To think it IS possible to get on the housing ladder?

[SleepyHeadThisTime]

I'm not talking about people living in London - god I would not like to be a first time buyer there!

However, I live in one of the most expensive areas for housing in the country and DH and I have spent the last 10 years scrimping and saving to make it to our 'forever home'. Our first house was an ex council house and an absolute dive but we ploughed all our savings into it, did it up, sold it and did the same again twice more. We have never earned more than 40k per year between us.

AIBU to think there is an element of choice about getting on the housing ladder? I have friends who say we're so lucky to be in the position we're in, however when we were spending every weekend sanding, painting, tiling and the rest, they were having holidays abroad, meals and nights out and new cars?

I don't begrudge them this (we're now enjoying all these perks) but I am a bit irked that it's put down to 'luck' and not bloody hard work and very frugal money management?

Surely if you're earning there is the potential to get on the property ladder? I know some who weren't willing to go down our route but still managed it through the government help to buy and shared ownership schemes.

I understand circumstances such as buying on your own and being on a low salary etc make this much more difficult but when I read about 'millenials' earning 30k plus per year and living at home with parents because they can afford to buy it makes me a bit

Btw DH and I bought our first house in 2010 so not in the golden era when houses were only about 3 times yearly salary!

[Allthetuppences]

You were on the housing ladder 10 years ago. It was for you then. That is really all you can comment on. Why are you so invested in what a made up group can or can't do?

[Getsorted21]

As pp timing is everything.

[HighwayDragon1]

The two bed we're in now costs roughly 250k to buy and it's a glorified box and nearly £1000pcm to rent. Dh is a good earner and I teach pt so there's not much childcare to pay. Even with a 4x mortgage we'd struggle to buy much more than we are in, not to mention the 30k deposit needed.

House prices are going up, wages are not, by the time we've saved for the deposit around 5 years we will be priced out. Not to mention lower earners who won't even be considered for a mortgage

[SlothMama]

It really depends on people’s own circumstances, personally I am able to stay at home with parents rent free whilst I save for a deposit. I also have a good wage for my age as does my partner.

But I know people in my old job in retail who cant afford to save, so for them it’s very difficult.

[ThursdayLastWeek]

Your title led me to believe that you were going to be more sympathetic to people wanting to buy!

Where I live house prices are high and wages on average are low. It cartainkh feels impossible here for a lot of people.

[Valerrie]

What a stealth boast.

There are a myriad of reasons why people can't get on the property ladder, despite earning.

Why do you care as long as you've done what you want?

[Jerseysilkvelour]

Definitely depends on where you live I think. London isn't the only place with impossibly high prices. If I needed to save for even a 5% deposit to buy where I live. I wouldn't manage it in my working lifetime and I earn above the National average. Rent is also v v high here so a huge chunk of your salary goes on that whilst you're trying to save up. Factor in the odd emergency etc and it just isn't realistic . I worked out the other day I would need a deposit of at least £75k to get a mortgage I could afford and buy at today's prices - I could possibly save £5k a year, if nothing went wrong and we scrimped in everything, during which my salary doesn't increase, house prices do, rent increases etc etc....

[Biker47]

I bought a new build last year as a first time buyer, using various government schemes made it more affordable. I do know people who can't afford to save effeciently for a deposit, but I also know people who could; but spunk away money like nothing else. So it all depends on circumstances. Me and my partner only saved for just over a year to get deposit together.

[NapQueen]

I was lucky that when we bought (9years ago) I could do a 5% deposit.
I was lucky that my parents were local and willing to let dh and I live in their box room for a year while we saved the deposit.
I was lucky that I grew up in (abd was happy to remain in) an area where a 2bed garden flat was about 90k.
I was lucky that I have friends and family who could assist with the work needed on a cheaper 'dooer upper'.

Doesnt change the fact that we worked damn hard to save and then again to do it up.

But in the main it was luck.

[Getsorted21]

I think for the majority of people the main issue isn't the affordability (lots of rents are more then mortgage repayments) but it's the saving for the deposit whilst paying high rents.

Interestingly I did read recently that more & more younger people are giving up on renting/buying in London (even those that can afford too) & moving to other cities.

[notacooldad]

Good for you.
My DS works full time and has done since he was 16. He earns £12,000.
He drives a car which he needs to work - his start hours vary from 05.30 to 08.30 hrs ago no public transport when on earlies. His car insurance is going down and is currently £1,200. It is not a flash car, it is 6 years old. We live in a nortourisly high insurance area how young drivers ( if we moved 1 . 1/2 mile s away it would be 2/3rds that)

The cheapest house price around here at the moment is £79,500.
There is no chance he can get a mortgage, he's checked. It's going to be a good while before he gets on the ladder.

