[jdietrich]

>The high price merely means the risk and reward of ownership is high; but low interest rate means that the amount of income you need to support a given price of housing is much lower than before

Cheap repayments don't really influence affordability of ownership, because banks won't lend more than 3.5x income. If you're earning £30k and a house in your area costs £150k, you're stuck renting unless you can somehow save a £45k deposit.

Rents have been increasing faster than inflation for many years, which is a major problem if your income is barely keeping up with inflation.