To wonder how anyone affords to move house?

Our area is quite nice (quiet, northern, working class area, definitely not posh but not rough either) and our mortgage is around £600pm. We had quite a hefty deposit and we are anticipating a rise when we come to the end of the 5 y term, but not to £1kpm.

I am at least 10 years older than you and in our mid 20s absolutely none of my friends had got married, bought a house or had a baby.

We’re in our second property now expecting a first baby and moved, as most people do, through building up equity in our first house through a renovation and then salaries increasing over the period of 5 years. It’s not rocket science.

It can be in cheap areas. There are still end of twrrace or semis available for 100-150k in quite a few places in UK and not total shitholes. With 10% down that's well under 1k

For the vast majority it’s made possible by help from families, simple. That’s how you did it, that’s how DH & I did it. Your post is going to sound very pointless and goady to people who don’t have the same luxury, unfortunately.
If you want to move from a ‘lovely’ house a good area to something bigger in a better area, after you’ve just spent a load of money on renovations and haven’t build up much equity then of course your current ‘normal’ salaries aren’t going to cut it.

Wages go up

You make money on your home

3rd room fine for a baby. If like my friends a cot will fit then turn into Cot bed till they are 4/5

Then build over boiler and have like a cabin bed

So even if have 2 kids it's doable

Or you look to extend /loft /downstairs bedroom

Moving is costly yes

But you have house and no more paying rent which is forever

Many people do have 4 figures so over £1000 a month mortgage

No choice sometimes

I bought a flat at 21, DH and I bought at 30. It was his first purchase and we have remained in our three bed house for 25 years. Compared to our salaries it may seem odd we didn’t climb the ladder. But here we are having retired both by age 56. Hopefully off travelling next year. We are of an age where you could climb the property ladder, our friends did. Now most have zero kids at home in their big 4 and 5 bed houses with all the extra council tax and bills that brings. Climbing the ladder isn’t for everyone.

I don't think you are in "cgeap town" as you call it. Maybe cheaper for the area, but not "cheap" in uk sense going by the fact your mortgage is over 1k for 3 bed run down former council semi.

People afford it various ways. They pay off some equity so they have bigger one to be able to put down bigger downpayment. Or they stay and use the small bedroom as a bedroom (it can be done really well with some inspiration on small space) and move boiler downstairs. Or they move to cheaper area. Or they up their up their salaries

Equity builds up in your house, your salary tends to increase, and some point you reach a point where moving to a bigger house is achievable.

It’s early days if you only moved in last year. Enjoy what you have for now - some people can only dream of owning their own home. Then in a few years time, look at the figures and you might find you can afford to move to a bigger home.

I never thought I’d be able to upgrade from a 3 to 4 bedroom house. However this year everything fell into place for me and I moved a few months ago.

Agree with this you sound so naive. You’re also choosing to have a child a lot younger than average and they cost money.

I also don’t understand how you expected your mortgage payment to be under £1000.

We’re mid 40s with my DH on 70k+ and we still can’t afford to move up from our 3 bed terraced house, with the 3rd bedrooms in this area being so small that a normal single bed doesn’t fit in. We have two DC and we’ve had to make the 3rd room work as a bedroom for one of them as moving up to a 4 bed in this area is out of our reach. We’re not in a city that’s seen as expensive but 4 beds here are 500k+.

You sound like you’ve been very lucky to have help making your house into a lovely home.

A house the size we have has been difficult with young DC - there is only one living space downstairs so the living room is also a playroom and there’s no adult space to relax in - but it will get easier as the DC get older. The 3rd bedroom size is becoming an issue as our DC get taller, but again, we’ll just have to find a way to make it work (a loft conversion isn’t an option in our house though).

We’ve had these issues for years; it hasn’t been simple for a long time.

You're only in your twenties, of course you're in a starter home. It takes years of savings, building up equity and improving salaries for many people to be able to afford something better, it's not just about the salary coming in.

Although the salary to house price issue is certainly real, I don't know anyone in their twenties twenty years ago who started with the big house either, it was all little flats for first purchases.

Depends on the salary ceiling in your chosen careers and potential earnings. If there is limited room for progression with increased experience / expertise / responsibility to a level which will enable you to afford the house you want you have a few choices:

1. Move to a cheaper area with cheaper houses and commute further
2. Change career to one with better prospects or more aligned to your financial ambition
3. Take additional training or responsibility at work.

You will also find that as you grow older your spending habits change which may impact affordability. Inflation is also a gift, it tends to drive up houses prices in nominal terms and reduces repayments in real terms.

A lot of people do jobs they don't love but which are more financially rewarding than the one they would enjoy most because it buys a better house/car/holiday/lifestyle.

If you don't need to change career and will earn what you need then crack on.

The idea of the "housing ladder" is dead. I can't see us ever moving. We have a comfortable 3 bed terrace in a quiet area.

What used to happen (and it sounds like what has happened to you) us that young couples would purchase their first house and then need more space as their family expanded.

