To wonder how ordinary people afford to live in such expensive places?

[Sienna290]

I have been job hunting and I saw a position based in Kent. I am not planning to apply for it but just out of curiosity I went on Rightmove to see how much it would cost to live there.

I earn 52,000 and would have a deposit of 50 so I was looking at around quarter of a million for starters. This would buy me - a rundown terrace or a one bed / studio flat.

Do most people buy in couples? Or is this just how it is in expensive towns and cities - ordinary people don’t live there!

There is no way either of us could have bought alone.

By living up north 😃 here £250000 will get you a lovely 4 bed new build on a nice estate with a garden and a garage. We have a large 1950s 3 bedroom house with 2 double bedrooms and a box room with a huge garden and garage and it’s worth £150000.

If you have never owned before, the first one is always a struggle.

There's something wrong when people can't buy a house on a mortgage, but they ending up paying somebody else's.

Being in a couple makes a huge difference! I'm on your salary and I'd given up hope of buying anything down south till I met DH. We're now in the process of buying a small 3 bedroom house in a commuter town for £450k after saving for 3 years - we lived off his salary and put all of mine into savings.

Really depends where in Kent you're looking got because the employment rate and average salaries differ hugely from the East to the West of the county. Mid to East Kent is generally cheaper, West Kent and North Kent are particularly pricey and south Kent is the middle ground.

50k is a very good salary but a 200k mortgage will not get you a house anywhere in London (and I mean anywhere and in any state!) and most of the South East is almost as expensive, a lot of Kent is very affluent.

Almost all first time buyers, single or a couple, look at flats only

Most people buy in couples and have either already managed to make money in the property market (eg by buying a v cheap studio flat in a shitty area of London that then magically doubled in price), or are using money from parents or dead grandparents. An amazing number of people have an inheritance of some kind. One guy at work in his mid 20s was telling me quite earnestly that the shit thing about being in your mid 20s is having less money than you did at 21 when you came into your trust. He seemed baffled when I told him that not everyone has a trust.

Anyway most people I know have somehow made money buying cheap property and being lucky in a rising market then moving to a different area where market hasn’t risen yet. I don’t seem to have the knack!

As @Cyberlibre said , Depends on where in Kent really

There are your expensive to me areas such as Tenterden, Royal Tunbridge Wells, the beautiful (I'd live there in a shot with a large lottery win) Wingham near Canterbury . They are all pretty expensive.

Every single person I know who currently lives in a really nice house/area has had financial help from parents or grandparents.

Houses in my area are similar. For £250K I can but an ex-council flat with 2 bedrooms and a garden in the rough part of the city but able to cycle/walk/public transport to centre in 20 minutes. Or a rundown two bed terrace 6 miles out of the city. Or a 3 bed park home (static caravan). Or a new build, 2 bed flat again 20 minutes by public transport.

So we moved out of the city and have a commute of 1-1.5 hours. We bought as a couple but had a household income of about £50k when we bought. We saved a 5% deposit. Bought a house for £190K that was liveable but needed work doing to it. We have saved to do some work but we need to do a lot more. Our fixed term mortgage runs out in a year, so we will take some equity out of the house to finally do the house up (assuming house prices don’t collapse, in which case it’ll remain a project until we can save more money). This will be four years after moving in.

Round here a one bedroom is 460K. My three bedroom flat is about 900K. I couldn't afford it if I didn't already own it. I recommend you do what I did, buy in 1998.

I bought the tiny one bed flat to get on the ladder!

Zone 3 London I should add. 250k. They do exist! It’s an up and coming area with loads of redevelopment, former studio so about 30 square metres total. It’s needed a lot of work but worth it.

How do you think most of us got on the housing ladder in the first place? Your first house/flat is usually pretty shitty. But you improve it and move onwards and upwards.

Depends on your expectations. I’m buying alone, on a 45k salary, 5% deposit, a 1 bed flat in south east London for 200k. I don’t think it’s shit or run down at all. I’m single and my parents are poor so no chance of help or buying in a couple (plus I want it to be mine). I’m lucky to earn the salary I do which makes it possible. But saying there are no properties below 350k+ in London AT ALL is simply not true. I also viewed flats in woolwich and norwood that were around 180k

Prices in the last few years have been insane. Both my sister and I purchased homes in 2013 based on 1 income each. South East London you could find many 3 bedroom houses under 300k... now no chance. Im grateful Im on the ladder for sure. I do wonder if the 800k-1m properties will start dropping in price eventually or whether they will just get bought up by foreign investors.

I moved in with now DH & his family while we saved. Family then lent us £20k towards the deposit. We rented the flat out for 2 years, still staying with family, & used the rent money to pay back the loan. The flat was a 2 bed, also down south, not far from Kent. It cost £170k 10 years ago

We were extremely lucky to have family who could help us

£250k doesn't buy a lot most places tbh. A 3 bed ex council here is £200k

I bought the run down studio flat to get on the ladder. Worked 2 jobs. Saved hard.
Then I luckily met my (then) DP who'd done the same. We pooled our equity and took out a bigger mortgage and now live in a bigger home.
We'll never afford a fancy big house. But we love the area we live and have just enough space for us and DD. Couldn't afford more DC.
We were both lucky to have jobs and prospects and opportunities to compromise. But it's bloody difficult and I realise many simply won't be able to buy.

I didn't get any help or inheritance.

First property saved like anything, literally didn't buy anything non essential for several years) and scraped together 10% deposit to buy a 3 bed for £210k. (In 2013). Bought as a couple but think our joint salary less childcare wouldn't have been much more than £50k

Sold that house for £290k in 2018 so "made" £70 k in a few years (which is ridiculous!). Used the equity from that plus more savings we had put away to buy a detached 5 bed - negotiated the price from £470k down to £430k as they were keen to sell and market was slowing. (Plus promotions meant we had nearly doubled our net income)

It is a shitty system because it is so tough to get on the ladder and then as prices rise the gulf keeps widening between home owners and those who don't. I spent enough time thinking home ownership might be unattainable to sympathise hugely with people who can't get on the ladder.

But I do think if you can scrape together enough to buy somewhere "not perfect" then it is worth doing because the combination of (probable) house price rises plus any renovations you do plus chipping at the capital debt means all of a sudden houses you thought were "out of range" become achievable.

It shouldn't be like this though. Prices relative to earnings are insane at the moment.

I don’t know if Bromley is considered nice but I was looking at moving there and found 2 bedroomed houses for under €250,000 yesterday. Some were fixer uppers but I’d gut any house I moved into anyway

@Inliverpool1 what does 'gutting' actually mean? Just stripping everything out?

New kitchen worktops and bath at the very least. I always change the bath it freaks me out the idea of using a preowned bath.

But generally replace any carpets, paint in colours I like, that sort of thing. I don’t rip stuff out for the sake of it.

I’m in London and you can get a 2-bed fixer upper flat for250k (large flat with a garage and a share of freehold). Average salary in London is 40k.

Let’s not over-exaggerate with these prices.