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Original poster

To think DSis should buy her own flat

87 replies

user1494157537 · 27/05/2017 20:17

I was talking to Dsis today. She's 27, she's been out of uni for a 5 years now and in her job for 3. She has just over £50,000 in saving and earns between £49,000 and £50,000.

She lives in a rented flat with a friend but I hate the thought of her throwing away £900 rent every month!

She says she can't afford anything within half an hour of her work (currently Westminster, soon to be Canary Wharf as her office is moving).

I think she should be looking to buy somewhere. She'd love to and she's saving hard but surely London isn't THAT expensive?!?

OP posts:
Mandraki · 27/05/2017 22:10

£50k wouldn't get you a whole House round here (Lancashire) but in my town would definitely be 50% deposit. My 4 bed terrace house was £115k, you could defo get a smaller house to rent out for under 100k and have a smallish monthly mortgage you'd make money on if you let it out. Is that what PP meant when they said buy a house up North for 50k? 50k would maybe get you a shithole studio flat in crime central in the bad lands in my town but I can't see that being a good choice.

GabsAlot · 27/05/2017 22:20

all three of those places op are ein bad areas-why should she live in a tower block because u want her to own something

i used to live in one before everyone jumps on me

MajesticWhine · 27/05/2017 22:33

She could probably afford something in East London that is commutable to Canary Wharf. However the point is she is capable of working out for herself what she wants to do. Perhaps she is happy with her current situation.

Bunbunbunny · 27/05/2017 22:34

You don't even know how long the leases are for or what the ground rent or service charge will be for those flats so you don't actually know if that is fair price at all!

Have you looked at the actual monthly outgoings for shared ownership? She will paying mortgage, rent, service charge, ground rent and be responsible for all repairs! Renting with none of the protections effectively. Staircasing to own a larger portion isn't cheap either.

www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2015/jul/03/shared-ownership-buyers-frustrated-charges
Your sister should get independent advice and get off her case

SuperBeagle · 27/05/2017 22:37

Those flats are all awful, IMO. Her standards aren't "high", she's obviously just like many of the rest of us who think shit heaps in London are incredibly overpriced. She's not wrong to not want to buy something that is far overpriced for what it is.

MrsKlugscheisser · 27/05/2017 22:46

That last flat isn't in Kennington. It's in a particularly shitty bit of Walworth, close to the Old Kent Road.

SomeOtherFuckers · 27/05/2017 22:48

A) check if those flats are anywhere near a tube.
B) that first house is disgusting
C) could she afford to furnish an entire flat and pay a mortgage etc

havanamay · 27/05/2017 22:51

I think you have a point OP if your DSis is aiming only at a house, in London. We have a combined income in the six figures and we can only afford a 2 bed flat in London, with no garden. Buying a house is pretty unrealistic for a FTB on a salary like hers, and I think she needs to be prepared to consider a longer commute from work - we consider ours to be fairly short at 45 min, plenty of people have commutes twice as long.

DH and I lived in grotty shared ex-council flats while we were saving for our first home - we could have afforded something nicer on our income, but decided to more frugally than many others would be prepared to consider, because it meant we could save a solid 40% deposit and get a nice flat in a good area. It took us 12 years of saving hard from graduation until age 33 to be able to buy. Most of my colleagues my age haven't been able to buy but they've always burned through a larger part of their salary than us. They think the only way we could have got a deposit as large as we did was through inheritance or a gift from our parents, when actually we saved it all ourselves through very careful budgeting and financial decision making.

Alanna1 · 27/05/2017 23:00

I would second looking at shared ownership.

StillDrivingMeBonkers · 27/05/2017 23:03

You can buy flats for 250K in Crook Log, South London, cross rail is coming through and prices are going up - train to Lewisham (15 mins) and DLR over to Canary Wharf (15 mins)

hibbledobble · 27/05/2017 23:26

Op do you realise that the properties you listed would either be impossible or very difficult to get a mortgage on?

Banks don't like offering mortgages to properties in high rises.

HeyCat · 28/05/2017 05:45

StillDrivingMeBonkers - how do you get from crook log to Canary Wharf in under 30 minutes? Looks like an hour at least with multiple changes.

munchkinmaster · 28/05/2017 05:57

What's the interest a month on a £250k loan? Plus service charge, plus buildings insurance £450 a month so she is only "chucking" away £450 a month.

