Soz, didn't mean to post that twice...   Thanks TC, appreciate that.                                                                                                                                                                             

another aspect of this is that even if you are doing ok ish, mortgage nearly paid etc then your kids cant afford to leave home so you are stuck with the buggers and still subsidising them at some level and you cant economise much to absorb all of the increases

Send the little buggers up t' chimney in those big ouses you loook after J lol   Same hear A out of work again lol ah well at least my house is a council house so rent will be payed.                                                                                                                                                                             

Best of luck to you too, HR!   Let's hope it is not for long...                                                                                                                                                                              

Me too (out of work) - p'haps we should ask Matt for a sub concession? C'mon Matt - giv us a break.                                                                                                                                                                             

haha, then I'll have to pay for everythin myself!  Money is tight for me too u no lol, hence this topic.   Regarding the 10x salary thing. I bought a place for just under 60k - crap house in a crap area.  I managed to get 4.5x my crappy police staff salary to pay for it from Northern Rock.   Was a crap place,  but best financial move ive ever made (At 18).                                                                                                                                                                             

Mine was £52K, bought with my sister 17 years ago... when she left to move in with a boyfriend a couple of years later, I had to keep her name on the house because they wouldn't let me have the mortgage solely in my name as my salary was so rubbish... Eventually she wanted to buy again and the only way I could get them to allow her name to come off the mortgage was by having my Dad act as Guarantor.

It seemed a struggle to me at the time, (I had to get part time work on top of my full time job in order to make the ends meet after she left) but it's nothing in comparison to what people starting out today have to contend with.

If rents were fair, it wouldn't be so bad, but they ain't. You're stuffed whichever way you turn.