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!

gressingham - forgive me - I've just used your criteria on Rightmove and looked for 2 bedroom, Bracknell, between £100 - £150k.

Out of the 6 results, two are auction sale only (not for FTB), and 4 are share-ownership (key worker / criteria driven).

Which ones are you suggesting are available for open market buyers?

Ok having read through I can accept that I was lucky in some respects and some things are down to chance. I also accept that house prices are ridiculously high making it difficult for first time buyers. Difficult but not impossible.

I feel that for some people my age (late 20's early 30's, and not all - like lots of people have said, everyone has different circumstances) they have missed a chance to get on the property ladder. I am a great believer that you can do have some control over your own destiny and people like my friend have made a choice to spend their money on other things than property. For people like this, who have similar circumstances to me, it is not luck but choice which has been the difference between making it or not yet making it into the property ladder.

Oh and Greebz you can save a lot by making changes like not buying lunch or coffees at work every day. Maybe not enough to save for a deposit on this alone but it all adds up.

I agree with you OP.

Whilst of course there are some who have nothing to spare, there are many who could save more but choose not to but then moan about their housing status.

Personally, I’d always prioritise owning a home if possible, (which I realise it isn’t for many people), so I think your friend may love to regret it later. But who knows? She might have another plan or maybe she doesn’t care.

Live*

Whether or not it's impossible will depend entirely on a person's circumstances. It isn't simply a question of moving out of London and stopping coffees.

This thread, perhaps not surprisingly given the demographics of MN, has focused on people who can secure full time work and also who have partners. There's been nothing about the people on the median salaries, or lower, in the cheap areas being discussed. People who are on zero hour contracts and can't get enough hours even for the reliability of tax credits income. People who, if they somehow do manage to save up a few grand for a deposit and costs, have to deplete it to qualify for income based benefits every time their contract ends (which, incidentally, is why it doesn't all add up, actually).

What you're basically talking about here OP is middle class, middle income people in their late 20s and 30s who both live in relatively cheap areas and have higher incomes than the median in those areas. You acknowledge that yourself when you talk about people who have similar circumstances to you. Yet when you say things like first time buying is difficult but not impossible, and savings on lunch and coffees can make a positive difference, you're basically applying your circumstances to that of the majority. Wrongly.

I actually refused to put everything I had into savings. I didn’t see the point in just about existing rather than living for years and years.

I did save some but personally I preferred to have some quality of life as well. I’m still lucky that I managed to buy - mainly because housing is so cheap here.

you can save a lot by making changes like not buying lunch or coffees at work every day

It’s like reading cosmopolitan. That’s where we’re all going wrong! We’re buying coffee in Starbucks.

Juliet that's not at all what I said

I have relatives in Europe who all rent and then they buy later on in life. So yes they save....but funnily enough they all manage to have holidays and mobile phones too. Perhaps because they are paid a proper wage and this includes those more menial jobs.

All my cousins are approaching retirement and have all managed to buy property despite years and years of renting and living life.

Perhaps we need to ask more about why it takes a life of utter abstinence if any fun before you have any hope of putting a roof over your head.

I'll be honest: I'll only be able to buy/own a house if I actually start getting paid better or my parents die so i have their house to either live in or sell.

I don't want my parents to die obviously. But thanks to greedy companies, the banks, the housing market, the government etc etc I'll probably never own a house. But I've accepted that, no use complaining about it as the only way I'll get one is by losing my parents and I don't want that.

It would arguably be better for the economy if people did spend more money on coffee than house deposits. Not Starbucks, obv, somewhere that pays their taxes. But frankly we should be grateful to people like OPs mates, not sneery about them.

Lol @ Starbucks. At 2.75 each, if I gave up my daily Starbucks it would only take me about 50 years to save up a decent deposit + stamp duty. Just stop drinking coffee people!

Btw most shared ownership schemes are not key worker related and they are an excellent way to buy if you couldn't otherwise so well worth a look

I notice susannah hasnt been back after having her privileges/luck explained to her.

We're in London and in our late 30s. We're fortunate to have bought a flat here 5 years ago - house prices were already high then, but not quite as bad as they are now. We have a high income and we're aware that meant that we were able to save a lot more than most people. But we didn't get help from parents or inheritance, and we rented a room in a shared flat for ten years before we could buy. Statistics show that about 34% of young people get help from their parents to buy a home, so 66% manage to save without that help. We do know other people on similar incomes who are renting and claim they can't save a deposit - but they are spending far more than we did on things we considered non-essentials - renting a self-contained flat, which costs far more than a shared room, frequent car use (we still don't own a car at all because it's not necessary in London), expensive gym contracts (we just work out in our bedroom). Also people expect to be able to save a deposit after years of travelling, frequent spending, and then only save for one or two years. For us, we started our saving straight after leaving university, and only bought in our early 30s, so it was over a decade of saving.

I often hear people say that it's impossible for anyone to buy in London, yet most of my friends of my age have been able to buy here, and not all of them are on high incomes (although most are earning at least the median). Many have settled for ex-council flats, often in areas far from the centre. A lot of them are from Asian families where it's very common for young adults to live in the family home until they marry/can buy somewhere - even if it means several adults sharing a room. I've heard some people say that they can't live with their parents as there's no room, yet I know other families with the same size house with more people living there.

I wish we could buy!! Even the new builds where I am for a 3 bed are upwards 220k, we private rent, pay the bills, have 2 kids & childcare to pay for, cars to run, we both work, earn £35k a year between us and we can only manage to save 200 a month towards a deposit. It's going to take us years to even get 5% for a new build, and I'd rather have an older house because I like them much better so we would need a 10% deposit.. I'm hoping we will get there one day.

We got in the property ladder 5 years ago by buying an utter dump for 245k in the SE. We could only do this because we were given money by Dh parents to help with deposit.
That same shitty almost uninhabitable bungalow went up 50k in less than a year before we even did any work. Having spent 50k on a serious renovation the house has been valued at 450k. This hike in prices is ridiculous and hard for first time buyers. Yabu

I earn just over 20k and live in London. Half my take-home pay every month goes on rent. I am so sick of people smugly telling me that if we ‘millennials’ just stopped buying avocados and coffee then we could all own our own homes by now. How many avocados do these people think we’re buying?!

Trying to get by in London on this salary is fucking shit and if I occasionally want to spend what little money I have on a meal out with friends in some attempt to enjoy life rather than just ‘existing’ then I will.

People may have still tried to insist that it's down to luck ,Fishfinger, but that most certainly doesn't make it correct.

I guess the thing to remember is that home ownership is not for everyone. Some people, for instance unskilled workers on low wages will probably never manage it. Also I am sure that some people genuinely don't want the responsibility (and cost) of maintaining a property, and would prefer to rent and let the landlord take care of the maintenance.

Of course, in the main, landlords are a hated breed on MN!

Thank you Suzannah for realising that home ownership IS actually beyond so many.

It's also beyond those on good including mes who cannot live at home with parents and save a deposit. Lots of people have no option but to move out ...nice if you CAN stay and save but it won't be an option for everyone.

And yes some won't want to buy. My relatives in Europe did not buy until their 50s and then bought mostly outright. But they managed that despite having to rent and despite buying coffees, having holidays etc. They were not all in well paid jobs but even those in more menial jobs have been able to buy in middle age.

Our country has an appalling track record for paying proper wages...unlike most of Europe.

"Incomes". not "including mes"

How did you manage to save a deposit in a year while paying rent and bills? That’s pretty impressive.

I think a lot of it is luck. We were certainly lucky. As well as doing a shell of a house up. But to buy it at all took some luck.