Millennials in the house - what will entice you to save up for a house?

[AteRiri]

I read that millennials are all about experiences and not accumulating/owning things.

I'm curious...how can you be enticed to save up for a house?

There are not many places in the country where you can get a house for £47k though. Within 20 miles of me on Rightmove, there's only two for under £50k, both shells that need massive amounts of renovation (and good luck getting a 90% mortgage on those, especially when cash buyers snap them up fast as BTLs).

Housing is more of a problem in London yes, but it's not only a problem in London - it's a problem all over the country.

53rdWay Out of interest, I searched within 40 miles of me (maximum Rightmove will cover), and came up with beach huts and garages.

I'm a millennial. Early 80s born though and bought in 2007. Got a few years left on mortgage and happy that I'll be safe whatever happens once it is paid off.

I'm a millennial, as is DH. We currently rent, our landlord is FIL and so we get that at a discount. We're in a 2 bed flat with our DS, and last month a flat in our road that was a similar layout/size sold for around £270K. We're in an area that would need a 20% deposit.
At the end of each month once we've paid rent, childcare, bills, food, petrol & diesel, car insurance (we work in opposite directions, I use my car rarely to save the cost and usually cycle to work but car is needed) we have very little disposable money to save for a deposit.

My younger sister and her partner own a tiny 2 bed flat that they live in with their 2 kids and it's not big enough for them, the kids have bunkbeds in their room and that's it. You physically can't fit anything else in. They could only afford this because her partner's parents loaned them money for a deposit and acted as guarantors. They need to find somewhere bigger but can't afford it.

I think if you can prove to a mortgage lender that you can pay rent regularly and on time without going into arrears that should be enough proof you can pay a mortgage. Especially as renting usually is a higher cost than mortgage payments.

DH and I are both millennials (27). Definitely not home owners and no plans for it in the next few years. Plenty of houses near us for £70-100k but I was very stupid in my early 20's, took credit cards/overdrafts to live well above my means and I'm now paying my debt back via Step Change so I have a default on my credit score until I'm 31. It's not in my interests to increase my repayments as the default will still be there.

We are definitely more into experiences than stuff. Our rent is low, I don't currently have a car and I meal plan carefully so that every spare penny we have can be spent on travelling. We go go abroad 2-3 times a year.

I'm a millennial -29 - I own my house. Why ?

Because I'm in very lucky and have a good job and I was left some money when a relative died.

Also I live in an ex mining town that's not exactly rich therefore houses are cheaper.

In my line of work my London counterpart will never be able to buy. When I was renting, their rent in London was more than 3x - nearer 4x actually - what I was paying. And my place was larger than theirs and still in a major city.

I honestly don't know how people in the south do it. I couldn't have a decent standard of living if I moved south. Not like I do now anyway.

Oh and - my mortgage is now less than my rent ever was on a one bed flat.

I'm a Millenial I think (born end of 85) and I am a home owner. So are all my friends with the exception of 1.

I'm in my early 20s, and my partner and I are aiming to get a mortgage in the next few months. However, even with my partner's significant savings and a help to buy scheme, several lenders have proposed offering us very little and at very poor rates.

Thankfully, we are very fortunate that my parents can help us with our deposit, but even then we're only just going to meet the total we need for a reasonable house in a very cheap area, despite originally getting advice that 10% alone could secure us a good mortgage.

It's all a bit confusing and soul-destroying, really, so I can see why so many choose to rent instead

I should also add that when we do get the house, holidays and other large expenses will have to go on the back burner for a good while!

Me and DH were both born in 1990. We rented separately to start with and then moved into one property. We received money from family (£6k) to use as a 5% deposit on an ex 3 bed council house for our first home. We had plans to pay it back and it would have taken us about 18months but in the end they gifted it to us. We've just moved and managed to make £15k equity which has enabled us to move or a bigger 4 bed new build, again using the government schemes where we only needed 5%. We are mortgaged up to the eyeballs and only my husband works but luckily he earns a good wage. We are in the midlands though so everything is cheaper. Most people our age have bought that we know.

When rent is often more expensive than mortgage payments...
I live in a part of the country where rent is not ludicrous, and my mortgage (interest and capital repayment included) is still much cheaper than renting would be for an equivalent house, even when we had just bought.
It makes me wonder whether interest only mortgages (despite their bad reputation) might not be such a terrible idea in some circumstances, as long as the borrowers fully understand what they mean:
Say you had a 30 year interest only mortgage, and could not afford to pay all the capital repayments - at the end of 30 years, you sell the house and walk away with a bit of equity, or (worst case) hand the keys back to the bank.
Hard, but you're still in a better position than someone who has spent 30 years renting, spending much more money on housing, and moving regularly, and often at short notice.

squishy I agree - although do be aware you don't just hand the keys back - in stead the bank can come after you for your life savings too, your car, etc etc.

I know there are serious financial risks Janet, but you would expect that at the end of a 25 year mortgage, when you've been paying less than you would have been paying in rent, you would really expect to have some equity in the house or savings.
If you cannot save anything, then you wouldn't be able to afford the rent anyway.
I know that it is definitely not the right solution for everyone, and would require a considerable amount of discipline.
I can remember hearing a woman on the radio a while ago when they were talking about people who'd been caught out by their interest only mortgages coming to term, (She had been forced to leave her home after paying off none of the capital, and she didn't realise why the bank wouldn't give her another 30 year mortgage on exactly the same terms she had been paying for the last 30 years) and although I felt really sorry for her, it did occur to me that she was in a better position than many millenials would be 20/30 years down the line: The house price rises alone over a few decades had meant that in this instance, she did walk away with money, and she had the enjoyment of a 4 bedroom, family home for many years.
In her case, it was obviously very distressing because in her head she owned the house. If someone went into that position with their eyes open, and thought of it as almost like a very long term "rent", it would be less upsetting to sell up near the end of the term.
I can see why it would be very controversial to push the idea as a solution though.
Its obviously not ideal, and I completely agree that it is always better to pay off capital as well as interest.
But then in an ideal world I wouldn't have a mortgage at all - I would have enough cash to buy outright.

I agree. My daughter started out with interest only buy to let (and lived at home or in friend's places) until her earnings rose enough to move into the place and take on a repayment mortgage when she moved in.
My interest only loan after my divorce was not a great deal - it lost money as it was traded in currencies but I knew those risks when I took it on and it did help with the post divorce period. That is even worse than standard interest only if the capital sum itself increases (obviously the theory was that the currency trading would do so well that your capital sum owed would reduce!)