At his age I was on a casual contract for the council. I got a mortgage on an £11,000 . I put a £500 deposit down.

[Blahblahblahzeeblah]

If you earn a decent salary and live in the right part of the country then yes you can get yourself on thr housing ladder.
However, my mother is a teacher and single. She bought her house over 15 years ago. Now, at the end of her career and thus with her highest salary she couldn't get a mortgage for a property valued at half what her home is.
In a similar way, rents have sky rocketed. It would be very difficult to save £30k if you only have £300 left after bills each month.
Every one I know of my age who has bought a house around the south east has done son with an inheritance or help from parents.

[SleepyHeadThisTime]

Of course the cost of childcare is astronomical and makes it very difficult to save for a deposit. As does living in a very expensive area.

I have friends, child free couples, who are both earning, in their late 20's - early 30's who are in a position to save but choose to spend their money on other things and consider it 'lucky' that we are in a position to own our own home.

Not counting government help to buy schemes, there are still houses in my area for the same price as when we bought our first home, if you are willing to compromise as we were (places that need a bit of work doing or are not in such a desirable area)

[WishingOnABar]

The problem isnt just the cost of buying the house, the problem is the cost of living and rents being so much higher now that many cannot even accumulate enough savings to get the cheaper fix-me-up property you were able to buy. Assuming you aren’t just trying to be goady, where were you living while you gathered enough savings for your first buy?

[SleepyHeadThisTime]

biker47 that's what I'm talking about!

[Getsorted21]

We couldn't of done it without parental help so I would never judge those who don't have that option.

[Ifailed]

It is possible, you can buy a house in NI for under £30k if you wanted to. Clearly not many do.

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/45643737?search_identifier=2c8f5d4aff63b0df82e1a2e24a90b66a#XZy1BZWGjWXCijKL.97

[hibbledobble]

10 years ago and out of London: definitely possible.

Now in London: impossible for first time buyers, unless they have a lot of family help or are very wealthy.

[blackheartsgirl]

I was on the housing ladder 13 years ago with ex dp, housing much cheaper then, we had some savings and bought an ex Council house. Our mortgage was only 350 pcm. But the ex had no interest al all in doing up the house and left me and our children a year later because he was having an affair. I had to sell and ended up in a shitty Council house on benefits because I had to leave my job to care for our disabled son whilst he furthered his career

These days I work full time as does my current dp. But we are both on little more than minimum wage and we have no savings because our rent is so high. We do not go on foreign holidays, I shop in Lidl, rarely go out, I have 4 dc. I also have very bad credit due to the financial mess my ex left me in years ago

How on earth do you expect me to get on the housing ladder op?

[Getsorted21]

I also don't necessarily think the best thing to do as a ftb is to be buying a shared ownership or using help to buy. Many of these properties are overpriced & whilst 10 years ago it would have been ok (property increases) I think with Brexit & likely interest rate rises it's risky.

[hibbledobble]

I failed while I'm impressed how cheap that property is, it is in a state and doesn't even have a bathroom, so would need at least the asking price spent on it to make it habitable.

[ChristmasAddict]

I imagine London and the South East are pretty much impossible. And doing a property up isn't for everyone. With work and a toddler we just couldn't do that and after years of renting in old draughty houses and for me a childhood of living on a building site we were certain we wanted a new build. We managed to get onto the ladder through shared ownership but it's not available to everyone.

[Getsorted21]

That property is a very long way from a station or a school!

[allegretto]

It also helps that you met a like-minded dh. I was single for my twenties and most of my salary went on rent. I was also moving about a lot for work so didn't know where to buy. Of course with hindsight I should have bought anyway!

[crisscrosscranky]

We purchased the house we were renting last year - the only way we were able to do so was that the landlord was a family member who sold it to us below market value and our lender accepted the difference in equity as our deposit. We borrowed 4 times our salary and we feel incredibly lucky. Our outgoings, including rent, bills, a reasonable standard of living, meant we could save around £500 a month- to save the equivalent deposit and legal costs we'd have been saving that amount for 5 years... meanwhile the house prices keep rising putting the goal even further out of reach catch 22

It's all very well to say that people can purchase in cheaper areas but if we'd have moved to a cheaper are there's no way we could have secured a mortgage as mine and DH's jobs mean we rely on my parents to help out with the kids. Without them our earnings would be considerably lower or our childcare costs would be considerably higher.