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

The service charges means I don't need to worry about the roof as there is a sink fund and can enjoy large garden with beautiful flowers even though I don't like gardening. Don't drive but driveway was repaved so no potholes that will damage a car if I had one. Also dh can cycle to work so that easily pays for our service charge.

I guess our mortgage means that we don't need to move when we need to and our mortgage even at 1252 is quite a good price for a 2 bed flat in a nice part of zone 3 london and my mortgage inflation was lower than average rent inflation

Also when I become a pensioner I can sell up and move to a house in a cheaper area.

I saw that article and the problem wasn't her salary, it was no deposit. I think part of the problem is that people don't stay living at home or get a room in a shared house to save up. Obviously this lady is just one example and we don't know her circumstances, but I had to save for my deposit and my dc have too

I expected to buy a home based on my salary - not whether I have a partner or not.

So I took a degree that provided a decent income, not one I loved.

As a new graduate, I saved like mad (no nights out, no holidays, no takeaways, no car, for years).

I lived in the cheapest bedsit I could find, with a shared bathroom.

I worked for a bank that offered me a discounted mortgage, despite hating every second, and putting my real career on hold for two years.

I bought a cheap (filthy) flat that needed a new kitchen, a new bathroom, heating, plumbing etc and did it up very gradually, because it was all I could afford.

When I moved in, I had an old couch that someone gave me, my clothes, a duvet and crockery/cutlery. No fridge, no washing machine. No bed. No TV.

After a few years I had a little equity and some furniture, and I traded up as people do.

I didn't have a child until my forties.

The lady in that article earns £50k. I suggest she cuts back on rent and bills if she's spending 2/3 of income. Perhaps she could lower her standards if she wants to save a deposit. There is always a way, even if single.

Neither of you has a great salary tbh, I don’t care whose is higher.
And at the moment those single people will be renting. They’re not going to magically couple up just because it’s unaffordable to buy. it won’t harm the environment if they buy their own place.
Also you might find yourself single in a decade and regret your words then.

Grandparents in london yes not parents. They bought a semi on a sweatshop worker's wage.

The 1 bed flat that DH's parents bought was smaller than our 2 bed flat (both in london). DH's dad also lived with his parents like we did in his 20s and for twice as long as we did.

We know a couple who bought the same kind of flat as we did in the 80s and they were an accountant /solicitor.

What has become harder is upsizing to 3 bed terraced house in the same area of london, we will never afford that so are looking at 3 bed flats.

I bought my first flat in 1996 on my own - it was £63k in the South East.

Some of my colleagues around the time bought 2 bed houses - 2 bed Victorian terrace types quite common in the area - a year or two before, a year or two after - for between £55k and £80k depending.

All of us in financial services, all on salaries of £30k ish.

It was very common to buy on your own then.

I bought a small three bed on a single salary when I left my husband with two kids in tow. Would you advocate staying in an unhappy marriage rather than buying alone?

Absolutely a single salaried person should be able to afford appropriate housing and to buy rather than pay extortionate rents. Suggesting that being in a couple is the only way someone should afford to buy a home is detrimental to women who typically earn less well.

I doubt your average singleton is in the market for a four bed detached but absolutely they ought to be able to get a flat or a two up two down on a single wage.

This is what annoys me when people, (Especially those on here) judge me for living at home. All the people I know around my age have only been able to do it with a partner. Without them they wouldn't be able to afford to buy alone.
I feel like I won't even be able to afford a 1 bed flat in my area anytime soon. I have a deposit of 60K but don't earn enough income to pay the many bills which all comes with home ownership. I have chronic illnesses too.

I do know a couple who have done it on a joint salary of around 32K though which I don't really understand although I do know they had a 30K deposit and the property was something like 180K but in this area (Near London) that is considered very cheap for a 1 bed flat.

In 2024, it's really depressing that things are this way. Owning your own place shouldn't be a privilege or something only the lucky few get.

If it was easier to buy a house on one income then not only would single people be able to buy, but it would also make childcare and maternity decisions easier for parents.

I've noticed this attitude on threads as well, especially the divorce and separation ones. Along the lines of 'well, you can't be divorced and expect to have a good quality of life - adjust your expectations'.

What rubbish.

I earn £60K and have a house in the South East (Sevenoaks). Bought it before I met my DP (2021). IF I had chosen to buy in Wadhurst or Wells or Tonbridge, I could have gotten a detached property.

A PP did it on 26K in Essex.

It is entirely possible.

I only have one friend who DIDN'T buy on her own, but she does have a 5 bedroom house (Muswell Hill) I bought my flat just before Covid, when I was 22. Several friends have bought in the last 4 or 5 years, all on their own, all in their mid to late 20s. All of us are in London.

I also enjoy how smug you come across. YOU were the one saying it shouldn't be expected that a single person can buy their own property. I disagree. HTH.

I grew up in the time when one working partner was the norm. We had a nice house, car and had holidays, mostly caravanning or renting cabins in the uk. My father's income was enough. We weren't rich but we could live. Now tow working parents are hard pushed to make ends meet. We've allowed ourselves to think working all hours and having zero family time is okay. It's not. We used to have weekends and evenings together, eat together and go on outings. Some families barely see each other while schools provide wrap around care to make this possible. It's not something we should think is normal. Let's get wages higher so people can actually have some quality of life back.

On my current income (single) I could get a whooping £65k mortgage!

'Bad mannered " to see a photo which is all too obviously of a man and to feel insulted by the BBCs pathetic gaslighting? Better bad mannered than a doormat. "Emma" my arse!

That would be the stuff of nightmares. Why are you just talking about single people buying houses, rather than flats?

But buying power was generally restricted to a single wage - married women weren't meant to work officially or have our wages counted - also there was a lot of social housing resulting in less competition for houses.
And the biggest... Postwar economy, reduced population, lots of space.

While house prices have spiralled out of control (true) and especially in London a lot are being used as financial instruments instead of living spaces.

It's impossible to keep building and building for an ever growing population.

If you say houses must be available for everyone you have to specify the conditions including population size, average wage, etc wtc

Of course you should be able to buy one on a single salary.

And one that meets your needs eg enough bedrooms for kids etc.

One of the downsides of second wave feminism (I am a feminist) and women going out to work en masse was the fact that household income increased and some costs (eg house prices) later increased to match the fact that household income was larger.

Housing needs a shake up in the UK (and I say that as a home owner)

I bought my first home on my home with no partner and no other additional help 6 years ago about 2 years after leaving uni.

Oh yeah and that was on a 26k salary in Essex

Family houses were more common in the 1960s. Many large houses have been converted into flats. A one bed flat is ideal for a single person. Thankfully, some of us have moved on from needing a man to support us.

Seriously! Eff off with your smug attitude. Bar two of us, all my uni friends and me bought houses by ourselves. If you can’t be financially independent then you’re fucked if your marriage or relationship breaks down. I bought my first house when my salary was 34k and with a 10% deposit that I’d saved up over several years. The property cost 180k and there’s plenty of places in the country where you can still get houses and flats for that price. Just because you and your DH couldn’t manage it doesn’t mean you need to tar everyone with the same brush.