To think I don’t have a hope in hell of buying a property

[Terrified1]

I’m 27, still renting, on a 22k salary. I got myself into quite a bit of credit card debt in my early 20s which I thankfully have now paid off without help from anyone. A lot of my friends seem to now be buying lovely houses, small but cosy with pretty little gardens. I just feel so low about how far away I am from being there. I’m single, in a flatshare, and will not have any money given to me like most of my friends have had from parents. I think others saved deposit money due to living at home with parents and therefore paying little/no rent but I don’t have this option. A 2 bed house where I live is about 190k. Is it nuts for me to hope I could do this on my own? I Currently saving £600 a month. I swing between feeling optimistic and just utterly defeatist

You are doing well saving each month after paying off your debts, so he proud of yourself.

Your income is quite low so inevitably it will take longer to save but you'll get there.

Any chance your salary can go up in the next few years?

Remember that you are likely to have to work in your mid to late 69s, so plenty of time to get on your feet and become a house owner.

Your friends might be lucky to have done so a bit earlier with help, but the satisfaction you'll get to buy one with your own savings as a deposit is a feeling they'll never equal.

Look around at what's available to buy in your area, and figure out what is a must for you and what you can compromise on (eg, if you want a 2 bed house with a garden as your first purchase but that might be a difficult first target, would you be willing to have a flat with a balcony or communal gardens?). If you know what your must-haves are, you can start to work out how to finance your first home purchase.

Read up on how Help To Buy works, figure out what a mortgage lender would lend you, look into new builds in your area with shared ownership and see whether that might be an option for you. Once you know what the gap is between your current deposit and what you can get via a mortgage, you'll know how long you have to go before you can buy your own place.

I'm 26 and some of my friends are living at home, some are renting with a partner, some have bought a home with their partner. We're all at different stages of our lives and earning different amounts. It's really hard not to compare with others but important to remember that everyone is dealt a different hand, no circumstances are the same.

You're doing so well already:
Paid off debt ✅
Living away from home ✅
Knowing how to live with others ✅
Living your life independently ✅
Saving a regular amount monthly ✅ (£600 is amazing!)

The things you've done and are doing aren't easy to do.

I don't think it's possible for many people to buy a house alone (not saying it's impossible either). They need a very high earning job, a partner or help from parents or an inheritance or a bit of this all.

I've felt a lot of angst about buying my first home after seeing so many friends settle with a partner, get engaged and buy a house. It feels like they're succeeding in a place I'm not. The reality is that they've had lots of help to get where they are and saving alone takes a long time. I think it'll be 5 years or so before I save a big enough deposit for a semi detached home in my area (£300-350k)

Sent too soon! Was going to say it'll take 5 years but I'll still need a partner to afford buying a home, managing repayments and bills.

Maybe also look at getting a flat to start with rather than a house, it's foot on the ladder and you can get something bigger in 2-3 years once you're earning more and you have some deposit in the equity.

Have you thought about shared ownership? I would usually say avoid it like the plague, however, on a salary of 22k, I don’t think realistically you will afford to buy a place on your own unless you live in an area with lower than average property prices, as the absolute max you will be able to borrow is 4.5-5 times your yearly salary which is £110k tops.

Would definitely suggest looking at cheaper, smaller properties first, even if it's not ideal for you.
It'll take you longer, definitely, but oh my word what an achievement it'll feel when you get there, knowing you did it all yourself.

£600 a month towards savings is brilliant!

I would save for a 5% deposit and go for a flat. Then when/if you meet a partner in the future, you can move up the ladder.

It's always been very difficult where I live to buy alone. Nearly everyone I know couldn't buy until they did it with a partner (or had a big inheritance). Keep saving and look at new builds - they often have schemes to help first time buyers.

Not necessarily - the fact you are saving is really good. Keep an eye on your credit score - I had debt issues cleared them and now as I don't use any credit cards my score has dipped so it's worth making a monthly purchase and paying off.

Depending on where your savings are at and where you live in the country there could be loads of schemes to take advantage of - we used help to buy and cut a year off our search.

Also lots of new builds near where we live he incentives such as they pay the stamp duty which again is a huge saving.

Lastly - although family can't help with cash - are they in a position to buy with you?

£600 a month savings is fantastic. As others have said, what are the prospects of earning more work wise? Whereabouts in the country do you live? If a house costs £190K hopefully you could pick up a flat for £140K?

If you get a two bed, you could take in a lodger to then save more towards a house. In three years you'd have at least a 10% deposit at the rate you're saving now and house prices are also likely to drop soon so it's worth waiting anyway.

Have you got a Lifetime ISA (LISA)? You can save up to £4000 a year in one and the government will top up 25%, so you’ll get an extra £1000 a year towards your deposit

I know one person who has managed to but a home on their as a single person, and that's only because she lives in a very cheap area (and she was earning a lot more than 22k, and was older than 27).

