To ask how long it took you to raise a mortgage deposit?

[IamScarfaceClaw]

Just musing really, DP and I would love to own our own home one day, we live in a relatively low living cost area and a 2 bed or small 3 bed is about £140K. We earn about 25k combined and (obviously) currently rent so have all associated costs.
So AIBU in asking, without windfalls/inheritance etc how long did it take you to scrimp and save for your mortgage deposit?
disclaimer- I'm a list maker and a forward planner and I love having timelines to work with, so not just beingnosey.

24k in about two years. Lived with my mum virtually rent free.

I didn't really. Bought first place in 2004 when you could get 125% mortgages....I took out 100% and have moved 4 times. First place made £25k in 2 years, second made £5k in 18 months, lost money on next and then last property made around £30k plus my now DH had some money from a bonus which he contributed.

Open a help to buy ISA at any bank (you can search online for best rates etc)
The govt. will then pay 25% of what you've said in as long as its at least £1600? I think and as long as you've paid into it for 3 months.
DH and I got £400 each towards our first home as we each had a separate ISA, that's £800 of 'free' money towards a deposit!
You can use this on any house but must be a 1st time buyer.

First house bought in 2004 in North west for £70k on 100% mortgage. Took a year to save the moving costs, solicitors fees etc by living with parents rent and food bill free. Sold two years later for £100k. I lived that little house. Decorated with gorgeous laura ashley fabrics and wallpapers.

Way back in 1990, had taken me three years to raise the £6k deposit for my £36k house. No holidays, driving a shit Metro, paying board to my parents.

Sold it in 1996 for £30k having lost all my £6k deposit. Bastard bollocking housing market.

2yrs, 20k but we DH has more than one income. We are in Enfield too and our house has increased by 200k since we bought.

We also bought our flat and then house on 125% which equals to a mortgage and unsecured loan.

OP straight away I can see a problem.

You will not be able to borrow £126k assuming a 10% deposit. The maximum you can borrow is roughly £100k.

So the question is how long will it take you to save £40k on a £25k salary? The answer is a very long time.

TBF I'm not sure home ownership is the right call when you earn so little. What will you do if you meed a new roof? The boiler breaks? You're never likely to have a spare couple of k are you?

Can you look to both increase your earnings? More hours and or better paid work?

We had a 100% mortgage in 1998 so didn't need a deposit. We saved £1000 for surveyor, solicitor etc in 6 months. We were on a very low income.

Took about a year of scrimping every penny. We were renting too so only paid bills and bought essentials. It was fine as previously been traveling for over a year, so wasn't bothered about holidays.
£5k early/mid nineties, prices were tumbling so we bought a big 3 bed cheap. It doubled in value in the next few years. Low income at the time, we were lucky to get a mortgage as in those days they were fussy.

We needed 7k so we moved in with my parents for a year. We paid 200pm towards bills and bought our own food and managed the savings. Our combined income was about 30k after to and ni

Worked 1 full time and 2 part time jobs

Rented and saved for 2 years

Paid 10% deposit, plus stamp duty and solicitor fees

The problem is that the longer you wait to buy, house prices are currently still going up in price !

I now have one job that pays more than the 3 jobs

$41. Half was DH inheritance and the other half a loan from my parents.

$41K obviously

19lottie I shall give you a for the least helpful comment I have read ever.
Your combined wages are very low. Not even 2 x FT min wage. Would there be any opportunity for either of you to increase your income?
An opportunity you say? You must not know the reality for some of us...

It took us a decade to save 15k, only just buying a house now.

Ridingjack the isas have changed and you get pennies now, literally

First house was a repo shell bought for 32k in 1998 on 100% mortgage (I was 21 Mr Elbows was 24). Sold eight years later for 100k profit. This house (new build) paid deposit in cash and purchase price mix of cash and mortgage. How on earth anyone starts off on the housing ladder now I have no idea.

We saved £12k in a year, that was 20yrs ago and it really paid off. Got started on the property ladder by getting a place in a mortgagee sale, tidying it up then doing same again. In 3 yrs we went from renting an ex-Housing Association unit to owning 2 rentals and building a nice house.
We hadn't intended to do the property thing at all, it was all a bit of a fluke, luck with timing possibly.
Good luck to you!!

evergreen stick your star! I'm not being judgemental I'm just pointing out a fact!

The OP has said she is a list maker and forward planner....... the cold hard fact is they won't ever able to afford a house of the value stated on those wages......... and they are low, VERY low! If they want to be able to afford a mortgage they're going to have to increase their income!

Obviously that's not a possibility for everyone, but for a lot of people it is. When I saved for a deposit I worked a FT job plus 3/4 nights a week in a pub to get extra cash.

Bought our house 2.5 years ago, moved in with fil for 1.5 years to save the 15k required. Dp worked extra jobs on top of his full time (electrician so picked up jobs for friends etc) and I was working overtime so doing 8am-9pm 3 days a week and 2 normal 9-5 days a week so that we could save.
Usual joint salary is approx 35k.

Several years. We had higher salaries than you but live in a more expensive part of the country from what you've said.

My advice would be don't worry about timelines too much right now. Just start saving as much as you can. It's hard but definitely possible with two of you.

6 months, back in 1996, was about £5k from what I remember. However we had little outgoings, DH was self employed and he had periods of high income earnings and I earned fairly good money (back in those days anyway), I think we also rented one of my parent's house on the cheap for a period when saving.

We sold house, rented again for a bit. Then bought again in about 2001 and sold for an extra £75k in 2003 than what we paid for. (not UK).

All my adult children have bought their own homes. They lived at home whilst they saved to raise their deposits, so never spent any money on rent. They didn't go on holidays, took packed lunches to work, didn't spend very much on clothes and going out. Every bit of birthday and Christmas money went into their savings. I can't see that they would have ever been able to afford to buy if they had been paying rent.