A large part of housing prices going up, is that Londoner's are buying more houses in other parts of the country these days. Also, we have quite a lot of people from the EU who come here and start business, or go to Uni, and make this their home. There was not the same amount of influx in wealth 30+ years ago, and you are also leaving out market inflation. In the 80's you could have bought a house here in my town ( I live in a seaside town, just outside of Canterbury) for like £5000. Now a days, you CANNOT find a house here for less than £130k in liveable condition. We are only a tiny island with so much to go around, so real estate is expensive these days. You are also forgetting that Thatcher allowed people to sell off their Council houses, now those houses that were affordable and abundant 30 years ago, are now expensive and owned by private families. I am turning 30 this year, and so is my husband. He works in accounting, and it's taken him a long time, many years of AAT and further qualifications to get where he is now. We started out bottom of the bucket, and our bank STILL helped us as they are one of the few who takes benefits as a form of income. No bank in America would ever allow anyone on any form of welfare what so ever to get a loan. At the moment, he is only making around £10 an hour, working full time and we have absolutely NO PROBLEM at all getting loans from our bank, with low APR and paying them off in a responsible timely manner. He started out at apprenticeship wage and in just 3 years has really moved up, so it's not impossible. And if you know what apprenticeship wage is ( lower than minimum wage ) you'll understand the hardship we came from. We could get a house if we really wanted to. Right now, we are comfortable where we are. Other people are correct in stating that those under 25's are less likely to have dependants. They're also less likely to hold a steady job, and want to work hard for a high position. Many in that age group that I know personally, have this grandiose idea that if they don't like the job they're at...well fuck it, they can just quit and sign on. Many people passed up my husband's position, he stuck it out and will go high places. A lot of creditors these days, simply do not trust those in their 20's, and for good reason. There are also government schemes, you can get through the council now a days that help toward buying a house. I think you should research more on the topic, there actually is a lot of 20 somethings who are able to get bank loans, make good wage, and buy a house. It really depends on a lot of things.