Life advice please

[inche]

I am 25 and single. I earn £28k a year. Currently rent in an “upmarket” area of Birmingham (ie spending thousands on bills for a trendy apartment). Wanting to plan my future and look into buying a house. Feeling very trapped in my current home as my neighbours are awful.

The thing is, I don’t earn enough as a single person to get a mortgage. Also I’m not sure if I want to buy in Birmingham, it’s an okay place but I have little personal connections here. I used to live in London and loved it there but ultimately if I can’t afford in Birmingham, I can’t in London. I haven’t really lived anywhere else in England to know if I’d want to settle there or not.

please help me clear my head - feel like my life has no direction

What about your job? Do you WFH?

I work in an office but my job (civil servant) could be carried out regionally. I could either apply online or ask for a transfer

I think, if it was me, I would research other cities that I liked the sound of, & get statistics what it's like to live there. What are your interests? Does that city cater for them? South, Midlands, or North for a change? Where will you get the best property for your money? Where are the best transport links if you have family to visit?
Ask on here where other people like?

Taking into account that you aren't sure where you want to settle, and that you are correct it would be very difficult on your salary, and also taking into account your age, I would advise you don't worry so much about buying somewhere yet.
Instead, I would focus attention on career development and progression. If you stay within the civil service, look at moving around a bit to maximise experience and then work on moving up the grade structure. The more you go up grades the more mortgage you can get. You can also achieve great career progression outside the civil service - I recently left CS employment after multiple pay freezes and am now earning a lot more!