I live in Southampton. I am a postdoc researcher in academia. I earn somewhere in the region of £25K. I do not own a house. The thought of buying a house at today’s inflated prices fills me with terror, quite frankly.

As a consequence, the ramblings of idiots like this are apt to provoke apoplexy in me. How on earth can he be earning £45K, live in shared accommodation, and yet have only £5K in savings? There’s plenty there for mortgage payments and a pension – what on earth does he spend the money on? How can he have failed to put together a deposit on a salary like that?