To think you shouldn't expect to buy a home on a single salary?

Op I genuinely don't understand what you mean. If I'm allowed to buy then what is the point of this?

If I shouldn't be buying where am I meant to live?

I'm not arguing for or against immigration. I'm simply saying that it's resulted in a massive shortage of housing. We now have to build millions of homes.

This was entirely predictable, so there's no use crying about the greenbelt or being a NIMBY.

Mass immigration is a key factor in the success of capitalism. You may not like it, but your pension fund depends upon it. Capitalist-based economies (ie the entire Western world) rely on a reliable supply of cheap labour, provided by mass immigration. Look at the USA at the moment. Taking in huge numbers of immigrants even while their unemployment rate rises. It’s not a conspiracy. That’s how it works.

I bought a 2 bed terrace by myself in 2020 🤷🏼‍♀️

People keep voting for parties that believe in mass immigration. The population has risen by 10 million since 1999. This is the result. 🤷‍♀️

We either accept sky high property prices and a huge lack of social housing or we build millions of new homes.

The only way to get on top of the situation is to build on greenfield sites. Inner-city tower blocks just don't work for social housing. Families want space and gardens.

Once the greenbelt land is gone it is gone. We need the land for native flora and fauna as well as for farming. Before we even discuss the wellbeing benefits of green spaces. I assume you don't live in an area that is losing all its green spaces to concrete.

What do you propose we do once all our land is covered in concrete and people are still crying for more housing?

Wow

The UK's problem is land prices due to the greenbelt and NIMBYs. Constant expensive legal challenges by environmentalists are also a problem. When you factor in huge population growth due to (predominantly low skilled and low wage) immigration, it is a recipe for disaster.

I think we're now far beyond the government setting house building targets. We need a concerted national effort with new laws to override all the problematic people.

* Suitable greenbelt land rezoned for housing.
* Compulsory purchase of that land, with the landowners only paid 'farmland' rates of compensation for any land used for social housing.
* Mass building of high quality pre-fab housing in huge factories.

Exactly @GBJustina , not really sure why the OP thinks otherwise

Where we are most first time buyers of a bigger house are a couple anyway? DH and I bought our terraced two bed house before we were married and were there for 9 years - had 2 children while we were there! Most people I know that bought a house by themselves have bought a flat or very small home. It’s not like single people are taking up all of the housing that would be suited to a family

If every individual person on an average salary wants their own 3 bed house with garden, the housing crisis will never end, we'll have to concrete over every inch of the country and vastly increase our carbon footprint. If that's what we're waiting for the economy to deliver, lots of people will always be dissatisfied.

A 3 bed house with garden is an unusual first time property, especially for a single person. When I bought my first home on my own (in the 1980s so a 'previous generation'), I bought a 2 up 2 down terraced with a tiny back yard. Most of my single friends bought similar, or flats. Same for my DC and their friends now so not sure why you think every first time buyer wants a 3 bed house? That's often the second property and often when they then have a partner anyway and need more space.

Bought years ago, inheritance or high salaries. I know 3 people who have gifted houses (which gives you a leg up if you want to upgrade to a mega house with 400k-650k equity plus your earnings).
.

I bought a 2 bed flat in london zone 3 in 2019 on a joint income of 75k..

I'm not in the UK, but we have the same housing issues here. I was able to buy a flat on a single income in the 1980s, why shouldn't I be able to do the same now? Why should single people have to rent for life? YABVU.

You are wrong, this is what’s wrong with the housing market. How do you think people did it years ago when only one person worked? My FIL was able to buy a house in Brighton on only a post man’s wage, it’s worth 600k now, no was would anyone be able to do that now.

Being single shouldn’t exclude you from the property market.

The person in the article could borrow enough to buy a 215k property.

With a 5% deposit lending is capped at 4.49x

They would need to save about 13k to cover deposit and fees

Or Skipton have 100% mortgages with track record of renting

Not the best example when this person could afford to buy if they can get a bit of savings together

Signed- a mortgage broker

This is such a strange post. Obviously all that matters is the income a person or couple have available to buy a house. No lender cares if a borrower is one person or two, they are going to look at the income and other assets held.

I actually don’t know how the OP and her husband managed to buy on their joint salaries. They can’t have bought in London?

