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

"And surely that's never been the expectation previously?"

Yes, it was. Not so long ago, only the husband's income was taken into account for the mortgage so while people bought as married couples the mortgage was based on 1 income.

Couldn’t disagree more, OP. You should be able to buy a home on one salary. Maybe not a big one, or an impressive one, or one in an expensive area. But a decent one. And then if you’re in the position of being able to contribute from two salaries, you can either have a bigger, better house, or you can have more disposable income to spend on other things, or you can be very comfortable and have some wiggle room if anything needs to change.

Of course houses should be affordable on a single salary. Not everyone should have to work themselves into the ground just to afford to live.

There must be more to the person's circumstances in the article than it says. I bought in an expensive part of West Mids a few years ago as a single person on the same salary. There are plenty of cheaper places I could have bought if I was priced out of the area I am in now.

However, I had no kids nor debts so had rented small places prior to buying in order to save maximum deposit (and had been saving for over 10 years: could have bought sooner but moved around a lot). And interest rates are obviously higher now. But I'm still surprised there's nothing to buy

Of course houses should be affordable on a single salary. Not everyone wants to be in a relationship! But they still need housing.

Why is the BBC gaslighting us?
And I bought as a single parent 30 years ago, I had to buy a cheap house true, but I still did it alone. And if it was now, I could not afford that house.which is sad. But there are plenty of cheap houses, may not be in areas you want to live, might need doing up, but they are around. Single people can buy them.

Sorry OP, but you are utterly bonkers here.

I was 35 when I finally got on the property ladder, and still single. Should I have lived at home with my parents? Rented for the rest of my life if I didn't meet someone?

Do you know how many people are single parents?

Bereaved?

Divorced?

Choose to be single adopters, foster parents or go down the donor route?

No. I completely disagree with you. Homes should be affordable on one salary.

I imagine this is very easy to think when you've got an income of £75k, help from family and don't have to worry about it

Where I live, the average price for one bedroom in a shared house is £800. 1 bed flat is around £1k and £1.2k upwards for small houses. So if they shouldn't expect to buy, they should just be expected to spend a ridiculous amount on sharing with someone else until they have a partner and are deemed worthy of being able to buy somewhere? Or rent somewhere on their own and never be able to afford to save for a deposit

I bought my house by myself. I suppose I could have bought a bigger one with someone else.

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

OP makes the dinner party guests in the first Bridget Jones movie seem like a bunch of lightweights. 😁

Life is unfair.

What a silly article! Surely it depends on any particular person's salary - and the house prices in the area. There can't be any blanket rule or blanket statement about this. There's a professional lady I know, who bought a house on her own in the Midlands. (3 years ago.) She paid £150K for it. (2 bed semi.)

But I also know 2 income families who have one or two children. who struggled like crazy to pay for a house with a £110K mortgage - and ended up giving it up and going into renting.

There is no one-size-fits all. I know some couples who can't afford to buy, and some singles who can.

The BBC always seems to pick odd 'real world' scenarios - money saving expert says a single person on £50000 could borrow between £162500 & £225000. Giving a conservative budget of £130000 to £170000 Rightmove has over 200 1 bed listings (not studios) in Birmingham. Clearly some will be in the wrong area or might be retirement flats, but if you can't buy ANY flat on £50K that implies you have other financial issues or unrealistic expectations.

The person in the article lives in Birmingham and earns £50k per annum
It is still entirely possible to borrow to 95% LTV so only 5% deposit is needed
There are literally hundreds of flats available for sale in Birmingham that are extremely affordable to buy on a £50k salary, houses even
Yes I know they are renting but again there are plenty of cheap places available to rent which would allow them to save for said deposit
What the article should really say is that they can't afford to buy the property they want to buy in the area they want to buy in. Much the same as the vast majority of people.

Oh, right. So single people shouldn't expect to be financially independent, property owners?

@Fivebedexecutivehome There aren’t 68 million single people in the country. What a terrible argument you make. Almost as stupid as the BBC expecting us to believe that the person in their article is a woman.

It used to be the norm for some families to have a mortgage based on the man's income alone. It's not fair that single people and single parents cannot afford do this in the current climate.

However, in relation to the specific article, this person seems particularly self absorbed. Suggesting they feel 'completely trapped' (interesting choice of words) because they earn £50,000 and have to rent is quite bizarre. And I am almost certain that they could rent somewhere in Birmingham that did not cost two thirds of their salary.

Saying they want to cry, scream, shout. Hmmmm

This whole premise doesn’t make any sense as single people still have to live somewhere whether they buy or rent. Not buying doesn’t mean fewer houses. they will still be paying rent (probably at a higher rate than a mortgage they can’t get). And someone would own the house they are in…so…

I don't think the expectation is that every person in the UK will each own their own place. For a start that 68 million includes under 18s! But a home per household unit, whether that be a couple, a two adult family, a single adult family or a single person isn't unreasonable. By the time you are in your late 30s or 40s as a single person you're likely to be as fed up at privately renting as a couple, perhaps more so if you have to flatshare. It's much harder as a single adult as you have the one income, one person to save etc, but it is doable if you're on larger income or live in a cheaper bit of the country or use one of the different schemes out there (shared equity, shared ownership, rent to buy etc). It's not really fair to expect someone to stay in insecure privately rented accommodation forever just because they don't have a partner.

I bought a house on my own. I just went in at the smaller end and didn't expect a 4 bed detached in a premium location straight off the bat.

this is the case in singapore. Couples can buy government subsidized flats (85% of housing stock) from age 21 but singles can only buy them from age 35 (i suppose though that this is quite close to the age of average first time buyer in cities like London). on a dual income, the flats are very affordable, close to 70 per cent of the Build-To-Order flats launched in 2022 across all estates can be affordably purchased with (the median Singaporean household income of) S$8,400 at a mortgage servicing ratio (MSR) of 25 per cent or less.

Hence the stat that 97% of singaporean singles (below age of 35) live with their parents. Which also gives rise to the stat that 89% of singaporeans live in owner occupied homes. Technically someone living with their parents is also living in an owner occupied home as their parents are the owners.

Its very different culturally and i think in the uk, we have moved on since the 1960s and we have gotten used to the 1950s-1990s housing conditions and have grown to expect them.

Small sample sizes are always problematic. Slightly more men than women live alone in every age group up to 65.

OP, your thinking is all wrong.

Its the housing market that needs fixing...not peoples meagre expectations of being able to put a roof over their heads.

I bought my first home as a single person and have upgraded twice since then on my salary alone, it is definitely achievable

Of course it's been the expectation, and the reality, previously.

However, the proportion of adults who remain single throughout their lives, the proportion of adults who are single at any given time, and the proportion of families where one parent is raising the children without any financial or practical help from the other are all higher now than in previous decades. On the other hand, the number of families/households with two adults but only one salary is likely considerably lower.

It's in no one's interest (and historically and currently disproportionally harmful to women) to have a society where people are forced to enter into or stay in a romantic/sexual relationship just to have housing security. And, unfortunately, renting for life simply isn't feasible anymore as salaries, let alone pensions and savings, can't keep up with the rising cost of living. Neoliberal - or free market, if you like - economics is failing if it can't keep up with changes in demand, and successive governments haven't been successful in mitigating the harm.