I think one of the biggest problems with the housing market and why everyone is clambering for a house is because it is that unsafe to rent. There are little guarantees and your only protection against the landlord is their integrity as a person and the fact if you are a good tenant that they will usually try and do right by you so they don't lose you and get a bad tenant. The problem is that still encourages them to do just enough.
I've been renting for a few years now whilst I have been waiting for my house to be built. There is little protection offered and I consider myself fortunate enough to have a good landlord but I think that is partly because of the quality of house I rent. For places that are more 'replaceable' then I can imagine the situation get's a whole lot worse.
One thing I would say it that everytime we have one of these threads and people say come and live by me you can get a 3 bed semi for this cheap price - I look on Rightmove and they are there! But then you look at the school checker and see "Failing" "Needs improvement" "Satisfactory" etc and you see why no parent in their right mind would actively aim to live in such a place.
I shudder remembering the research the wife and myself did when we were looking at moving. We had a list of must haves :
1)Good or Outstanding (OFSTED) school.
2)School had to be walkable (my wife does not drive)
3)Little or no social housing close by
4)4 Beds ideally (3 beds minimum) - 2 kids
5)Close to major road network for my work commute to the city
6)Close local amenities (wife not driving issue again)
7)Great broadband
Unfortunately all of check boxes added significant value to the property price. I worked in London at the time, and we lived in Hertfordshire (easy commute). The reality was however that at the time we couldn't afford a 4 bed semi or detached in St Albans. So hands tied to hit ALL of those boxes we had to move to Bedfordshire which made my commute that much crapper.
Our house was great but its geography was a compromise.
In respect of house prices, I have contributed on similar threads before. As a landlord myself I believe there are a number of issues :
1)Help to buy is a bomb waiting to happen and will cripple FTBers if they sit on it and don't react to the 'Government loan'. It also horribly inflates the price of new builds because builders know that the largest hurdle of a deposit is effectively avoided for the exchange of contracts.It also drives competition amongst all of those FTBers eager to get on the property ladder.
2)BTL explosion(although the new changes when they come into effect with cripple small time landlords and either force a sale (helping supply) or force an increase on the rental market. This can go one of two ways. For a number of reasons including my ex pat status this is currently not an issue for me, but if it did become I would seriously have to reconsider the financial viability of one of my properties.
3)Lack of new construction (also when they are there, usually horribly priced because of the ability of HTB to kick in for FTBers as mentioned above).
I also think that a lot of people (not specifically the OP) do not want to make the necessary sacrifices to save for a deposit. I also think that a lot of people have just accepted that they will never be able to own a property.
Even if house prices crash the deposit issue is still going to be a problem.
Average house price is around 210k (21k for a 10% deposit). Lets assume that we have a biblical house price crash in the UK of around 30% which the Daily Mail is fear mongering, bringing it down to 180k. People are still going to need to find 18k......it wont make much of a difference in the mentality or feasibility IMO.The issue will still be there.
Even if interest rates go up against the current Brexit trend of reduction (IMO it will never hit the highs of decades gone again) this will just make mortgages that much harder for people to afford. It wont just screw the landlords, it will screw FTBers as well.
In short if I was the OP, and I don't know all of his outgoings. If he is unable to save for a deposit in his particular area (gods knows the size of the loans he is currently servicing) he needs to move to make the impossible.....possible by moving. Unless you have financial help and support it isnt always possible to have your cake and eat it. Something has to give.