No problem for us. We are a one-income household and we bought our house. Had no problems getting a mortgage. This was in 2019.

Yeah, I agree. It’s unreasonable to expect individual private landlords, particularly those who only have the single property, to be running a social enterprise / charity.

The only pressure I feel is justified to put on all landlords is that the property they rent out is safe, and follows all regulation and best practice.

The “rouge landlord” villain is the one shoving people into garden shacks, damp / mouldy dwellings / etc - NOT the person who chooses secure rental income over the less secure income. It’s absolutely absurd that Mumsnetters society pour scorn on landlords for choosing more secure income, when the same hate won’t be targeted at someone who chooses a secure profession (like teaching) over less secure (like professional tiddlywinking). In a democratic non-communist society, law abiding people are free to make their living how they choose - stop grumbling and insisting on a slice of my pie!

LOL, when we drive around, I see mega houses galore, many more than the abodes of the poorly paid folk. How people pay for these houses then????

The problem you would face is the lack of social housing.

It is unrealistic to expect private landlords to 'take a chance' on a low income family, when they have young professionals on decent money queuing up to rent.

My wife owns a flat which we rent out. The last time we advertised the property, we had 30+ requests to view the property within 8 hours of posting the advert. We ended up pulling the advert and immediately discarded all applications from people with an income of less than £60k.

I appreciate that those on low incomes might find that unfair, but we obviously want to rent to people who aren't going to struggle to pay the rent.

It's not so much about price increases as building equity. Buy a cheap flat and overpay the mortgage and in 5-10 years you've got yourself a good footing to move up the ladder. The challenge is having the self discipline to prioritise saving for a deposit (and then overpaying the mortgage).

Even a single person on min wage should be able to get a mortgage for about 100k. Paying that off over 25 years would be about £550 a month and a total cost of £170k. But if they can over pay at £1000 a month they'll clear it in 10 years and a total cost of £124k. (All based on interest rate of 4.5%, which is about what's currently available, if a bit high for long term average)

I think the problem is that more that people want it all, and want it now, and don't want to sacrifice other luxuries to pay for it. Debt culture isn't helping either - students graduating with massive debts, often with worthless degrees that don't improve their career prospects particularly. And so many goods and services on finance and monthly (re)payment plans that debt and living hand to mouth each month is normalised.

It was the norm where I grew up that one parent would stay at home and the other work and to own your own home. I’m from a working class background so the jobs weren’t professional wages but were decent enough to own their own home.

My partner had brought his house as a single person 8 years ago which came in useful when my fixed term contract after having my lo came to an end. Which was useful in having time to find a role. If a single person was to try and buy the same house with the same deposit % and wage (based on what the correct salary for that job is) they wouldn’t be able to afford it based on the increase in ‘value’.

Personally, I'd class 1 or 2 beds as a starter, although obviously big enough for many families. Three beds + are family homes, whether modest or not; they are big enough for the average family to have a bedroom for the parent(s), and for more than one child. Again, I think you're missing the point of the OP - single people buying 3 bed houses and living alone is not a great use of space - you personally admit that you've rarely lived in it alone, so it's not really aimed at you.

As with so many property posts, I do think this is a little Southern-centric, as wages are reasonable and prices more affordable in areas outside of that bubble.

@usernamealreadytaken

what counts as a 'family home'

I have owned 2 homes, the first I was in for 5 years, the second I've been in for 30 years. The first was in a not very desirable area, the second by far the cheapest in a much nicer part of the city and very much a fixer upper.
Both Victorian terraces, the first 2 beds, the current 3. Both very modest houses but as more than one bedroom are both of those considered family houses?
Should you have to.wait till you have a family before you can have aspirations to live in more than a shoebox.
I've never lived in my current home alone, apart from a short period of about 6 months. I had a series of lodgers and then adopted my son. I couldn't have adopted without the extra bedroom.
I also see lots of people commenting that old people should downsize and free up family housing.
In making my own retirement plans I looked into the market for smaller properties/ flats.
Despite having 3 bedrooms my house isn't particularly big. Whilst it has increased in value over the last 30 years, it's still amongst the cheapest in my area - that included the fancy retirement village that was built very locally and the numerous designated 'over 55' places.
There is nothing for me to downsize to. So I will stay in my 3 bed 'family' house till I due or need a care home