‘I was brought up to believe owning your own home was the be-all and end-all’
Kirstie Allsopp has suggested young people prefer renting to owning their own home, with property ownership not being the priority it once was.
The TV presenter’s comments follow backlash over a viral Sunday Times interview in which the Location Location Location host said young people could afford to buy a house if they quit Netflix, gym memberships, and coffee.
Speaking to Stephen Nolan on BBC 5Live on Sunday Allsopp said young people don’t prioritise buying homes.
“When you and I were younger, buying your home, owning your first home was a big thing that was a big deal,” she said.
“For many people that was more important than going to university – a sign you’d really achieved something when you owned your own home.
“For some people, they still believe that but can’t afford it.
“For other people, they don’t believe that anymore.”
Allsopp maintained that suggestions it wasn’t possible for all young people to buy would be doing them a disservice, arguing that renting was now a positive choice for many young people.
She referenced a conversation she’d had prior to the interview with Nolan’s researcher, who said he preferred renting to owning his own home because he enjoyed the freedom being mortgage-free offered.
The researcher had told her he preferred to rent because it enabled him to pick up and go whenever he felt like it.
“You know, things have changed,” she said.
Rent prices in the UK reached another record high in January, according to the HomeLet rental index, and with people in their 20s spending roughly 35 per cent of their salary on rent – scraping together a deposit for a home has become increasingly difficult.
On Monday, Allsopp seemingly left Twitter after telling her critics to stop watching her TV shows “if you don’t like me”.
In a now-deleted tweet, Allsopp said “You’ve got 9 months” to “put an end to me” appearing on Channel 4.
Allsopp then updated her Twitter bio to read: “Off Twitter once and for all. Determined not to fall off the wagon. Keeping account here to stop copycat b*******.”
Her departure follows a weekend of criticism, with many Twitter users highlighting it must have been easier for her to buy a home considering her father is Charles Henry Allsopp, 6th Baron Hindlip.
Others pointed out that the TV presenter bought her first property when the average house price in the UK was roughly £51,000.
Kirstie Allsopp, daughter of an Eton-educated Baron, tells young people struggling to buy a home to just look in cheaper areas and give up the gym and Netflix
She says she gets 'enraged' when young people can't buy their first home, something she did – with family help – aged 21
— Anna Mikhailova (@AVMikhailova) February 6, 2022
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