to be exhausted and demotivated after only 4 months?

[RoonilWaslib]

DP and I moved to London in August for me to start a new job, he was finishing his PhD.
My job is "well paid" at £38k a year and after DP finished his PhD he would find a job in his specialism.

I've calculated that the rent/bills we pay for a ROOM in our area is more than a mortgage/bills on a 2 bed flat, with the help to buy scheme.

We don't have a deposit yet, but obviously could afford a mortgage on a 2 bed flat, as we already pay that much each month in rent.

Problem is - we can't possibly save for a deposit, as the rent is so high.

I vastly underestimated how incredibly demotivating this would be, it feels like we are just treading water and will continue to do so for years and years and years.

Even scrimping and saving wherever we can is pennies compared to the money we need for a mortgage. (We need to find at least £30k for a 5% mortgage).

If we moved back to where my parents live, we could both get bog standard jobs, rent and save enough to buy in about a year. We would then be paying off a house, and probably still have more disposable income.

We stay in London because its the best bet for DPs career (I'm already at the top of mine, can't go any further) and in the long run, will probably mean we're better off, but not for another 5-6 years.

I'm feeling really downtrodden by the whole thing and I know IABU but I'm sick of throwing thousands a month into living in a houseshare and feeling like we never have quite enough money.

(before anyone gives me a bashing, I'm well aware that we are far better off than the majority of the world's population, please don't flame me too much)

My maths is spot on.

We pay £1400 a month to rent a room.
We would pay £1100 a month in mortgage repayments on a 2 bed flat. We would let out the other room (for between £800-£1000pm) and that would more than cover utilities, council tax, ground rent etc.

I suggest your maths is not spot on, actually. Have you even talked to a mortgage broker?

So, for example:

Flat = 600k
Help to buy equity loan = £600k * 0.4 = £240k
Deposit = £600k * 5% = £30k
Stamp duty = £20k
Mortgage = 600 - 30 - 240 = 330.... And you are thinking, mega cool, I only need something like £65k combined salary to get £330k mortgage aren't you? Except you can't borrow 5x income because they take into account the equity loan. Sozza.

Oh, and you need £50k in cash not £30k cos you have to pay for stamp duty. Oh, and solicitor fees and survey, and moving sots, and furniture... So lets call that £55k.

Oh, and after 5 years you have to pay interest on the equity loan at 1.75% which rises annually by RPI (Retail Price Index) inflation plus 1%. Ouch. That starts to ratchet up quite a lot...

Also your mortgage payments on £330k mortgage (even if you COULD borrow that much) are going to be more than £1100 a month, and you are going to need to stretch out over a 35 loan term to be even close to affordability. There will be very few mortgages you can access with 5% deposit and help to buy at 40%.

I'd be lowering my expectations.

The point is that whatever you need to do or save to buy, in London you will quite likely never manage it. You'll certainly be renting for some time and unlikely to be able to save at all. It is common for renters in London to spend 30-50% of their income on rent. Could your job be done elsewhere, or could you commute currently, so that you at least aren't throwing money at London rents until your DP has this possible job. Unless the main earner is absolutely tied to London for work, it doesn't seem a good choice for you right now given your current feelings.

London is a fucker but you are paying sooooooo much OP ! If you want to stay in London you could easily rent a double room where I live for $1000 tops . Hang in there and look into the suburbs on the main tube lines my dear . Get a cheaper room and at least you
Are saving a bit whilst you explore career options

You really don't need to pay so much for a room...please listen to the posters above. I rent a fab 1 bed flat with garden in Shepherd's Bush for £1200 pcm, that's only about 25 mins from Kensington. Agree with pps: look in Acton, Barons Court, Hammersmith, Shepherds Bush, White City. Also have a word with your employer....really not realistic to expect you to live within a stones throw of one of the most expensive postcodes in the country. Unless of course they want to weight your salary accordingly so you can afford it- have you discussed it with them?

I live in zone 3 in Blackheath and pay £1100 for a one bed flat. It's mum and baby central here.

