How can anyone afford to get a mortgage when banks supposedly only loan out x3.5 of your yearly salary?

[TwixBix1]

Most people when talking about buying a house always complain about how difficult and long it was to save up enough for the deposit (which is 5% minimum but can be more)..

Yet to me, it seems the deposit isn't too bad and it's finding a mortgage that'll cover the rest which is impossibe.

Say I wanted to buy a £250k flat/house and I pay 20k deposit towards it. That means the mortgage should cover 230k.. if banks only give mortgages up to x3.5 of your salary, surely I''d need to be earning at least £65,000 to get a mortgage for a measly 250k flat or house?

If that's the case, I feel like very few people would be homeowners..

Aside from having a joint mortgage, what's a way to get around this?

Save up for longer? It's tough.

Can you get a guarantor for your mortgage? You could borrow more but check your affordability

Agree. I have a great deposit, but a mortgage only works as long as I want to buy a property 200 miles from friends, family and work...

Much bigger deposit or much cheaper property. Our 2 bed terrace cost £118k in 2009, current value £180k, Hampshire.

DS is looking to buy on a £20k salary. He has found properties as low as £80k. He is planning a £30-£40k deposit.

I know it's impossible to find property that cheap in some cities but not impossible everywhere.

That’s the problem.

Buy a cheaper house or flat if you don’t have a working partner. Once you are on the first rung of the ladder you can move up.

Buy with someone else. I don't think many single people have ever been able to buy their own home.

I couldn't have bought much as a single person. My broker said 4.5 times income though.

I would say most people either have parental help towards their deposit or they're moving with a lot of equity. We built up over 200k equity before we moved to our second house. Also lots of people here in the SE are earning 50k+ and in double income households.

Well you could but a small house got about £70-80,000near me

I think you need two people, both with decent jobs. Or you get a cheaper house initially, overpay on the mortgage, build up your equity and then if you manage to pay off most of it you will only need a small mortgage on your bigger house because you have so much capital.

A lot depends on where you live. £250k is not 'measly' around here!
Lots of people buy as a couple, so £65k salary between you is more achievable.

You have to find a property that’s within your allows mortgage. I bought a house in 2016 for £79k using a £6k deposit . It’s a 2 bed semi with a large garden and a drive for two cars. I don’t intend on living here forever but it for me on the property ladder and is a nice house it’s just not quite big enough. House is worth at least £110k now too so will make on it too

I often wonder how people my age have got houses bigger than ours in the same area. Our 3 bed terrace is 200k, the 4 bed detached opposite is owned by a couple a similar age. We got our property because a deceased relative left 25% of our house value to DH. I cannot imagine that in their late 20’s they are earning enough to have a mortgage for £380k! My guess is their story is similar to ours in that some help from family was available.

I've been looking at mortgage calcs alot lately and most lenders seem willing to lend me at least 4.5x my salary

250k would get you a fantastic detached house round these parts.

Doesn't it go on affordability now? we need to remortgage soon but I was worrying about it as our outgoings are quite high.

We’ve had this problem. In the end property prices grew so much in our area that mortgage repayments would be more than rent so we decided to wait for the next property slump.

Yes - historically an absolutely miniscule proportion of the global population have owned their own home as a single adult. Living alone as a single adult is only a recent "boom" population.

We bought a small starter home to get onto the ladder. We didn’t have a deposit but we bought a new build and the house build company was offering to pay the deposit as part of a deal. We found out about this through an independent mortgage broker. We fixed on a very low rate mortgage and paid off additional lump sums whenever we had some spare savings (savings rates weren’t very attractive at the time) to pay the mortgage down. By the time we were ready to buy a bigger house our first home which we had lived in for 12 years had increased in value to give us even more equity. I also know a family who are taking on a lodger to help with the mortgage payments but I wouldn’t feel comfortable with that at all

There’s also help to buy on new builds.

You do have to buy as a couple, unfortunately if you will never be able to do that it is difficult.

1. Most people in the country buy properties that cost a lot less than £250K for a flat
2. There are people that earn huge salaries
3. Many people are given, or inherit money so aren't borrowing it all
4. People buy with other people

We bought our first house for £29995 in 1992, and sold it for £5 more seven years later. Half a mile away, the same house was making £45k. But after the second murder within 100 yards in the same year...

We bought our previous one for £48k on a good estate in a nice village, but it was in shit order. We still hadn't finished it in 20 years, owing to various circs. It went for £156k, and if we'd been FTBs, we could have only just managed.

"I bought a house in 2016 for £79k using a £6k deposit "

That's just not realistic in most areas. Flats where we live are £130,000+ for a poky 1 bed flat, on the edge of a city, terrible transport links into said city and in a pretty shitty area. 79K here wouldn't even get you a houseboat. (Not London BTW)

Part rent / part buy schemes or help to buy are perfect for single people or couples on lower incomes .