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!

250k is "cheap" in my eyes (I know I can't believe I am saying this)

But am in London and trying to buy my first home - buying with my Husband though and looking like we will be able to get a 2 bed ground floor flat in a row of terrace houses for £400k

Repayments are about £1400 a month

If I was on my own there isn't a hope in hell I'd be able to get a place though!!

Where are you looking KaptenKrusty? I agree with Jojo, you can get a 2 bed in London cheaper than that. Mitcham/Norwood Junction/Plumstead/Croydon/Anerley/Penge just off the top of my head I’ve seen 2 beds on the market for less

@Sienna290 £250k isn't much for a house in reality, a run down terrace sounds about right

@jojo that does depend on which part of London though. I'm in a grotty area but it's zone 2 with excellent transport links and there is nothing on the market for £250k

@dodgeballchamp

Looking in Walthamstow / Leyton / Leytonstone - there are cheaper ones out there - but most are bloody grim and very tiny!

Some of the 2nd bedrooms you wouldn't even fit a single bed in!

Viewed one the other day priced at 300k - it was the upstairs of a house - and the bathroom was almost in the kitchen - it was awful!

We are having an open mind and looking a little away from things / transport links and price coming down a little !

By searching properties in the 375 - 400k you get a lot more than 250- 300k price range (some even with beautiful gardens)

we are weighing it up - bigger mortgage, house ready to move into and livable without needing to do any work & a bit more space

OR a smaller mortgage, lots to do to it and maybe never be happy with the tiny amount of space that we have, probably no outside space - etc

A few years back (so prices have gone up even more since...) DH was approached about a job in the Home Counties. We did some maths and to be able to maintain rhe same standard of quality of life and home that we have 100 odd miles away, he'd need to be offered double the salary. That's after DH getting on the ladder in a 90s dip and being in a good position

I really don't envy young people trying to get started in the South East!

You don’t live in the area of your work you commute in and live in a cheaper area.

It depends where you are looking in Kent.

In some places £250000 will buy you more than inothers

Help from parents. I know three first time buyers who bought in London last year:

Late 30s single female - Parents gave her 150k. Dad is a respected solicitor, but I think most of the family money came from previous property investments.

Late 20s couple - His parents gave them 50k. They had approx. 20k of their own savings. His dad is a multi-millionaire businessman.

Early 40s single female - Parents gave her 20k, the rest was a mix of years of savings/her salary.

You buy the grotty flat and do it up like millions of people who have nice houses now have done. Lots of people say they can’t afford to buy but what they mean is, they can’t afford to buy the house they want

Some of us cant even afford the grotty flats. They're not cheap in london

Example here: when I were a lad me and then mrs bought a place for £10K around 1979. She was a nurse I had a job, didnt pay much BUT we could manage on that what we earnt etc, and afford the mortage all good:)

Now 2020;

Current price of said houses that street is £440K odd maybe a bit more!

So now we need to fund a around 400 K mortage?. so around a100K a month income "ish" between two people say?

Do-able possibly but not comfortabele and if one drops out to look after children and if mortage rates ever go up very painfull ,it t'aint as easy as it once was!

I bought in London in 1986. I bought with a friend and the flat cost 3 x our joint salaries. We bought a 2 bed with 2 tiny bedrooms just enough room to squeeze in 2 very small double beds and a small wardrobe.

DH and I bought together (commuter town to London). 3 bed terrace in 2015 for 260k. Earning a combined 45k(ish).

Borrowed substantial deposit (55k) from FIL which we are paying back monthly. It is interest free and he let's us pause payments at any time, basically saying anything outstanding when he passes just comes off my DH's inheritance.

We moved to our current 3/4 bed semi in 2018. Ended up making 65k on the last house so that, along with an increase in mortgage of 90k due to an increase in earning to 75k allowed us to move. This house cost 425k.

Unfortunately unless you are fortunate with a large deposit and a high salary, its really difficult to buy a home down South as a single person.

Still though - Husband & I bring in a fairly average joint household income and to pay for said 400k house we hope to buy - it will still be about 100£ less a month than what we pay on rent for a 1 bed apartment in same area - we will have a 2 bed house then - possibility to get a lodger for a bit to help bring in a bit of cash etc

The hardest bit has been getting the deposit together tbh - we have had a crappy few years saving every penny we can get and working second jobs at the weekends to get cash to save 40k

I don’t know many people who bought house before they got married even in the 90’s when it cost 3 x one salary. One friend did then sold it to pay for the wedding and a deposit on the family home but it certainly wasn’t typical for single women to buy a home even then. Like many things the “norm” two income families has pushed the prices of everything to absorb any on paper gains and now we’re all buggered

Massive mortgages

@Inliverpool1

Do you mean the borough of Bromley? A lot of it are desirable family areas but it’s a big place, home to over 300k people. 250k would maybe get you a one bed somewhere ok. If you saw a house at that price, it’s probably very undesirable like a combination of A busy motorway/smelly sewers/rough neighbours etc.

@ JoJoSM2 I can totally relate to that, I’ll be honest I’m very much of the opinion once I shut my own front door I don’t care where I live but obviously everyone’s got different needs/wants

Yes. So friend of mine bought her first flat in London with a friend. Sold it when she moved in with her boyfriend in another flat a bit more expensive (both earning more so bigger mortgage). After a few years sold up, value had gone up, pay had gone up, moved slightly less good area and bought a bigger place with bigger mortgage. Did work to it, stayed there, paid off as much as they could of mortgage as and when, now worth over £1m. They could not buy it now on their pay but climbed the ladder.

Have you spoken to a mortgage broker - you could get more than that with a £50k deposit?

We bought a 3 bed semi detached bungalow in Surrey for 320k 7 years ago and did it up - it's worth £550k now apparently. We just kept working hard to earn enough to add a couple of extensions and renovate it (plus our income went up in those years). We earned a similar amount to you then and had a £32k deposit.

Those were f you who bought ‘grotty flats’ ups you break it down a bit more (how you made money)?

So, buy grotty flat for 200k. Live there for 2 years in which time you have turned it into a nice flat (kitchen/bathroom/walls/flooring/kerb appeal).

After two years, due to hpi flats in the area are now selling for 220k plus you have turned it into something really nice.
Flat sells for 225k so with the balance you paid off on your mortgage in two years (10k) leaves you with a mortgage of 190k plus the higher sale value (225k) leaves you 35k profit.

From that you take your out the costs involved in doing it up, say 5k so that profit 30k which becomes your deposit for next place.

What have I missed?

Apart from all the typos and autocorrect, sorry

250k isn't much for a house in reality, a run down terrace sounds about right

It isn’t much down south. In the North you can buy a 5 bed house for 250k or less tbh. The disparity is bonkers.

You would still need either a very generous deposit or a good salary to get the mortgage in the first place unless you are a couple.

@NewYearsRevolution2020 we are doing up our flat. We didn't spruce it up, we've carried out structural works and made a second bedroom. A two bedroom flat on our road can go for £525k. We bought for £390k. Have paid off £40k of our mortgage and spent about £30k doing the work. Assuming we sell around £500k we'd have made £110k. There is a huge price difference between 1 and 2 beds so that is why we did it and hopefully we can go on to buy something bigger when we sell.