How do people without family help buy houses ??

[01Username01]

As the title says, how do people who don’t have family help buy houses ?? I’ve been saving for the last 10 years to buy a house and every time I get close, prices seem to jump again and it’s still out of reach.

Me and my partner earn decent salaries and have what I thought was a decent deposit but it just never seems enough. Prices in my area seem to have got totally out of control and 2 bed bungalows are now going up for £650k.

Everyone we know has been given significant deposits (£200k+), whereas we have no family help and it’s starting to feel like it will never happen . Has anyone been able to buy in this situation ?

I replied in this thread earlier with my own experience and I certainly did not intend to give off a 'bootstraps' vibe - I absolutely agree that it's far, far too difficult to buy your first home in this country. But that's not what OP asked, they wanted to know how people managed without parental help. So I told them exactly how I managed that. I apologise if it's made anyone feel any type of way, but I don't know how else to answer the OP's question?

The only other solution I can think of is to vote in a government that cares about anyone except themselves and their Eton chums, but I thought that probably wasn't quite what the OP was asking.

I bought a tiny house in Scotland for 60k 10 years ago, sold when I moved job. Lived with a boyfriend for a bit then bought the dream house going 50/50 with boyfriend. Then my job took me 2 hrs away so a mortgage broker helped me buy a second property by putting a second charge on the first one. Back to living term time in a tiny but cozy house, and back to the dream house for the summer (where I spend all my time fixing it up and doing jobs). I wanted my kids to grow up in the dream house in the dream community but life is complicated!

Sake.

Phone is on the wonk today

I’m actually agreeing with you neon

Yes I pulled myself up by the bootstraps - but I can’t (nor wouldn’t) tell anyone to do the same because their circumstances will be entirely different.

And I’m damned sure I’m not mocking. Why on earth would I anyone do that?

After coming out of the forces, I came out to fuck all. It was knuckle down or nothing.

The bastard irony is that I had to move back into the boxroom anyway to look after my parents. You know, because the care system can be as difficult as the housing system.

The housing crisis isn’t fair but neither is accusing others of an attitude because we have struggled and been able to haul ourselves onto the housing ladder through need.

We are not all blessed. And I get that some will always be more blessed than others. But mocking and all right Jack?

Never.

There was an article in the paper (guardian?) About how FTBs are now no longer able to get on the ladder without a sizeable deposit in the SE. It leaves shared ownership or help to buy as the only options. Really hard on a low income.

DH and I own our house in the SE. 2 bed Victorian terraced, just outside city centre.
Cost 118k in 2009, now valued at 180k.

We bought this because we could afford it.

You are talking out of your arse OP. Lower your expectations and widen your net. Yes, commuting costs may be high - but you cut your cloth accordingly.

I don’t know why the OP used 2 bed bungalows as an example. Anywhere I know they are rather more expensive than a small house, usually because they have bigger gardens with plenty of space for extensions.

Not to mention that there are not many of them, so they’re often in demand by older downsizers. They are certainly not a typical starter home.

I never had any help from anyone when i bought my first house. I bought a cheap run down house I was already renting and my mortgage was less than the rent so it was a no brainer.
It needed everything doing to it, which was done over time and eventually I sold it for something better but it took many years to get where I am now.
You buy what you can afford. Not everyone gets help. Most people I know who got inheritance money didn't get it until they were much older.

We bought a run down house in a cheap suburb nowhere near my work. We've slowly renovated it bit by bit. And nearly paid off the mortgage. Now with 3 kids we are really crammed in but will be in a good position to upsize in the next couple of years to a much nicer home.

What CAN you afford? That’s what you buy.

We bought a fixer-upper in a dirt cheap part of the north west for 60k with a deposit of 6k.

Meant to add this was only a few years ago (2016) and the house isn't worth much more than that today.