To think that house buying is the norm in my world?

[Friendly1234]

NC’d for this, I was reading an article this morning about how ppl are finding it hard to get on the property ladder these days and I realized that literally every single one of my friends and family have been buying houses with relative ease for the past 10 years (I’m in my early 30’s!) so from what I can see it’s the norm to buy (and build houses) at around 24-26!! I wouldn’t say my friend have particularly high powered jobs either, most are nurses, teachers and have apprenticeships. A few even work in retail!!

I really, really hate it when people say "we worked really hard to buy our house".
Why?
Saying they worked really hard to buy their house isn't a judgement on how hard anyone else works.

I'd say I worked hard to buy my house. I made a series of decisions over a number of years (including giving up my first career to retrain) in order to put myself in a better position. It doesn't mean anyone who isn't in my situation hasn't worked hard, but I would be pissed off if anyone had an issue with me linking my efforts to buying my house.

Friendly1234, so your Friends in retail buying their housrs is, because one's in Management and the other has a Partner with a decent job. So not the shop assistants that you suggested in your "anyone can do it" post.

It's really hard to buy in Dublin and its environs unless your family are well off and can give you a helping hand.

I see both sides of the coin. We used to live (away from family) within commuting distance of, with one child. Rent was 800 a month for a shithole, childcare was a grand a month for TERM TIME ONLY. Our joint income was about ￡50-55 and there was no chance we would ever buy a house. We moved back to a big city in the north, childcare costs dropped 3/4s because my mum was doing it, rent dropped to ￡650.

The drop in rent and childcare meant we could scrape together enough for a deposit, and buy a house for around ￡200k. Homeownership went from impossible to totes achievable in 2 years. If i'd not had the first experience I would be thinking the same as the OP.

• within commuting distance of london *￡50-55k

Actually anyone CAN do it. If you don't want to live in the most desirable and expensive area and can restrict your outgoings whilst you save for a deposit.

I feel for people who were brought up in London and want to stay there for family contacts, but outside of that bubble there's a whole world of affordable housing, green space and... Contrary to popular belief decent jobs.

I bought my first house in a shit hole area and the house wasnt much better and lived in said shithole whilst doing it up for 3 years.

Lots of people just aren't prepared to do that and expect a perfect house right away and will throw their money away renting until the perfect house turns up I. E. When the housing crash happens, ps. It won't...

treacle Have you read the thread? When you say anyone I presume you mean anyone apart from all the people on this thread who have explained very clearly the reasons why for many people home ownership is not currently and may not ever be possible for them. Unless you are more familiar with our circumstances than we are?

Laki I am further along the coast by about 10 miles in West Sussex and prices are cheaper. I would say from those prices you are looking at hove or Brighton. 10 miles from Brighton you can buy a new build one bed flat for £150k.
Moving 10 miles is doable both in terms of work and staying near family.

We moved into my mum's box room for a year to save our deposit. We scrimped and saved as much as we could. We bought at 23.

All my closest friends bought around 23-26yo too. We are all Northern though so a 2bed in an ok ish area is about 100k.

I do have other friends and family in my life who want to buy but aren't willing to alter their lifestyle to save money. So it's obviously going to take longer. It's no matter though - homeowning really isn't the be all and end all.

I am the same age as you OP. I bought my first house when I was twenty one - no family help, no staying with family to save, no gifts. And (shock) I worked in retail (!!!)

How come you didn’t buy when you were twenty one? Now apply those reasons to other people - think outside your box.

I was lucky to be able to buy a property for about 50k when I was about 23 (20 years ago). It was a completely different time and properties were (and are ) cheap in comparison to many places in the UK (we are in the S Wales valleys). My brother currently rents in W London and small houses like the one I bought 20 years ago would cost him over a million in the area he’s in.
It’s impossible to compare buying now with buying back then.

@Treacletoots I almost agree.. I think a lot more people could buy if that’s all they cared about, but the sacrifices for some would be far greater then they are for others. ie.. giving up everything they have ever known, friends, family, job, quality of life to move to an area where they possibly could afford and for most it’s just not worth it.

I would love to own a house where I live. Big city, but I’m priced out.. I’d also like to move somewhere I could afford but it would be like 2 hours away to a smaller town, but It would mean my DD would grow up away from her dad and her grandparents and I would be isolated and in the end, family is more important.

The housing market needs a huge overhaul and more regulation but so does the british attitude to home ownership. Why should people prioritise it above all else? Why should it be seen as an achievement only accessible to those who work hard enough? It should be something accessible to everyone, but in its current state it isn’t.

The argument that people who grew up in London should just leave to be able to own a house is ridiculous - if all the minimum and average wage earners leave London, who’s going to work in shops, wait tables, clean toilets and offices, nurse patients, make food, clean the streets, empty the bins? You want it to be a wasteland of rich people with no public amenities?