With a Help to Buy: Equity Loan the Government lends you up to 20% of the cost of your newly built home, so you’ll only need a 5% cash deposit and a 75% mortgage to make up the rest.

It s 40 % equity loan in London. But
You may get very stuck in five years time. Paying 1.75 % .

OP you are mad wanting to live and work in Kensington if you're not a live in for some 0.25% übers.

As a PP said, move out and find a job in commuterville - you'll earn slightly less but a 2 bed flat would be £300k in central Woking so you wouldn't need to earn as much. DH can commute into London in 25 mins and you can nanny locally (for us other poor bastards schlepping Ito Town everyday 🙌). Expecting to live and work affordable in Kensington is unreasonable if you're not in a high finance job!!

Could you get a live-in position for a year or 2 to cut costs and help save for a deposit?

Could you get a live-in position for a year or 2 to cut costs and help save for a deposit?

With the Boy Friend?

Even a 300k flat on 38k is too much IMO - unless your boyfriend is going to be a high earner. We have a combined income of 70k and borrowed 200k when we bought our current house & that was all they would lend us - and still costs a grand a month in repayments.

You need to look for another job, where the employer won't have the distance stipulation (which is unreasonable - if they want you that available, they have you live in).

You can then certainly find a double room in a nice flatshare for around a third of what you are paying now. And then you can save.

And yes - lower your expectations re flat. 600K is nuts.

Come and move up to the East Midlands. It is cheap to live and buy, people still employ nannies (fair enough you won't earn as much but it is all relative) and your dp can easily commute to about 10 different HE institutions either via public transport or car.

For context, you could rent a decent 1 bed flat near me for 400 pcm. If you wanted a room with bills included for both of you it would be doable for 350! Even if your salary was say, 25k you would still be better off in the long run.

Where the fuckity fuck are you paying £1400 for a room in a houseshare? Mayfair?!

I live in London and until last year used to pay £800pcm for a room in a houseshare, for me and my partner, including bills. Now we are in a one bed flat fairly middle class bit of inner London and are still paying less than you are (albeit excluding bills).

You must be able to find a houseshare that's more reasonably priced :/

Just seen the bit about needing to be within 15 minutes of Kensington

Even so, parts of Battersea should be doable, depending on which bit of Kensington, what time of day you're travelling and your mode of transport, as are parts of Shepherd's Bush and Hammersmith. All of those have 1 bed flats for less than you're paying now.

Move to wimbledon. Its 19 minutes on district line. 2 bed flat shares for £1400 total. Tbh OP, you need to do what most of us do and.not expect to live in or near Kensington!

A 600k property on a joint income of 38k... Sensible plan

If you find a bank prepared to lend you the money I will eat my hat.

I hate living in London for this reason! I've got 1 year of my degree left then me, DH and our DDs are moving up north near my parents to buy somewhere. Crazy prices here

I work 10-12 hours a day. If we lived an hour away I'd be leaving the house a 6am and getting home at 8pm. Then I really would be demotivated!

Yes that's completely normal for anyone that lives in London. I did 12 hours as a nurse and had an hours commute each way.

Be kind to yourself OP. It's a tough time of year dark and cold. Give it the full 12 months and see how you feel.I nannies round there as a student- it's great.

I work 10-12 hours a day. If we lived an hour away I'd be leaving the house a 6am and getting home at 8pm. Then I really would be demotivated!

Yes-that's what my DH does. It's a long day but we live in a nice house and only have a mortgage of £500 a month (15 years to go-I'm nearly 40). You could be in that job for the next 25 years and still not be able to afford a £600k flat!

Your employer should be doubling your salary if they want you to live 15 minutes away. Or you should not be signing contracts like that.

I work 10-12 hours a day. If we lived an hour away I'd be leaving the house a 6am and getting home at 8pm. Then I really would be demotivated!

Sorry, OP, but welcome to the real world. That's what I did too when I was your age - and for a long time afterwards.