1970s Britain | Mortgages through the roof | interest rates | Housing market | This Week | 1973

It's like we've come full circle. Back to the pre common market days of the early 70s

Ahhh so that’s what Brexit benefits look like hahaha well happy shitty days ahead then. Thanks a lot Tory Sc-um

Very interesting....nothing new under the sun 😊

Foreign investors ...... sounds familiar .

Very interesting. Thanks Thames, we’ve been missing this kind of videos.

I’ve made a comparison: In 1973 10k is about 155k now, and that’s why 6% or 7% mortgage is just as painful as 10-11% in 1973. The average houseprice has risen more than average wage. More than doubled. All helped by idiotic low interest rates of the last 15 years.

Thumbnail looks like from Monthy Python :)

Went up to 17% by 1979….and were around 15% when I got married in 1990.

Anyone would think there some sort of deliberate cycling here……🤔

Five weeks after this, war broke out in the Middle East, oil prices trebled overnight and inflation soared. So far from falling as Reggie Maudling thought, interest rates were forced up.

The more things change, the more they remain the same.

At least in those days the residents of Britain were British.

Just for context. The average house price at the time this was filmed in 1973, was £9,900. The average wage that year was £27, so £1,400 per annum. So house prices were around 7 x average earnings in 1973. That's what's key when comparing. This year, average annual salaries are around £28,500, and the average price of a house today is about £285,000, so 10 x average annual salary. So in comparison, things are a little easier today than the higher interest rates rates back then, all things considered. However, this is only part of the story. The basic tax rate then was 30%, compared to 20% today, however there was no national insurance back then, whereas now it is about 12%, so a notional tax rate today of about 32% (on average salary and ignoring allowances). VAT was introduced in 1973 at 10%, whereas today it is 20%. But what we didn't have then, compared to what we have now, is tax on almost everything - home, travel and car insurance, air passenger duty, much higher duty on tobacco, alcohol, petrol etc., although food is a bit cheaper today (ignoring the ridiculous prices rises in the last 18 months). All in all, overall things back then, financially, were a bit better than today. Although having said that, many families back then earned just one wage, as most women were housewives, whereas today most women work, plus families get shedloads of tax credits, childcare help and the like today, so factoring all that in, I guess things are quite a bit better today. Also, interest rates are almost half today what they were back then, and 33% of properties today are mortgage free, whereas back then probably much lower (I don't have those figures, but thanks to the last 15 years of almost zero rates, a LOT of people have paid off their mortgages today). So yes, people may bleat about things today, but as the old saying goes, they've never had it so good!