I also can’t imagine having wanted to buy anywhere in my 20s. I lived in a few different cities and tried out different jobs, I’d hate to still be tied to any of those jobs or places now! For me, trying things out to find the best life situation for me was the best path. I’m in London and renting as are 95% of people I know. My career (i have pretty much my dream job) and friends are here - it would be pointless for me to move just to own a house because I’d have to leave all the things that make me happy. But that’s me. I’m not blinkered enough to not realise other peopl approach life differently and houses are cheaper elsewhere. But studies and stats show house prices are rising faster than the cost of living, so even if it is t a problem for YOU, it is overall a problem

I have family in the Midlands who have had this experience. They work in a range of jobs, but lots of have one parent working part time or in quite low paid work etc but comfortably afford a pleasant 3 bed semi.

In the SE/London it's a different world. "London allowances" in terms of higher salaries can mean a job is paid say £35k vs £28k... after tax/pension (and corresponding reductions in benefits etc at lower pay levels) kick in, the extra salary nowhere near bridges the gap between the £160k or so you need to buy a semi in the Midlands, and the £600k or so a similar property can cost in London. It impacts both the huge deposit & stamp duty to be saved, plus the large salary required just to borrow enough.

In Cornwall and my friendship group is very varied in terms of jobs and upbringing. A terraced house here cost 10 x the average local wage of just £20k and rents are high. Everyone I know who bought a house has had help from family with the deposit. You would need to be in a couple too.
DH and I were lucky to buy at 23 with a small amount of help and now we own that property outright with a mortgage on another one, but again that was with help from family so I can’t say what we had is normal. Those without family help are sadly struggling to pay rents never mind buy a house. We did offer a reduced rent in our rental property to some friends but they couldn’t afford to move from their area.

Good for you?

I’m 33 and earn well in excess of 100k a year and DH isn’t far behind. We rent. The places that we would want to buy in the UK are going to be upwards of 800k. Because we are not currently living in the UK, getting a mortgage will be tricky and will require a 25% deposit. So that’s at least 200k.

That would buy you a house in many parts of the country.

And I’m not saying woe is me. I don’t mind renting. And obviously I could buy something much cheaper (without a mortgage at all)

But that’s why we (and a lot of our expat friends) haven’t bought.

I think it's priorities as well some of the time, I hear people complaining that they can't buy a house but then they have spent 20k on their wedding. I had a cheap as chips wedding and bought a house so never had to rent.

I have the same experience as you OP. Our house was 60K and neither of us earn more than 18.5k a year. It's a two-bed terrace with a decent sized garden by the sea and we still have a great quality of life too.

However I've said that before on here and been totally shot down for it

adaline I dont think anyone will shoot you down because you've been able to buy a lovely house cheaply..that's brilliant. Its just recognising that for everyone it might not be possible because of their particular situation, it's about being able to see that not everyone has the same experiences and that life is different for everyone.

All my friends do also however we aren’t in an expensive area.

We bought our first house when we were 18, both while at university and working FT also, it was cheaper to buy than it was to rent.

I’m on another thread right now about the difficulties of raising kids without family support. It’s so hard, and the fact that people have to put themselves in this situation in order to afford to buy a house and provide a stable home for their kids is awful.

Yes, if you live in London and earn loads, you could probably move to the middle of nowhere / very far away and afford a house quite easily but what’s your life going to be like when you get there?

Wages relative to the cost of living are completely out of whack in this country (and many others). Like I said earlier, my single mum bought a small house with a mortgage for 2x annual salary when I was little. Many of our parents were the same, and now those properties are worth hundreds of thousands. The house she bought here cost £81k in the 1990 and sold for £400k in 2017.

The same increase now would be unthinkable, I can’t see our tiny terrace being worth over a million in 2045.

But your world isn't everyone's world, it certainly isn't mine.

We'd love to be able to buy but the job market isn't rife here, we don't have any financial support from others (nor do we expect it) and finding a deposit would take us years when we're getting by on what we have with a little left over.

It's very frustrating to read all these posts from people in the south saying how they can't possible move to somewhere cheaper as they'd be moving away from family, friends etc. The reason I feel so frustrated is that it was their parents generation that had absolutely no sympathy for people living in the north who were unemployed in the 80's. We were told to get on our bikes and look for work. So my advise to those unable to buy where they are would be to get on your bike and look for a house. You dont have to live in the South East.

@tangledyarn I do absolutely recognise that - but I got told I must have had help fr family or an inheritance or something - it's like some people refuse to believe it's possible for others because it's not possible for them.

The location we bought in is beautiful but has its drawbacks - no public transport and very few amenities. Lots of people wouldn't want to buy or move here because of that. But it was a sacrifice we had to make to get a house we could afford.

Most of the houses bought by friends varied from 160 to 250ish. Our first home was £230. So not cheap.

Yes that is really cheap - wouldn't get a one bed flat around here for that