I DON’T know what all the fuss is about regarding the Bournemouth Council mortgages.

When we bought our property in 1962 we had a fixed rate mortgage with Poole Council at an interest rate of 6.5 per cent fixed for a 20-year period. We knew exactly when it would be paid off and when the mortgage rates went sky high ours remained the same. We paid £13.50 per month, which was lot of money in those days as the council would only advance the money to one person (my husband) and the monthly payment could not exceed his weekly wage.

We also had to put down a 10 per cent deposit. My earnings were not taken into account at all. We really struggled to pay this amount in the beginning but we were prepared to go without in order to have our own home. We already had one child and had another a year after we bought our home and I went to work in the evenings so that we could pay the mortgage and gradually re-decorate.

We couldn’t afford a holiday or a car and I used to ride a bike everywhere even when I was pregnant. We constantly hear about young people not being able to get on the property ladder but they are not prepared to forego their holidays and their cars and all the other luxuries they seem to expect out of life.

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