.... to be a little annoyed by these two?

[Pipbin]

They have just bought a house using the 'help to buy scheme'.
Excellent, well done them.
But what annoys me is the, 'people who can't afford just don't try hard enough'.
He's 22 years old and earns £27,000. I'm 40 and only started earning a wage like that 5 years ago. There is no way on earth I could have been saving £500 a month a few years ago.


www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/34804311/im-20-and-i-own-a-250000-four-bed-house

[StrawberryTeaLeaf]

Yes they come from privilege but clearly not ridiculous privilege.

Clearly, in their own heads, they do. I missed that gem about growing up in detached houses and needing the space. Thanks for repeating that beard I can't stop laughing

Iwish if they are old enough to be mortgage payers, they are old enough to attempt not to sound like total wankers, no?

[StrawberryTeaLeaf]

comparing themselves to their peers, I'm guessing mainly people they know, when it comes to talking about others not making the sacrifices.

And no, actually, he was comparing himself to the tenants he lets property to at work (at least in some of his patronising remarks). He doesn't 'know' them but he's judging them from his comfy cushion of mum and dad's largesse.

[ChutneyRhodrey]

I am a bit miffed that 27K is the national average for a full time worker, especially as my DP earns about half that on 50 hour weeks.

I know plenty of couples around their age who have lived with parents or left rented accommodation then returned home and gone through the right to buy scheme. Fair play to them for saving but the cockiness of it all is what irritates me, I don't think they understand just how lucky they are to be in that position.

If I asked my DM if we could move in with her so we could save for a deposit she would probably tell me to fuck right off!

[squoosh]

I agree josephwrightofderby. There's nothing wrong with living with your parents and saving for a deposit but living rent free and bill free with parents certainly isn't an option that's available to everyone!

[StrawberryTeaLeaf]

Wouldn't it be nice if everyone could just be gracious , about good fortune and bad?

[Lozza1990]

They're young and are talking from the perspective of other young couples who come from good families. Tbh I don't think they are given anyone else a second thought. If you're single, have kids, come from a broken home then it's just not achievable. I moved out at 17 so it would have been impossible to do this, but I guess they have a point that a lot of young people could achieve this but they just don't have the right mind set yet.

I think something else needs to be done to help people own their own homes.

[Heatherplant]

I think they are possibly referring to others from their own social/economic background. I know of loads of people who could be described as privileged who are just irresponsible with cash and moan about house prices and mortgages but fork out loads on what I would consider luxuries. Good on the two of them for recognizing they were privileged and being sensible with the advantage they have rather than throwing it all away. I say this as someone who was renting due to family circumstances for a very long time and had to make the heating or eating decision on a few occasions.

[beardsrock]

'Wouldn't it be nice if everyone could just be gracious , about good fortune and bad?'

Well, yes, of course, Strawberry.

But it wouldn't be as fun, would it?

[squoosh]

It would be a quiet day indeed on MN if everyone decided to be gracious.

[StrawberryTeaLeaf]

[beardsrock]

The article does of course beg the question as to whether these first-timers actually need a four bed detached house.

Obviously, they don't.

But that's their decision and not ours.

If they stay in that house for 50 years and raise two kids in it then it will be have been a superb investment.

Or maybe they'll decide to sell it, and spend the rest of their lives living in a tent on a Goan beach. (my dream)

What does need to be made more readily available to first time buyers is smaller, more affordable housing.

[Gladysandtheflathamsandwich]

I suspect they were a bit "kid in a sweet shop" and bought the biggest house they could with the most money they could borrow.

For someone apparently so savvy, they have been very short sighted in saddling themselves with that much debt so young and so early in their careers. I can see them losing a lot of money on that if they have to sell at any point in the next ten years. Far better to start small and accrue equity each time you move.

[pretend]

I don't know why you'd want to tie yourself down at 20, but each to their own.

My brother and SIL lived rent free in my parents' flat for a year to save the deposit for a help-to-buy in London. They then sold that and got their own flat, then sold that and have a terraced house worth 600k plus.

Good for them. They know they were lucky though.