She is also saving about £1k a month. Your sister sounds nice and sensible. And you want to bang her up in high tide hell

takeabreakthatslife · 28/05/2017 06:15

She could buy an ex council place in poplar perhaps. It's E14 about 20 mins walk to Canary Wharf. It would be a studio.

Maybe you could have a look round the aberfeldy estate at night and see if you want to live there.

EssentialHummus · 28/05/2017 09:34

I really can't abide the "You need eleventy million quid for a decent flat in London" rhetoric.

Here's one in my corner of London, 14 minutes from the station to Canary Wharf, plus a 10 minute walk to the station: www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-65936534.html

Zone 2, lots of community stuff on the go, lots of places to eat and shop, and lovely parks. The service charge is on the high side, but it's an example of what's available. In her shoes I would (and did) buy a do-er upper to get on the ladder, but it's up to her really.

Kokusai · 28/05/2017 09:37

Ha ha ha ha fucking ha

There is not a single flat in Londom jnder £350 that I would want my single 20 something sister living in.

Kokusai · 28/05/2017 09:39

@EssentialHummus that is TINY she would have more space living in a shared house. Also, why would she want to move to brockley when she is having fun, living with friends more centrally?

Sitting in a rabbit hutch flat in brockley is grim when she wants to actually be in London. Even if it is nicely decorated.

Kokusai · 28/05/2017 09:42

OP you sound pretty fuckig mean 'her standards are too high' - I'd like to see you living in one of those high rises..... oh, which she won't be able to get a mortgage on anyway. Difficult to mortgage ex-LA high rise and concrete.

happypoobum · 28/05/2017 09:45

Hummus I agree Brockley is naice enough and that flat looks good, but I can't see how OPs DSIS could afford it?

The additional charges are £300 a month and it's offers OVER £275k. The MSE mortgage calculator says the top end of what DSIS could borrow would be £221k. So DSIS is correct in thinking she has some more saving to do.....

EssentialHummus · 28/05/2017 09:46

koku it's an example of what's available in an area which is safe, relatively central and has lots on the go. There are much larger flats available in this budget in this area which are low-rise ex-council, but that'll bring it's own criticism on here.

Brockley is in London, Zone 2.

She can do what suits her, but while there is a housing crisis in London and lots of people can't afford to buy, in her circs she could if she wanted. As I said above, this rhetoric that you need £350,000/£500,000/£700,000 to get a decent starter flat isn't correct, and it's incredibly unhelpful.

Kokusai · 28/05/2017 09:46

And have people who are suggesting she buys a house up north and rents it out, actually have any idea about what is involved in being a landlord? And after only getting 20% tax relief for her interest and paying 49% tax it's hardly worth it.

Better to save save save to be in a better position when her salary gets a bit higher.

NoSquirrels · 28/05/2017 09:49

Have you been to any of those places you're suggesting, OP?

I have, and wouldn't live in them either, certainly not for £300K.

And the reason they're cheap is not just the locations, but that mortgage lenders won't lend on blocks constructed like that often, or above 4 storeys high.

And if they did, block maintenance and leasehold costs could be extortionate.

Plus, rent is not "throwing money away". I really despise that phrase.

When you buy with a mortgage, a huge proportion of your payments are also "thrown away" on interest payments to the bank. Your sis sounds as if she is saving as well as "throwing her money away" on rent, so what's the issue? Property ownership is a massive cost and ties you to an area you might not find convenient in a few years - you already mention her office is moving, making commutes from those flats you linked a bad idea. Brixton to East London is no fun advice a daily commute (speaking as someone who did the opposite for ages.)

EssentialHummus · 28/05/2017 09:49

I agree the charges are high happy; I'm using this flat as an example of what's available.

She has a £50k deposit, so I'd expect that she could stretch to £275k when considered with her salary.

Kokusai · 28/05/2017 09:50

@EssentialHummus well as @happypoobum pointed out the OPs Dsis isn't likely to be able to afford it anyway. So even a 'safe' rabbit hutch in brockley is it of reach for her.

sunshinesupermum · 28/05/2017 09:51

Shared ownership is expensive. Not only do you have your mortgage to pay, also a chunk of rent and the service charges are always high and you have no knowing how much they will rise.

In London you need to earn at least £40K to be abe to afford this 'privilege' (bear in mind that the average wage is £28K) and the housing association have first dibs when you come to resell.

Dsis seems to have her head screwed on - let her be.