The housing market
I'd be fascinated to know how things got so overpriced.
Case in point.
When the estate on which I live (and on which I was born)was built, it was specifically for the skilled workers of the fair city of Coventry. You could always tell how much an average house was worth by looking in the local rag at the "Toolroom average" figures, a weekly reported average of what a toolmaker was paid in the many engineering factories that once graced Coventry. Easy maths, the houses were worth about twice the toolroom yearly salary rate, the semi's a bit more, the two bedroomed terraced a bit less.

The same houses are still there. They are no bigger or better, they haven't suddenly gained extra land in their gardens, they've not been gold plated and studded in diamonds yet, by the same maths I used when I first got my house (I no longer have it, divorce y'know) I'd have to be earning £75k - £90k to buy one now.

How did this happen?
(Captain Placid 24/7 ball gags, brownie mix and clown porn, Tue 16 Sep 2008, 15:11, Reply)