How do people in their late 30s afford £600k+ homes in the South East?

[bluntscissors]

So many people I know with jobs worse than mine have houses worth £600k+

We are in the South East so £600k+ isn’t actually a super fancy house. Of course no one talks about their finances and it would be crude to ask.

I am almost certain if you have a house worth this much then you must have had at least £300k in cash for a deposit otherwise the mortgage would be too much.

My group of friends is only late 30s/early 40s so haven’t had decades to build up equity.

Is my hunch right that they all must have been gifted 100s of grand from their parents? This seems absolutely wild but I can’t imagine another route.

If you have a house that is 600k+ tell me honestly how you managed it?

I don't think of myself as particularly risk averse.

I just think taking on huge mortgages is crazy.

Your example there, would be £3,220 per month on a 25 year term!

The simple answer for us is that we made money on our starter home. Our house is just under £600k, we are in Berkshire so it's an expensive area and I'm 38. DH and I saved hard and put down £20k as a deposit on our first home when I was 26. It was a bit of a fixer upper so we did some renovations to it.... nothing major but we did put in a new kitchen, redecorated, did up the garden etc. We sold it eight years later and made £80k on it. Obviously the work we did helped but really we benefitted from house prices rising in our area.

I'd also say you don't always know what people earn. DH and I have what most would consider mid level professional roles but I think friends and family would guess our salaries are lower than they actually are. I've been at my company a long time and have benefitted from pay increases so I'm paid more than market rate for my job and DH just says tells people he's a computer programmer which isn't a lie but doesn't go into the detail of his work....he's a senior AI engineer so his salary is high because his skills are in demand at the moment.

But why would you want to be on the hook for a payment that large until you are seventy?!? Nuts.

My mortgage isnt that large, we didnt max out. We over pay, but the long term gives us flexibility. And most importantly, its better than renting!
You might well think its nuts, but we own a home and you dont.

You do realise you can overpay and bring down the mortgage term when you get pay rises etc? Over time, our salaries increased, but the mortgage payments didn't. If we had been renting then our costs would have risen with inflation.

I was talking about your hypothetical example of taking out a mortgage for 600k. Which would be a huge unobtainable amount for 99% of the population.

"we own a home and you dont." sounded pretty rude tbh.

As I said in my original post we have enough deposit for a decent house anywhere else in the country and for a flat here in our city and we did that whilst paying a shitload of rent and without any help from family (because they don't have any money).

So not a total f*ck up, thank you.

Then I guess that's your answer. I don't know anyone who had significant help if any at all. But we take on mortgages to own a home. We took on a 35 year mortgage when we were 34 but we've already taken 15 years off it. We aim to be mortgage free by 50.

In this example we were talking about getting a huge mortgage. 600k of borrowing. I don't think many people could afford to overpay on that.

Most people with v long terms on their mortgage over-pay once their earnings increase which then reduces the term. They don’t actually pay the mortgage for 40 years. You generally remortgage every few years and get to choose a new term, so you aren’t stuck with a 40 year term, but it just gets you on the ladder in the first place

I don't think anyone is calling you a fuck up. It feels a bit like you've asked a question and selected the ones that back up your theory.

There are lots of paths to owning a house of that value by the age you're talking about. Yes some will have had help but lots won't have. Sometimes it's very easy to feel envious of people who have serious help but you are by no means in the minority for not.

We are in the SE and our house is worth £700k. Mortgage is around half that. Average income between us, but this is our 3rd house so we have traded up each time. No inheritance and originally, we had a modesr budget.

I don't know the real percentage but it may be available somewhere. But from anecdotal evidence, amongst all my friends and acquaintances, very, very few people managed to buy houses without family's help.
I became less miserable when I stopped comparing myself with friends who have plenty of help and a strong safety net (and a partner). We're playing different games with different rules.

I have a £500k house i bought by myself in SE (im 44). I don't work in a particularly well paid industry, but I saved hard in my 20's, bought a flat when I was 28. Made a fair bit of money on it and built up equity (whilst also saving) and then 2 houses later I have a decent deposit/equity. I think im unusual that I never got any family help, but I was lucky with timings

So you take a 30 or 35 year term to make it more manageable and as you progress through your career you can reduce the term by overpaying. I think most people take whatever the bank will offer with a view to the long term because it’s worth it for things being a bit tight in the first few years.

For most people there are massive sacrifices to achieve home ownership. It means either buying run down doer uppers in unpopular places and then having to do all the home improvements, or slogging it out in work to service huge mortgage payments. That’s usually the case even if some family help was provided. When I read threads like this I really appreciate how lucky I’ve been. I do think that there needs to be a correction to bring house prices down.

100% I know that feeling, tho I don't feel many around me had help
We got fuck all from anyone. Paid for uni, our own wedding, no help with deposits.
It's depressing to feel that you've done something with huge effort and others have just walked up

I wasn't trying to be rude, nor did I call you a fuck up.
But it is attainable for a large proportion of the South East, two slightly above average incomes and a decent deposit is all you need.
You're saying it's nuts and then complaining that you cant buy what you want for less - so you can obviously see why people do it.

I just think there are lots of very privileged people on this thread thinking they are the norm.

I think it's really unusual for someone who is in their late 30s now to be able to afford a 600k+ house without parental help.

I also think its really unusual for a couple to be able to afford £3k+ a month mortgage although many people on this thread seem to advocate for it.

The average age for a first time buyer is 34, so the number of people getting on the ladder in their early 20s isn't very high.

The national average house price is more like 300k.

Overall the people who are saying save up, get on the ladder early, pay a huge mortgage etc. are definitively not the norm.

They don't think they are the norm. They've just answered your question.

And though you keep saying it's not realistic etc, lots of people have done it.

OP you asked how people buy expensive houses. Of course the responses were going to be from or about privileged people.

Very similar to my son and DiL. They bought a flat aged 25 for just over £200k in 2019, had saved while renting too. Bought a 4 bed house for £610k a couple of years ago, some equity, some savings and large mortgage. Well paid professionals with no children yet, early thirties. Careers on the up and excellent annual reviews so get good pay rises and bonuses.

Good point.

And tbh most people have said they got family help. Which is what i suspected.

There are just a few people giving "anyone can do it" which, I think, is wrong.

The bank of mum and dad
Check out the book ‘Inheritocracy’ by Eliza Filby

Nobody's thinking or saying they are the norm - they are just answering your question about how they did it.

You said that you reached stable finances and relationships later than many others, so that obviously has hindered you.

A £600k house with a 90% mortgage of £540k and a traditional 25 year term would need a combined income of £135k - this is not a super high combined income for two professionals who work in London or the south east. People who earn less can borrow a similar amount by increasing the term to 30 or 40 years.

And yes, many people do get help from parents - that is well documented - but certainly not all. The latest housing survey showed 31% of first-time buyers in England received financial help from family or friends in 2024–25 to fund their purchase: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/chapters-for-english-housing-survey-2024-to-2025-headline-findings-on-demographics-and-household-resilience/chapter-2-housing-costs-and-affordability

I think people are just pointing out that it isn't impossible actually.