Why 'how I afforded a house' articles are misleading – and bad psychologically

A look at the barrage of recent articles about how millennials can buy a home on a modest income reveals how unhealthy these pieces - and the expectations around them - really are

Life in the modern world is hard. Even without all the Nazis and climate change, there are still countless things to pile on the stress. Obviously, those of us in the first world have it much better than those elsewhere; our lives aren't one long gruelling struggle for survival, we have things very easy on that front. But that's not quite how the brain works. Our normal lives, no matter how objectively privileged they may be from an outside perspective, provide the "baseline" for our expectations, and stress is experienced by things that challenge or disrupt that. As a result, while we may never have to worry about where the next glass of clean water is coming from, we still have a plethora of psychological stressors to choose from, many of which stem from the demands and expectations of the society around us.

One modern societal pressure, in the UK at least, is that of owning property. It's supposedly the done thing, buying a house or whatever, and often with a view to making a profit on it later, so much so that, in London particularly, people's homes can earn more than they do. However, in recent years this expectation has been hit by countless obstacles, many of which have culminated in younger people simply not buying homes. This, obviously, threatens the status quo, which is something those with power and influence would rather avoid.