Kirstie’s right about the housing ladder
KIRSTIE ALLSOPP was spot on when she said youngsters should give up luxuries in order to get on the housing ladder (Mail). Why is it absolutely necessary that they should have the latest smartphone, tattoos, Botox, professionally manicured nails, eyelashes that you could trip over and designer clothes? TV shows such as Love Island and The Cabins have a lot to answer for.
CHRIS PATE, Worcester. IT WAS due to family help that Kirstie Allsopp owned her own house at 21, not because she was thrifty or clever. She tells other people to move ‘North’ or live with their parents, as if these are options open to everyone. Her advice to stop Netflix subscriptions and buying Starbucks coffee is insulting.
G. MATTHEWS, Lancaster. DUMP the credit cards, the Lotto, bingo and having a flutter. Stop paying for tattoos, nail bars and ‘must-have’ holidays. Go for a walk instead of paying gym subscriptions. Gain all the skills you can, eat cheaply and, as Kirstie says, you will manage to save up to buy your own house.
VERONICA LOWE, churchdown, Glos. WHEN we moved into our first house in 1970 with a young child, all the furniture was second-hand, including a black and white TV you had to bang on the side to turn on. The problem today is that too many young people seem to think they are entitled to the best of everything.
DAVID LINGS, Toton, Notts. MY HUSBAND and I have full-time professional careers, but had to make sacrifices and move away from London to get on the housing ladder. Posh coffee and holidays are luxuries, not necessities. You can enjoy them later on when you can afford them.
GILLIAN PINNOCK, Glemsford, Suffolk. TO GET on the housing ladder, we had to spend 70 per cent of our monthly wages on the mortgage. There was no such thing as the work/life balance. If you want to get on in life, expect to go through uncomfortable times or just decide to enjoy luxuries now and have nothing later in life.
PETER BELCHER, Barton-le-clay, Beds. WHEN we got engaged, we sold our car to put the money towards a house deposit. We went out once a week for just one drink and caught the bus home. We didn’t even think we were making sacrifices because the goal was to buy our own home — and we did.