Now, a lot of people are buying their first house when their children are already school aged and they won't be having more. My SD is 14, my DD is 4, so over the next 20 years our need for space will decrease, so we don't need to keep looking for a bigger house. The closest we'll get to "climbing the property ladder" in inheriting my parents' house one day.

The fact you've been able to buy a house in your 20s makes you extremely lucky. It's not the fault of immigrants that housing has become so unaffordable.

People who earn more
People who have savings
People who have lived in their house a lot longer than a few months

And you don't need a bedroom just for your clothes!

I'm going to echo other posters here and very kindly say that you should work on practicing some gratitude and focus on enjoying the lucky situation you're currently in. Constantly looking towards the future and wishing for bigger and better is not a healthy or happy way to live.

We are about to take on a huge mortgage in order to move to an area with better schools and with a 4 bedroom house (currently in a 3 bed in an area with less good schools). Our mortgage repayments will be huge and yet I am aware of how fortunate we are to be in a position to afford it.

i have no intention of moving again, not for 20+ years, given the cost of stamp duty and legal fees!

The "ladder" isn't really a thing any more - it was for the boomers, maybe, when house prices were going up and up, but not for people born from the 80s onwards.

You bought a house in your 20s and are expecting a child.

Most people I know just about managed to buy a flat in 30s and had kids a few years after.

Don't do up a house if you can't afford it, don't move if you can't afford it.

I don't see what you thing is so 'wrong' about it. Yes, I absoloutly understand the cost of living crisis, the lack of affordable rented housing, the increase in house prices over decades which means that you need two incomes to get on the property ladder. But I don't see what is 'wrong' with two people on average salaries being able to afford a 3 bed house in the area where they live/work - a house that with family support you can improve, adding to the overall equity.

People often know people who have similar lifestyles, so anything out of their group seems very different. It’s why there can be massive disconnects and understanding between the poor and the wealthy. So whilst famous stuff like an MP not knowing how much a pint of milk costs it goes both ways as demonstrated by yourself.

When we moved last DH work gave him a relocation allowance. It paid for all the solicitors fees and also our removal costs. As it could only be spent on relocation so we had the personal packing service because why wouldn't you.

You have done well and yes many people are in a much worse position than you but some are in a much better position.

You haven’t said what kind of job you have. Some have a clear trajectory, DH and I did as there is a pay scale in higher education.

If you want to look at where you fit in financially it’s a bit if a blunt tool but a good indicator. DH has just retired as am I at one point just before I retired we made it in to top 5%.

https://ifs.org.uk/tools_and_resources/where_do_you_fit_in

I'm 68. The people I know, of my own age, who have managed to buy big houses or expensive houses have ALL had help from family members. Either an inheritance or a gift from parents or grandparents.
We had no help, what I have know is the result of a lifetimes work.
I'm sorry OP but that really is, how it is.
FWIW I worked as a housing officer / homeless officer all my adult life. The housing situation in the UK is in crisis. I feel lucky that I have ended up owning a home, many are at the mercy of the private sector, or reliant on social housing which is often not a quick way to a decent home.

She's right. You are being naïve. The alternative would be that you're somewhat greedy and entitled, which I'm sure isn't the case. Congratulations on your new home and your pregnancy! You're doing pretty well, aren't you?

The way people move up the housing ladder, if their income doesn't massively increase and they don't get family money, is to buy the best place they can afford - ideally one they can improve over time, to maximise eventual profit - and keep on paying their mortgage. After some years and several shifts in the housing market, they've built up some equity in their first home and start looking at whether it would be viable to move to a more expensive house.

It's pretty weird to be moaning that you aren't in a position to move on while you've only just got your first house. Wishing you an easy birth and happiness with your child!

Did it really "need" improving, or did you just want to improve it?

I'm in my mid 30s and we can't even buy a house at the moment, so I get what you're saying, and the last time we moved (for a better job), removal costs were £1,500, which we simply wouldn't have had if a kind relative hadn't given us the money. But on the other hand, some people seem to think houses need the latest trendy kitchen and bathrooms, when actually the 1980s units function perfectly fine, so if they were the kinds of renovations you were doing, then someone who didn't have the money you clearly have would simply have bought the house, maybe given it a lick of paint and some new carpets, and moved straight in.

In order to move up the chain you hold your horses @towonderwander. Honestly you are in a great position to be on the ladder in your 20s. We didn’t buy until we were 30 and it was a standard 3bed with a box room and by mid 40s we had paid off some of original mortgage and had more capital from house prices increasing plus bigger salaries to borrow against so we are now in a largish family home but still with a massive mortgage debt.

You can’t expect to move up the ladder instantly, just enjoy where you are for now. If it was easy everyone would be living in massive houses!

Yes buying housing is expensive and often takes your adult working life to pay off (but it’s never actually been easy, house price costs always outstrip incomes, my parents cut back on other things - e.g we never went abroad, or like Rishi, never had Sky TV - to afford a bigger family home for us )