Property, obviously, was cheaper to buy in the 1960s but it was also relatively cheaper and since then there has been a tremendous increase in property prices.
To set the scene for what I am about to write, the average weekly wage (taken from a BBC article) in 1966 was £23.47 a week (around £1,200 a year) for a male worker. The average wage for a women (women you will like this!) was £12.11 per week (or around £620 a year). Incidentally, first division footballers earned around £100 a week at that time, if you are interested.
In 1966 the BBC say that the average house price was just £5,000 or, to put in perspective with earning, an average house cost something like five times a year’s wage. Average wages now (2010) are around £500 a week (or £26,000 a year) according to the office for national statistics so the price of an average house now should be – well you can do the math. Frightening, isn’t it?
Country Life 1966
These house prices are from Country Life for August 1966 and are just a few houses taken at random to give you an idea of what you could buy with your money.
Aberystwyth – 3 bed bungalow plus garage, £5,800.
Devon – freehold country residence with 5 beds, 3 reception rooms and loads of land and outbuilding in Dartmoor National Park, £14,000 including existing horticultural business.
Kent – detached family house 3 beds, garage, £5,950.
Northamptonshire village, rebuilt stone cottage 2 beds, bathroom, kitchen, £3,500.
Wells-Next-The-Sea, Norfolk – small house in one of the little streets in this lovely town, 3 beds, garage space, £2,650.
Devon – picturesque cottage detached in the countryside, 3 reception, 5 beds, 2 baths 1/4 acre, £11,000.
Gloucestershire – detached stone farmhouse, 2 reception, 5/6 beds with 2 acres river frontage, £10,500.
Interesting to look back and see what was on offer, isn’t it? So what would I choose? Well, my family originally come from Devon so I’ll be happy with the stone cottage in a 1/4 of an acre, please!
