To think it IS possible to get on the housing ladder?

[SleepyHeadThisTime]

I'm not talking about people living in London - god I would not like to be a first time buyer there!

However, I live in one of the most expensive areas for housing in the country and DH and I have spent the last 10 years scrimping and saving to make it to our 'forever home'. Our first house was an ex council house and an absolute dive but we ploughed all our savings into it, did it up, sold it and did the same again twice more. We have never earned more than 40k per year between us.

AIBU to think there is an element of choice about getting on the housing ladder? I have friends who say we're so lucky to be in the position we're in, however when we were spending every weekend sanding, painting, tiling and the rest, they were having holidays abroad, meals and nights out and new cars?

I don't begrudge them this (we're now enjoying all these perks) but I am a bit irked that it's put down to 'luck' and not bloody hard work and very frugal money management?

Surely if you're earning there is the potential to get on the property ladder? I know some who weren't willing to go down our route but still managed it through the government help to buy and shared ownership schemes.

I understand circumstances such as buying on your own and being on a low salary etc make this much more difficult but when I read about 'millenials' earning 30k plus per year and living at home with parents because they can afford to buy it makes me a bit

Btw DH and I bought our first house in 2010 so not in the golden era when houses were only about 3 times yearly salary!

I am finding your posts quite confusing susannah.

Have you considered why you found it so hard to buy? Why, so long ago, did you have to sacrifice so much to be able to afford such a small cheap house? What went wrong in your life?

If it's so easy for people to do what you did why isn't it just as easy for you to do what others who find it easy to buy a house did?

Just out of interest Gilly where did your DC live while saving for their first houses ?

And whereabouts is the country are you ? I assume not London/south east ?

I have a family member who is very intelligent, had a good education, her parents are together and supportive and very comfortable financially and she has a boyfriend. If she stays with him and they decide to set up Home she will be able to stay with her parents to save for a mortgage. So she has it all going for her like susannah. Except she was diagnosed aged 12 with a chronic illness that will only get worse as she ages. As a result she missed a lot of school and couldn’t sit any GCSEs. She hasn’t a single one. She is now in college trying to get key skills awards. Because of an indiscrimate illness. Now she is lucky because her family a) exist, and b) are extremely supportive and c) can financially support her. So maybe she will be ok and will get on the ladder. The thing is, her illness doesn’t just go for those who have families, it can affect anyone. Even children who have grown up in care and will be kicked out of the system aged 18 to handle life on their own. What are their chances of getting on the ladder when they’re dealt the shitty card of chronic illness? Tell them your financial security is nothing to do with luck

There are plenty of one or two bed flats in the Thames Valley for under £150K. Just search on Rightmove - Bracknell for one.

Yeah there are. I love how people exaggerate the cost of the south east on these threads. It's not even difficult to find a flat under £150k

I agree with a PP who said that it's not always possible to live at home in order to save money. I currently live at home and my DP lives with his parents, neither house has room for the both of us.

We have been together for 6.5 years and have never lived together, we are going to have to move out and rent because I want us to live together. If we don't move out we will still be stuck in our parents houses for another 3-4 years.

Yeah, there are 3 2 beds. Apologies.

Quick search Minimum one bed, non retirement, there are 800 in bucks, 450 in Herts and 700 in beds.

Kent- 2,173

Everyone of my friends who is on the ladder has bought a property that needed work. They all have done the cosmetic stuff themselves stripping, painting, gardening etc.

I would say most buyers expect to do this.

Essex 2,043

That's brilliant but we have 3 in school and family I need to care for here...there's not always the luxury of being able to relocate. No 3 beds here for anything under 500k.

OP - I'm not sure if you mean to, but you are coming across as both smug and deluded. Your post reminds me of those aged 55+ on excellent pension schemes who think everyone else is a spendthrift.

Whether you know it or not (n fact you don't) - you ARE extremely fortunate.

1: you had a DP who was healthy / working / dependable
2: you were working / healthy / dependable
3: you rented at a time when rents we low - and as a pair, so even more so
4: you bought in a time when prices were substantially cheaper and mortgages more accessible
5: you were in a time when grave instability was not prevalent (eg - Brexit,) so you had the relative luxury of being able to 'plan ahead'.

I could go on, and on, and on. I could talk about student loans. I could talk about the impact of Brexit on decisions to buy or not buy. And many more things.

Definitely feel free to have a moan about your friends who fritter money away whilst whinging about unaffordability.. but please don't think you are a shining example to those who could follow in your footsteps - because those days are long gone.

Bubble what are you searching on?

Nothing went wrong in my life Bubble, it's just that we live, and have always lived in the south, the Home Counties, where property has always been expensive in relation to average salaries.

Also the same rules apply now as years ago when we first started, that the larger the deposit put down, the better the mortgage rate. Knowing that we saved til we had, if I remember correctly, a 25% deposit. Also worth bearing in mind is that at one point we were paying 15%!

Minimum one bed, all property types maximum price £150k. My county as above. On rightmove

(Advanced selection for non retirement only)

What year did you first buy Susannah?

Susannah if you're old enough to have suffered a 15% mortgage rate, you must have bought your first home around 1980 ish.

Given that that is 37 years ago, may I respectively say that you're probably one of those people who think those who haven't 'saved' for a pension are spendthrifts too...

Even including shared ownership I don't get anywhere near your numbers.

@Bubblebubblepop I was intrigued how you'd found so many properties in Essex for under £150k- I live in Essex and within a three mile radius there is little for sale under £250k- I changed my search parameter on Rightmove to have a nosy... lots of them are caravans!

😂😂

Some lovely garages & parking bays too

To be clear..

I am in my (very) early 50s.. I have a family home and a rental property. Rental property all paid for. Family home pretty much, and on a 1.5% interest rate.

My first flat was bought with a total deposit of around £2,500 for £54.000 in 1987. It trebled in value within 3 years, therefore I was able to buy a 3-bed semi. Which doubled in value, etc. etc.

This won't happen again for my kids. My husband and I did not fritter our money away but we were bloody, bloody lucky to have bought at a great time and not suffered negative equity or any form of bad luck.

We certainly don't sit here going "well done us".

We were determined not to rent, in fact it never occurred to us to do so

Where do you even start with a smug statement like that. What a fucking vile thing to say.