Both my dc bought their own houses at 23 AMA

[joezoealfiecasperoli]

I hear a lot about this generation not getting on the property ladder and it is a big problem. I was amazed when both dc finished uni, got jobs and bought houses within 2 years of graduating.
To avoid drip feed
Yes they are mortgaged
They both bought with partners

Leave the OP alone- she’s already said she’s trying to give hope to others with young children who might be worrying about this.

Why don’t you try being a nicer person and give the benefit of the doubt? You are clearly not very nice, seeing the worst in others. I’m getting mean girl vibes.

Some of the posts on here!

Repeating factual inaccuracies doesn’t make them true.

A 2 bed house is not the start point for most. A one bed flat or studio will be the start point in the SE for most young buyers just as is was previously. Most of the population do not live in the SE bubble. Poster after poster has come on to describe their experiences or their DC experiences in getting on the ladder successfully, including in the SE.

I am not “deciding” what is suitable - I’m telling you reality as it is and was years ago. Couples raised their families in small flats decades ago, before MN decided that sharing bedrooms was a trauma. The choices were hard then and were pretty much the same as my 90s born DC have had to face. Standards of living then were very much lower. The past was not the rose petal strewn nirvana you are determined to make out

Its tough, it always has been. It goes up and down and there will be a tough few years followed by an easier few years. Interest rates are a fraction of where they were in the past, mortgages are easier to get. Most young people do find their way onto the ladder if that is their priority. There have always been and always will be a group for whom its not possible and who should be able to get decent social housing. Dismissing everyone whose experience doesn’t suit your narrative doesn’t change the reality we see around us.

Oh mine shared a room! A massive one. Tbh, I think that's why they're still so close. They had to negotiate whose friends or partners were coming when and then rope us in to see if they could "borrow" our room if it clashed. Plus if both partners wanted to stay over we had a bed settee in their room plus one in the dining room.

My husband shared a room with his brother and my brothers shared a room.

There were times when all four of us were in their room for hours as we got very competive on the playstation or nintendo 64 😅

Yes mine did as well, even after it wasn’t necessary. Amazingly they did not grow up traumatised.

I grew up spending my early years as one of four DC in a one bed rented flat with no bathroom - that was housing in the glorious past when everything was so easy (and many doctors didn’t “believe” in contraception).
My parents’ bedroom was in fact a sofa bed in the one reception room. It was a good many years before we had an extra bedroom and a home with our own bathroom. But yes, twas all fields and rose petals.

I used the term “starter home” as this is how they are being marketed on property websites such as RightMove!

I’m late 30s and most people around my age or younger I know have bought 2 or 3-bed houses as their first home (the majority have had some help with deposit from parents/grandparents). Only two people I know have bought flats - one person a one-bed which they are still in, as it’s fine for just them, and another a two-bed flat with their partner - and they have since moved into a 3-bed detached.

Could be a number of reasons for this - perhaps people want a garden, perhaps they want a second bedroom for WFH? The new build two-beds seem very popular so maybe it’s just that they’re well-marketed as “starter homes”.

My first home was bought aged 30 - it was a modest 3-bed semi-detached in need of some TLC. DH and I had rented a one-bed “cluster home” for a number of years, continued to save, then bought a home in the right location for our jobs that was affordable and suitable for raising a family! We’re still in that house and no plans to move - it’s perfectly fine for us and DD. Also, we wouldn’t get better than what we have in the right location, and we can’t bear the upheaval of moving house!

if you are fortunate to live in an area where you can buy a two bedroom home for under £200,000 you need a much smaller deposit, and the stamp duty as a FTB will be zero. Compare that to a young couple in the South East ( somewhere like Surrey, not London) where a two bed will be around £450,000-£500,000, so requiring a much larger deposit, a higher income multiple to obtain the mortgage and significantly higher repayments. The stamp duty would be around £16,000. It’s not an even playing field.

Saving for a deposit is harder as well, if you are not able to live at home and you rent, a one bedroom flat can be £1500 a month.

So you find somewhere you CAN afford as near to where you want and accept a longer commute. As it always has been.

But a studio or one bed isn’t big enough for many young couples, many people spend a few days a week working from home these days.

I bought my first flat with my husband in Devon when I was 20, over 40 years ago. 100% mortgage, zero stamp duty, and it cost twice our annual salary of £9k a year. In comparison to today it was much easier. Housing costs are taking up a higher proportion of people’s incomes, and many have the added burden of significant and expensive student debt which is costing hundreds of pounds a month. A £450k mortgage over 30 years on a two bedroom house in Surbiton would be £2,300 a month and the stamp duty would be £16k, that's after you have saved the £50k deposit.

The under 40’s have been shafted from all sides. My generation had it good, our parents generation even better. No student debt, access to social housing, realistic property prices, my parents in law were able to buy a new build three bedroom house in the 1960’s on one salary. My MIL didn’t work outside the home and they had three children in their early 20’s. This simply couldn’t happen today.

