Kirstie Allsopp says young people could afford a house if they cut back on ‘luxuries’ like Netflix, coffee and the gym

Young people could afford their own home if they cut back on ‘luxuries’ like gym memberships and coffee, presenter Kirstie Allsopp has insisted this week.

Allsopp, who is known best for presenting Location, Location, Location, expressed her ‘enragement’ when young people claim they can’t afford a home, saying they can if they simply ‘give up luxuries and move up north’. 

Speaking to The Times, Allsopp suggested that graduates and school-leavers should consider moving back in with their parents, cancelling non-essential subscriptions and start taking a packed lunch into work. 

She said: “When I bought my first property, going abroad, the easyJet, coffee, gym, Netflix lifestyle didn’t exist.

Kirstie Allsopp

“I used to walk to work with a sandwich. And on payday I’d go for a pizza, and to a movie, and buy a lipstick. Interest rates were 15%, I was earning £11,500 a year.”

She also said that things such as film-streaming services, overseas holidays and regular gym visits are all taken as standard parts of their lifestyle by today’s young, saying: “I do think you have to ask yourself what your degree is giving you.

“Could you get a job at eighteen, stay at home with [your] parents for three years, and save every single penny, enough for a deposit?” 

She also suggested moving up north to save money on property prices: “It is difficult: if you were born down south, and have family down south, my life is down south, but if we want a family house we have to move.

“If I had any roots further north and I was trying to buy [I’d do it].”

The newspaper states that Allsopp, the daughter of Charles Allsopp, 6th Baron Hindlip, bought her first property with family help at the age of twenty-one, when the average house price in the UK was about £51,000. Adjusted for inflation that is £112,000, compared with £255,556 for the average home today.

Read More: Average UK house price hits £250k: Here’s what that’ll get you in Greater Manchester

For a bit of context, the average first-time buyer’s property in England is £224k, meaning the standard 10% deposit needed will be around £22k. 

A first-time buyer who would gave up their week day coffee, a standard Netflix subscription, gym membership, and two return flights to Europe a year on EasyJet would save about £1,600 a year.

But even with this saved money, with the current rate house prices are rising, it would take the average person thirty-seven years to reach their deposit. 

However, Allsopp did acknowledge that she has seen many first-time buyers on her show make ‘enormous sacrifices’ to own a home, saying: “I don’t want to belittle those people who can’t do it.

“But there are loads of people who can do it and don’t. It is hard. We’ve fallen into the trap of saying it’s impossible for everybody. I was brought up to believe owning your home is the be all and end all and in a way I still believe that … It’s about where you can buy, not if you can buy. 

“There is an issue around the desire to make those sacrifices.”