[pretend]

I meant to add, I don't know why they're getting so much flak, aside from being naive. Not everyone struggles you know.

[Pipbin]

maybe i dont get it.. why does it matter. if they found a way then good luck to them.

I have no problem with them being allowed to live at home and save, I don't give too fucks that they are a couple in a four bedroom house, they have done what is right for them and I'm guessing the idea behind the four bed house was that it will be their 'forever home'.
I was in the extremely lucky position of having parents who had the money to be able to give me the deposit on my first home. I also had the great luck to buy 15 years ago when my first house was £85k.

What I didn't like was the comments about it not being as hard to buy as everyone makes out and people can save if they just didn't go out as much.
I'm sure there are people it applies to but not everyone. It's like telling a blind person that seeing is easy, they just need to try harder, everyone else can do it.

and the 'love live laugh' heart

[LittleBeautyBelle]

I have a different perspective although what's been said here makes a lot of sense. Prices are so expensive especially in desirable areas, it is so hard for people to afford a house, or to even save enough for a deposit in a decent amount of time. I'm American, so my experience is different, but I thought this young couple are doing a great thing, taking their destiny into their own hands, what we call the American spirit which is in reality the spirit of all countries and we Americans realize that.

This couple decided they would have their own house and they planned and saved and found/researched mechanisms in place like the government program that could help them with their goal. Bravo to them. Be happy for them, is how I feel. They are not putting down single mothers or people who are struggling. Their advice is more towards people who do have extra money to save but blow it and then complain. I don't see them as smug at all. I see their point about growing up in a detached house so they wanted their own place when they were married. Personally I feel every person deserves their own piece of land and a house, if that is their desire. I understand that is not everyone's philosophy and in big crowded cities, especially London, one of the world's most famous and greatest cities, it's not always possible. Not always, but often, where there is a determination, there is a way to reach a goal, even a very big or seemingly impossible goal, I have found. We were able to afford a fixer upper house with a lot of character and a big yard by choosing a pretty established neighborhood a bit further away from the newer and more expensive part of town where we live. There's a lot we all can learn from this young couple. Just a different opinion.

[Pipbin]

I meant to add, I don't know why they're getting so much flak, aside from being naive. Not everyone struggles you know.

I know not everyone struggles, they don't seem to acknowledge that. They seem to think that it's just fecklessness on the behalf of others.

[NoArmaniNoPunani]

My brother and SIL lived rent free in my parents' flat for a year to save the deposit for a help-to-buy in London. They then sold that and got their own flat, then sold that and have a terraced house worth 600k plus.

That was very fast moving for a scheme that has only been running for 2 years.

[x2boys]

i,m also a council tenant hopefullyoneday1 i,m not sure i would want to buy my own house either [ have had a mortgage in the past and it wasnt a great experience] like all renters its not up to me to maintain everything that needs replacing or refurbishing ,right now they are doing all the roofs on my estate we are all getting new roofs that would cost me several thousand , of course i wont ever own it but i,m happy with that.

[pretend]

NoArmani it was a few years ago now. A help to buy scheme for first time buyers has been running for some time.

[Snoopadoop]

Why does one couple need a four bedroom house.....

Perhaps they wanted a four bedroom house?

They have a point where similar couples to them are concerned, there are young couples earning reasonable salaries who can't afford to save for a deposit because they are enjoying their disposable income instead of saving, but each to their own. I'm not sure they really meant to sound as smug as that.

[NoArmaniNoPunani]

A help to buy scheme for first time buyers has been running for some time.

Since April 2013

[IwishIwasinNewYork]

Strawberry not sure what the vitriol's about.

Anyway Heatherplant puts it better than me: I think they are possibly referring to others from their own social/economic background. I know of loads of people who could be described as privileged who are just irresponsible with cash and moan about house prices and mortgages but fork out loads on what I would consider luxuries. Good on the two of them for recognizing they were privileged and being sensible with the advantage they have rather than throwing it all away

[StrawberryTeaLeaf]

Strawberry not sure what the vitriol's about.

Vitriol? FGS untwist your knickers.