And yet, I have some complaining to do, if you don't mind. Why on earth is it impossible for me, a 23-year-old Master's graduate with a full-time skilled job, to afford to rent even a modest one-bedroom apartment without living on the breadline?
I get told all these cool stories about how people my parent's age secured a mortgage at age 20 and went on from there. If I have my full-time job, what else can I feasibly do?
Let's break it down a bit. The fact I live in the southern half of England instantly puts me at a disadvantage, and that's just a fact you have to deal with in terms of costs. My job is based in Milton Keynes, so ideally I'd like somewhere in that vicinity. However, because MK (and the towns around it like Bedford, Leighton Buzzard and even Northampton) have a direct rail link to London, the prices have been heavily inflated as a satellite commuter town. In this patch of land, you really have to try hard to find somewhere that doesn't have a link to London.
The result? Even tiny apartments in big blocks start at around £750 a month, and you can bet your backside that's before any utilities or council tax. Add on your bills, and you're easily over a grand a month before you've even given a single thought to buying food or putting some petrol in your car. Even with budgeting, you're over £1,500 a month comfortably, which is essentially my entire monthly pay.
I accept I live in an expensive area and obviously sharing with a person or two instantly makes things affordable, but it surely shouldn't be this hard for a single person to find a basic pad to live, should it? I didn't exist back then, but I'd be surprised if this was an issue a few decades ago.
It's a bit ranty, I know, but it just strikes me as odd that having a full-time skilled graduate job doesn't guarantee you the most basic adult necessities of living space. And I surely can't be the only one here in such a situation.