With so many people struggling to cobble together a deposit , home ownership rates are falling across the country.
Renting is slowly becoming the norm. While the argument renters hear over and over again is it’s “dead money”, coming into a casual £20,000 isn’t something everyone can take for granted.
Now one mum has found herself suddenly “depressed” by her living situation following a conversation with her daughter.
The family live in a two bedroom flat which the mum told Mumsnet she had previously been “fine with.”
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But her five-year-old daughter has started to pick up on the fact that her friends live “in houses with gardens”, and it’s really started to both the mum and the girl.
So much so, the mum is now dreading an upcoming family get-together at her sister-in-law’s.
She reveals that her daughter notices her friends’ living situations “Especially [in the] summer time when they get paddling pools out etc she keeps telling me she wishes we had a garden.
“We are working class and really could not afford to buy a house or garden flat.”
(Image: Getty Images)
The mum adds that her sister-in-law has “kids same age as my daughters and has just finished a fabulous renovation/extension on their already huge house/enormous garden.
“We’re due to go over for a family get together this weekend and I’m dreading it as my daughter gets really sad when we leave and starts crying and saying she wants to stay.
“Normally following up with questions on why can’t we have a bigger house etc. Am I being unreasonable to not want to go?”
Other mums were quick to offer their support – and the resounding piece of advice was that this was in fact a hard but necessary lesson for her little girl.
One mum put it perfectly, writing: “I know you want the best for your child but this is a really good opportunity to make her learn that the best things are not always about money.
“The best childhood is one where a child is loved intensely, kept safe and healthy. It sounds cheesy but it’s true. Tell her that. Make her realise she is lucky to have you and that happiness stems from the people you are with, not what you have.”
