AIBU to think it's ridiculous that a doctor and lawyer have to house share?

[blacknoire]

My DD and her DP are both young professionals working in central London, recently qualified. AIBU to think it's pretty stupid that a professional young couple who have clearly worked very hard to reach this stage, have to live in a shared flat as property is so expensive? This is with a commute of 40 minutes.

Goodness knows how people who work normal jobs can afford to work centrally. Who on earth can actually afford property in their 20s in London?

Well, central London IS expensive. Presumably they've chosen to live there for a reason though?

And this is why they’ll be a house price crash soon. It was just the same before the last crash - professionals couldn’t afford a fairly basic flat /house. The market will correct itself soon

How does it matter what job they do?

YANBU London is extortionate

We pay £1000pm for a tiny flat with one bedroom, one cooking/living area all in one space and a bathroom.

yup - its also shit that people work full time, get minimum wage and still need benefits to live any kind of life

many people in their 20s cant afford property outside of London, and many people, full stop cant afford houses in central London

Recently qualified professionals houseshare in London? Quick, inform the papers...

They are at the beginning of their careers. It is totally normal.

DH houseshared in 1989 and with no family backing it was pretty awful. Just finished pupillage.

40 mins into London is good. Am I missing something here?

DH doesn't live in a houseshare anymore

Don't live in London !! Lawyers and doctors are needed all over the country .

Tell them to get some imagination and go live in the Isle of Wight, Shropshire , East Sussex or the Highlands (where they are really desperate for doctors) and in the meantime they can get a fantastic quality of life and raise a family in a place that's not polluted, massively overpriced and full of people !

They will be able to not only afford a house but a bloody good one too on a doctors / lawyers salaries.

London is not the be all.

It's not because they work hard that it's ridiculous. It's because the type of work they do is expected to enable them to afford more.

Lucky they're not nurses. Or teachers etc.

But I'm in agreement that the housing market is ridiculous in London.

Do they care? They've chosen to work in London, it's swings and roundabouts, amazing stuff to do/visit but extortionate rent. Pretty standard for London.

I absolutely agree it's pretty awful for all, not just graduates. I mention their jobs, as they've taken on a huge amount of student debt to even reach this level.

I agree. My DH and I are professionals, earn £80k combined (£100k If I were full time) and couldn’t afford anything like our current place if we were starting now.

We live in an unfashionable London suburb but as it’s on the tube is still stupid money.

Do they have student debts to pay off, I am a professional, qualified in late 80s at the age of 30 and couldn't afford to live in central London at all, I always shared flats or halls. I bought my first home with my DP when I was 41, that was a suburb. Maybe their combined salaries would allow them to get a mortgage.

I'm a bit surprised that they've chosen to live somewhere where they can't afford to buy a house to be honest.

Lawyers shared houses in This Life and that was in the 90’s, so hardly a new phenomenon. I know that it’s not real, btw.

Maybe London is home and they don't want to move. Ordinary people shouldn't be excluded from living in London because of house prices. Besides if all the teachers, doctors, nurses, shop assistants etc move out, how will the city function?

How does it matter what job they do
I think that the perception is that they are doing well paid jobs. They aren't in central London, they are 40 minutes out, and in well paid jobs and still have to house share. That is pretty rubbish. It's not because it's become the new normal that house prices in London are extortionate that it's ok.

Junior lawyers aren't very well paid these days. When I newly qualified I was living above my means be renting a one bed in Manchester. I knew others with a little more experience who were in house shares.

SEriously if they just qualified - flat sharing is a ball.

I am one of those two professions and my flat mates were one lawyer, one accounts manager and one PA - we had a blast, in London.

I had to be flexible about where I lived due to changing jobs - it suited. SEriously a junior doctor earns about £28K in the first few years - what are your expectation for their salaries?

The trouble with being a junior doctor is you don’t really get to choose. You can rank your preferred deanery but not the exact hospital. You might want Dorchester and end up with Isle of Wight as both are Wessex. You might get central London whilst your partner gets Hastings despite putting the same deanery. It’s all done on rankings rather than choice.

blacknoire

It is the 40 minute commute that I think they could cut down on.

If they came out of London they would probably get into work a lot quicker and could afford more.

We are just outside of London but the train takes nearly half that time to get into the City but it is a pretty boring middle aged place to live.

Dp and his peers (similar qualifications) were working in bars and stacking shelves after they qualified just to live and save for a deposit.

What other jobs are they doing.

YABU

they only recently qualified, it's not a modern thing for a doctor and lawyer to need a few years to become comfortable.
What is recent is for people to expect to get everything straight away!

One of my former au-pair who is now an air-hostess and married a plumber just bought their first flat in central London, they are 26-28 and have no family help. People manage, but it depends on their expectations.

Well i dont know about lawyers but comparitivley speaking junior Drs are not that well paid even in the North west i knew quite a few who lived in hospital accomadation .This Life camel finger i loved that programme!

Neither junior doctors or lawyers get paid that much. You can get paid a lot later (especially in law - until you hit consultant/GP medical pay is still fairly shit) but starting salaries are fairly low.

Everyone house shares when they start out. So what? It's fun. Why do you think they're entitled to be able to afford their own place in London at this stage? I have a nice house now, but when I was starting out in London I flat shared, like every single other young professional who lived there. This is also true of NY (you might remember a show called Friends) and of most capital cities globally. Many of them are more expensive per square foot than London, in fact.

Recently qualified = relatively low salary