Thank you to everyone who has replied. Far more than I thought would. I started the thread to say regardless of what mn or the news says it is doable. But I also understand (before starting the thread) that not everyone will have the same opportunities. In the same way my dc have had a working class upbringing with no windfalls or uni fees paid for them. But of course there are people who have neither or struggle to find work and it’s tough for them.
To the few worried that my dc have created a little boring life for themselves in a crappy town . That is simply not the case they have fairly low mortgage payments so have lots of money left over for holidays/ outings/ treats etc. A house doesn’t tie you down. If they choose to move they can sell or rent . They can travel and do whatever they want.

Thanks everyone I’m going to step away.

Its so refreshing to read this. Thank you for telling it like it is.

I will never understand why there seem to be armies of over 50s who persist on clinging to the lie that "it was always hard". No it wasnt. Some of them made six figure profit on their houses - that will never happen again. Plenty of them are retired from jobs they got off the back of undergrad degrees, that today require PhDs at great expense.

Im a millennial and can think of ways in which ive had a much easier ride than Gen Z. Im not sure what the psychology js behind why a lot of boomers refuse to accept the same applies to them.

WFH is a good point actually.

“Doable” in Rotherham isn’t widely applicable to the rest of the country OP, so this thread while well meant was rather naive.

A more accurate title would be: my kids bought properties at 23 in a super cheap area

All the best OP. You should be proud of your family. x

Relatively low wages which
assuming equal split with partners gives a take home pay of approx
£22,300 each
or
£44,600 / couple
( assuming equal split they won’t be paying anything off on student loans yet )

Plus OP their rent which you mentioned also covers food and as such is very low
one couple paying the max
£2400 /yr rent, bills, food
plus £1800 /yr rent, bills, food
Total = £4,200 /yr

leaving them with in excess of
£40k a year
over two years thats £80k

So it’s not hard to see that they could save £15/£17k really especially with the add on of the Govn adding £ on a lisa

However

They all found work near you relatively quickly
The area they are buying in is relatively cheap
They are a couple in their early 20s happy to buy together ( couples rarely that young make that decision )

I’m not sure that’s there’s much advice as @SuziQuinto also notes here that would be of benefit to most on an AMA thread
except
-let your kids live at home and inc food and bills in rent.
-parents should move to accessible places so that kids can find work and live at home.
-use Government top up incentives.
-advice your young adults to get on the property ladder with partners irrespective of their young age.
-live in a cheap area.

Is there anything else ?
I’m struggling to see how this relates to most people tbh

My three kids for example are studying
Biology and zoology
Film and digital production
Neuroscience

They won’t all find a job near us to live at home
We don’t live in a cheap area

For most families kids in the same family chose a wide range of jobs
and for most families if kids follow their life choices re work they won’t be successful in finding jobs near parents
( big cities dwellers more likely to be the exception )

I think your family situation is a bit niche OP to be relevant to an AMA thread

but glad your kids are happy in their choices

Buying a house with a partner that costs well under £200k isn’t as impressive as you think.

ai suggests monthly repayment will be approximately £800. Where we live that allows you to rent a room in a shared house in a rough part of town A room for one person.

a small one bed flat in a rough area is £1,200. Imagine paying that plus bills and saving as a young person.

I hope my own daughter has rather higher aspirations for her own life. I suspect she will, given her upbringing, but if she didn't I certainly wouldn't have the hubris to start a thread on Mumsnet so that people could learn from her example.

Why can’t you just be happy for other people and keep it moving? It’s so snobby! What’s the backstory here? Your children with their superior upbringing still can’t buy a home or what?

It's interesting that the very set of circumstances so many posters are sneering at:
Live at home as long as you can
Save like mad for a deposit
Buy a small house in a cheaper area
Do it before you have kids

Are the very things that were absolutely standard in the 1980s - you know, that time when eveeyone could afford houses and life was soooo much easier than today.

All of my friends and relarives are professionals (just to get that snobby snipe out of the way) yet all of them followed the path above. None rented expensive homes while trying to save, or went travelling or on holiday. Funny that.

although none of my friends or colleagues lived with parents after Uni ( early 90s onwards )
now
to save enough it’s wiser to do so or go for a cheaper hmo

Isn’t that just common sense

Well i think so.

Also that MN is full of parents of early 20s offspring still living at home and paying no board 'because they're saving for a deposit' yet when the OP talks about her DC doing just that, MN rips her apart.

That's very true and perhaps more common in the North now than the South.
It's the pattern my DC and most of their friends have followed (mid to late 20s).
Degree then move home for a year or two and save up.
Buy a house either alone or with partners in a cheap area.
These are young teachers. doctors, engineers, IT workers from modest but not deprived backgrounds.

It’s not unusual. It’s pretty normal.