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!

We bought in a couple, had family help and bought in a bit of a dodgy area of an expensive commuter town. We're about to move further out, since I no longer work in London, and we'll get a much bigger, nicer house in a nicer town. We've been really lucky - if DH hadnt inherited money we'd still be renting.

Wrong part of the cycle to buy. Incomes will rise; property will be static for quite a few years I suspect.

People told us not to buy in 2015 because the market was clearly about to crash. If we'd listened I'm not sure we'd ever have got on the property ladder and we'd have chucked away £60k in rent between then and now.

@NewYearsRevolution2020

Are you looking at shared ownership or outright?

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-63327159.html

This studio is close to station and amenities and in a pleasant private development.

Welcome to the Home Counties. Lived in Kent and Sussex all my life, it's painful.

Husband is from up north, one of our favourite games is trawling Rightmove and moaning about how ridiculous the situation is. We could sell up and buy a big old pile outright if we wanted to settle somewhere just above Cambridge-way.

But we don't, so we keep on whinging 😂

@PlushPlush yes it makes short term moves a potential loss exercise

Yes we are skipping a step & will move again in a few more yrs. Will be a minimum of 30k stamp duty 🙄

@JoJoSM2 do you work for the Sutton tourist board or are you a property developer specifically in Sutton? 🤣 apologies if I offend you but I do find it funny how you pop up on every property thread extolling the virtues or linking to homes in your next of the woods.

@Pencilplantironingboard

A friend was on meds for her asthma for years in zone 2. Moved to zone 5 and no longer needs meds.

What's wrong with a terraced house as a first house? . There is only one of you. I am unsure why you are so shocked that one would cost 250,000 that sounds fairly reasonable to me.

We bought a run down terraced house, saved and paid off the mortgage over 10 years then moved. The trick is to start young in our experience.

We could sell up and buy a big old pile outright if we wanted to settle somewhere just above Cambridge-way

It isn't quite that simple there are expensive areas in the midlands and north also.

It isn't quite that simple there are expensive areas in the midlands and north also.

Even in most expensive areas though 1.5m gets you much more house than it would in my area.

Quite probably but there are places north of Cambridge where it costs 250k or so for a 2 bed terrace.

I mean this has had the whole works & is high end but it's still a terrace with no off-street parking

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/53938981?search_identifier=dd2cff98b64b235a01180d710d0e9f0e

I had to buy my first flat on my own as my boyfriend couldn't sell his studio. I was earning a lot less than you. All I could afford was a very run down ex rental flat, full of damp. It needed EVERYTHING doing - new bathroom/walls/flooring/central heating put in etc,... I also had an hour and 30 mins commute to work.

After 2 years of spending every day off work painting/sanding/plastering etc I sold it, and with the money I made on it, we bought out 3 bed semi in a Kent commuter village.

It was hard work but worth it. All of my friends and siblings have had to do the same. I don't know anyone who has bought their first property and not had to do lots of work to it.

I had a look at Cambridge as I was thinking of moving there for work.

It isn't far off London prices but without a London salary.

I didnt want to move to a tiny village for cheaper as I'd be all alone.

What do we think of this house?

What puts me off is that really isn't a second bedroom...behind the lounge.

I like it though but would it be too hard to sell? It suits me now but obvs future it may not.

www.zoopla.co.uk/new-homes/details/photos/52204205

@downlow I’m a SAHM. Seeing as the poster is looking for a flat in S London on a tight budget, I thought that one is a good one.

I used to live between the commons, very near where the linked house is. Loved it as a singleton but thought it was a bit shitty to bring up children there.

Sorry full description here

www.zoopla.co.uk/new-homes/details/52204205

@MyuMe

maps.cdrc.ac.uk/#/geodemographics/iuc18/default/BTTTFPT/14/-0.3420/51.4674/

The area looks ok. A lot of plane noise and really a one-bed property for a lot of money.

@JoJoSM2

That was my concern. It is a one bed house.

Scope to convert the loft though.

The only other thing is that they have wiped £140k off the asking price in the last 6 months. So.maybe scope for a lower offer as they can't sell it.

£250k doesn’t get you much in many areas of England nowadays.

First homes are nearly always a stretch, as PP have said.

People get around it by buying in couples, buying with friends, buying do-er uppers, compromising by buying smaller/less desirable areas/fewer features like garden, parking etc than they would have ideally liked.

Changing worktops and a bath isn’t ‘gutting’, IMO. Gutting is stripping it back to plaster (or further), rewiring, new everything.

@MyuMe I think it's fine. I'd rather have a bedroom downstairs than the bathroom downstairs

Loved it as a singleton but thought it was a bit shitty to bring up children there.

🤣🤣🤣 Oops, obviously I touched a nerve! We are a bit further out as can't afford to live there but would in a heartbeat or Wim Village.

I wouldn't say Sutton is shitty as I wouldn't say that no matter where someone lived. However there is a reason that it's one of the few remaining affordable boroughs in London despite good housing stock, transport links & good schools.....

@PlushPlush oh yes. I have seen so many houses with the only bathroom and toilet on the ground floor behind the kitchen.

What if you or your child is sick in the night or need the loo at night?!

I wouldn't want a bathroom on the ground floor.

My student rental had the bathroom behind the kitchen, I didn't realise how common it was until then. Hated it.

@downlow I’m not saying Between the Commons is shitty as I had my first flat there and it’s an upmarket area. I met DH at the Grand, too I just didn’t rate it as a family area as it’s built up, the commons are overrun, any pools, tennis courts etc are overrun, all the prep have tiny, uninspiring sites etc.

Wim Village I like better as a family place as you get better open spaces and with the right budget, you can get a decent house with garden (at least they exist). Sutton High St I don’t love but then I can get go Wim Village in 20 mins if I fancy a change of scenery.

@MyuMe I’m sure the developer would have built into the loft if it was possible so I wouldn’t get your hopes up.