Article by Cllr Dick Cole first published in Cornish Guardian newspaper (28th June 2023)

With the advent of social media in recent years, there has been an increasing number of “commentators” on British society and politics. Some are blatantly party political. Some are less than pleasant. But others can be thought-provoking and very good at challenging arguments put forward by politicians.

One of my favourites is former England international rugby hooker Brian Moore, who is very active on twitter and whose approach can be best described as no-nonsense. I was particularly pleased to see his recent interaction with former Government Minister Edwina Currie. It was a great example of someone “calling out” a crass and insensitive statement.

It is within the context of the cost of living crisis, the recent increases in interest rates and the significant upswing in the cost of mortgage payments, that Currie tweeted: “All the baby boomers who are now mortgage-free home owners went through paying interest rates three times what they are now. 16% was normal. We didn’t have much choice, but home ownership rocketed, and we survived.”

Brian described himself as “part of that generation” and he was so right to point out that they also “had affordable house prices, no student debt, job security, decent pensions, North Sea oil, and more.” He blasted her “revisionist view,” noting it was “as disingenuous as it is stupid.”

Indeed, the reality is that the increasing cost of keeping up payments on a large mortgage in a dysfunctional housing market is making life intolerable for a vast number of households across the UK.

When my wife and I started looking at properties to buy in the late 1990s, we looked at a number of potential homes which were priced at less than £50,000. People looking to purchase their own homes in 2023 must think of such times as almost mythical, while Currie would do well to acknowledge the ridiculous uplift in property prices over the last 25 to 30 years.

According to government data (https://landregistry.data.gov.uk), the average house price in Cornwall in January 1995 was £47,310. In March 2023, it was £318,636, down slightly down from a peak of £326,622 in November 2022. That is an astonishing increase of 673.5% over 28 years.

I have also seen figures from the Office of National Statistics that show wage levels have doubled over the last 25 years, but for many that is grossly inadequate to deal with a more than a six-fold increase in property prices – especially with the rising cost of borrowing.