to think the term property ladder should be retired

[suziepra]

Its not a ladder at all. The average age of first time buyers is 34 and they have to really stretch themselves on a mortgage when interest rates are the lowest they have ever been just to get a starter place.

I really can't see how many will move into bigger and better places.

My friend has just spent 150k on a tiny studio in croydom with a damp problem and a 25 year mortgage. She thinks she will move up the so called ladder, but I really don't see how. Her mortgage payments are 40% of income and she has NP Dependants.

well a) it's just a term and b) that's not true for everyone

There is still a ladder for many people, but I agree that for many it's looking more like a little step ladder than the sort of ladder you could get on a roof with.

I was having this conversation yesterday. Where we live (nice London suburb), there's no such thing as the ladder. I'd call it a web. Once you're in you're stuck, unless you want to move miles away or to a worse area. No hope of us 'upgrading' to a bigger/more valuable house... As they have sky rocketed in value too.

I presume you are talking about the South of England. You could get a nice three bed semi here (without a damp problem) for that money. If she's single a studio should be fine and she can fix the damp problem and do it up. If she meets a partner they can pool resources and move up the "property ladder".

I think it completely depends on where in the country you buy and the area of that part of the country.

I was very young in comparison to the current average age of first time buyers and have a large house in a lovely area for a great price but we are in the North of the country.

I can understand you feeling that way in certain property areas though definitely.

We're not all in London. You can get a 1-bed flat in my village for about 85k. And be anywhere in the central belt of Scotland within an hour.

Is the term 'ladder' not irrelevant now though?? How do people progress from 1 bed flat to 3 bed house when salaries are stagnant, and prices are rising across the board?

Mummaduke, people hope to get further along in their careers with promotions, sometimes single people buying a one bed flat hope to eventually meet a partner who will be able to contribute. And the more equity you have in a property then the more you can borrow for your next property.

Lots of people buy doer uppers and increase the value of their property that way, that's what I've done.

Many people do 'move up the ladder' though. They move up the ladder because their circumstances change. They might buy their first property as a single person and then meet somebody who they want to settle down with and pool resources and buy a property on the next rung of the ladder. They might then have children and get promotions / pay rises along the way and move house again to something that meets their new needs and is affordable on their new income.

But I've had two promotions, and renovated a manky house... The value added, along with my decent pay rises still isn't enough to make the leap to the next rung on the ladder though (detached, 4th bed etc). At least not here in SW London anyway...

Either way, I was just agreeing with OP... I think the term is outdated.i am however, very grateful to be on said ladder.

I wish the term 'property' would be retired, fed up of watching these programmes and the people looking round call the house/flat a 'property', drives me nuts.

Mammaduke if the next rung up is a detached 4bed in the SW London then you are probably much further up the ladder than most. Not everyone starts at the bottom of the imaginary ladder, some people start near the top so there isn't much space left to climb.

It used to just be called 'buying a house' now it's an investment and u r on a ladder.

What about homes???

Yes yes, wasn't meant to be a competition. I just agree with OP, at least it's certainly how things are down here.

Please don't be offended mammaduke I was just trying to put the imaginary ladder into perspective and I wasn't trying to be snotty or offensive, apologies if it came across that way.
I suppose being a Northerner I can still see the imaginary ladder in real life terms. Up here people can buy a 2 bed starter home for as little as £60/£70k and then climb the ladder slowly. In today's terms the first home I bought (3 bed terrace) would cost me £70k to buy if I was buying it today. The second home I bought would cost £130k in today's money, the third home I bought is worth around £180k today and my current home (4 bed large semi) is worth around £250k. Over the course of 14 ish years I have claimed the ladder and now see myself as being quite far from the bottom and just far enough up to not want to go any higher.
There are houses much further up the ladder than I am but I don't think I can afford them and even if I could I am happy with the 'rung' that I am on.

I agree there's no ladder. We now plan to save up for the final house, biggest deposit, smallest mortgage possible, aided with inheritances in due course. We wouldn't be able to own a house we actually liked otherwise.

Depends where you live, really. AS a PP said, we aren't all in the South East. Here is what you could get for £150,000 in my area. (Not giving away anything my user name doesn't...)

We have moved from two to three to four bed by making our last move to a smaller, rural town. Love it.