The most common living arrangement for a young man in Britain used to be with his spouse, and maybe their children. In 2026, it’s with his own parents. Think about what that really means: about joy, about meaning, about self-esteem. Have you ever tried to bring a romantic interest back to your childhood bedroom? Have you ever thought of your mum and dad as not just parents but also your landlords? If an Englishman’s home is his castle, then, increasingly, modern men are peasants in someone else’s keep.
At its foundations, our housing crisis is an affordability crisis. The median average price of a British home in 2025 was 7.6 times the median annual average earnings of a full-time employee. The last time housing was this unaffordable it was the 19th century: children worked in mines, cholera cases were widespread, Thomas Carlyle was an influencer, and holidays were taken on trains all the way to Blackpool (the Wright brothers are working on it, all right?). Property ownership was largely the preserve of the gentry and aristocracy. In the 20th century, that ratio was, outside of a few short spikes, consistently around four times average earnings. It meant you could save a deposit with one income over a few years and then buy with a mortgage. Work hard, get on the ladder, start a family. Call it a social contract.
Subscribe to read the full article. Change Browser if you are already subscribed.