Dear Millennials, give up coffee, brunch and the tube if you want to buy in Camden

If you stop buying avocado on toast for brunch just once a week, you could afford your own home in 57 years. (Image: nito100)

It’s time somebody said it, millennials are woefully out of control. Their spending habits revolve around brunching on smashed avocado with chilli and lime drizzle on toast, swilling it down with an artisanal flat white or matcha latte before rambling on like consumerist zombies to chow down on an extortionate restaurant lunch.

It’s as if they don’t know that rail fares are rising, that busses are overcrowded and that cycling is free. Nevertheless they insist on wasting their cash on making the pilgrimage to their unpaid internship on the other side of the city on these luxurious modes of transport, never giving a thought to cycling, or better yet, walking in.

Camden is only the 30th most affordable borough in London out of 33 based on average rent and mortgage rates according to finder.com’s tongue-in-cheek interactive map, which charts how much millennials could save if they gave up many of the heinous habits often levelled at them.

It’s as if these youngsters don’t know how lucky they are to live in a borough where the average starter home costs a third of a million pounds, or £665,000, just shy of £200,000 short of the London average of a very reasonable £472,163.

Savvy millennials who cycle to work will own their own home by the time they hit 60! (Image: Polly Hancock)

Not only that, millennials only have to fork out £101,400 for a deposit in the borough, a wholly reasonable sum at almost five times the average yearly wage of £23,754. Those renting have it even better, spending just half their monthly income on rents of £895 per month.

Those lucky millennials who decide not to squander £900 on rent to live at home with their parents are saving so much money that they will be able to afford a flat in Camden after nine years.

Jon Ostler CEO of finder.com said: “Our analysis confirmed that London property is simply unaffordable to most millennials, Camden in particular is one of the priciest boroughs. Taking into account various ways of saving for a mortgage, our research revealed that even if millennials lived with their parents it would take 9 years to save a deposit!”

However, if Camden’s youth take heed of advice to ditch their bad habits and take up a healthier approach to saving, could they afford their own home in only a short space of time?

The mania surrounding the cult of avocado continues to raise eyebrows in 2017. Yet savvy youngsters who kick their addiction and give up just one of their daily brunch binges could have enough money for a house in just 57 years.

By giving up your daily Pain Quotidien petit dejeuner for £7.40, you’ll have enough for a deposit in just 13,703 brunch’s time. That’ll take you just 38 years assuming you, like all millennials, brunch every day.

Those who take lunch into work, carefully prepared the night before, might have enough for their first home in 75 years, and better yet, those who stop drinking expensive cappuccino coffees could afford their own home in just 100 years.

The price of a home in Camden is equivalent to 246,296 coffees at £2.70 a time. In 675 years, you’ll have yourself a home! The price of a deposit for a home is equivalent to giving up 34,965 tube rides at £2.90 for a single zone 1-2 journey. That’ll take you 95 years assuming you only take one journey a day.

Those who ditch the extravagances of the tube in favour of the trusty bicycle would have enough for a first home in 46 years, whilst those who choose to live with their parents for the next decade could then be able to afford their own place to call home. Those who give up reckless spending on coffee, meals out, public transport and their independence all in one go might have enough money for a house in just 6.4 years.

So there you have it. Millennials living paycheque-to-paycheque don’t need cheaper rents or healthier wages in comparison to the cost of living in the capital, they don’t need an overhaul of the housing market; they just need to give up their profligate coffee and brunch habits.

A rather more sensible suggestion for those who have their hearts set on Camden might be, as Mr Ostler concludes, to focus on pooling resources and not sweating the small stuff. He concluded: “The best advice for young people wanting to buy in Camden is to focus on getting a high paying job and a joint income while enjoying their avocado toast!”

See below for Finder.com’s interactive map of rents and house prices across London.