their adult children.