So as a comparison a 2 bed flat is about £1,000pm here, a 2 bed house starts about £1,300pm. We've a BAE Systems in the town that take on Apprentices on the same schemes as Samlesbury/Warton but I'm guessing the salary will be roughly the same rather than double
If you extend the distance to 5 miles to commute it's only £1,200pm, 20 miles it starts to drop to £900. My kids have openly said they feel they would have to move to get on a housing ladder, but that isn't sustainable either flooding areas with the same demographic.
Again the main reason why people struggle with property is the chart I posted yesterday, not because people are wasting money. A big part is maybe because some are realising that it's futile as they can't pay rent and save so there is no real point as their savings rate would never help them get a suitable deposit. Some however are attempting that and saving, and having to save amounts compared to wages that dwarfs what people used to have to save when "we had to save hard and go without to buy our house". Wages and house prices now and then are not comparative anymore