Either aim lower, for a flat at first, or keep doing what you're doing and saving as much as you can and if you meet someone it'll be a lot easier to buy as a couple

600 a month is an amazing amount to be saving, you should be very proud of yourself! You will get there, it just takes time. The banks will look more favourably on the fact you're paying rent and saving money.

Well done for saving £600 per month - you are well on the way to getting onto the property ladder and are doing fine.

At the rate you are going it will only take about 16 months to save up a 5% deposit. Property prices are not going to be increasing much any time soon so your target properties will still be around the same price in Summer 2021. You'll need to be disciplined and focus on the bigger picture, not being tempted into luxuries to enjoy now, you can do this.

Once you have a mortgage, make sure you overpay as much as possible - you won't be able to rely on property prices increasing to gift you additional equity as has been the case for previous generations, so you will need to overpay your mortgage to get the debt down ASAP.

Unfortunately, you're aiming a bit high by wanting to buy on your own, earning a relatively low salary and looking to buy a 2 bed house that's in a relatively expensive area.

Obviously £190k is not London prices, but there are plenty of places where you could get a 2 bed house in a nice enough area for half that price, so you need to compromise somewhere to be able to buy.

If you're set on a 2 bed house, you need to look in a cheaper area, buy when you have a partner, look at shared ownership, or alternatively look at a smaller property. It's not a matter of you 'not having a hope in hell of buying a property' more that you currently can't afford to buy the house you want, in the area you want, on your own.

You're saving at a good rate, which will obviously be good for a deposit and also demonstrating you need affordability criteria, but unfortunately you, like most people, still need to compromise if you want to buy.

You're only 27. I think you can definitely buy a property.

I think the economy is going to be in a bad place for the foreseeable future due to coronavirus and Brexit so now probably isn't the best time to be thinking about buying a property anyway.

If you're managing to save £600 per month then you could have saved a £20,000 deposit in three years starting from zero. (You don't say how much you already have saved, if anything.) In that time you can be thinking about ways to progress your career and increase your salary by getting promoted internally, moving to a better paid role elsewhere or even moving into a better paid industry or career.

If you continue to save as you are then you will have enough to put a 10% deposit on a £190,000 house by the time you're 30. If your salary stays where it is now then you wouldn't be able to afford a £170,000 mortgage, but that's OK. Maybe you will be earning more by then. Maybe house prices will have fallen. Maybe you could look at shared ownership. Maybe you will have a partner and be looking to buy as a couple.

Honestly I think you can do this. Just keep saving and planning and working on your next career move. Every month you manage to save £600 is getting you closer to your goal of home ownership.

£600 a month is pretty good going OP! OK you're unlikely to buy a home in the next few months/year (and nor is anyone else) but a few years down the line it's definitely a possibility especially if you buy with someone else.

Can you get a second job?

If you're saving £600 a month (which is amazing, btw, you must be fantastic at managing money), you'll have over £20k deposit in 3 years time, maybe £25k if you get a lifetime ISA.

You'll hopefully have had some career progression in that time, too, so may be earning more, so will be able to borrow more (especially as you'll have a proven track record of being very frugal lol).

What is the cheapest you could get a one-bed flat for in the part of the country where you are? Realistically, I think getting a 2-bed house as your first home will be pushing it, unless your money goes up quite a bit (or prices fall, which is always possible, especially in these uncertain times).

I think it would be better to buy something cheaper sooner rather than risk prices outstripping your borrowing ability.

Also look at "Help to Buy". I don't know the details, but I think it was aimed at making it possible for first-time buyers to borrow more, with part of the loan guaranteed by the government.

I don't know anyone who bought alone except one person who was given deposit by parents and she had a lodger in to help pay mortgage. Options might be: look for a flat as others have said (or are they any cheaper areas around you?), shared ownership or help to buy. I think it's possible to get a mortgage with 5% deposit with some providers, worth investigating. You could speak to one of those free brokers to see what you could get.

Meant to say, I don't think it's impossible but you maybe have to look at different options.

Is there anything that's a bit further commute at a lower price?

Of course you can buy!

£600 a month is £14,400 in two years which is enough for a deposit in your area. And then your £600 a month can go towards mortgage in addition to what you spend on rent now.

Be pro active, think of yourself as a successful saver, put your money where it will make money (Shame you missed the First Time Buyer ISA or whatever it was called). Read MSE for saving tips.

You can do it before you are 30.

The problem is your salary. At the very highest multiples it would mean you need a 40-50% deposit.

Tbh aspiring to buy a £190k home on a £22k salary is pie in the sky without a capital lump sum. You need to find an area ( or two) of compromise in your life if home ownership is what you want.

I would (did in fact) move to a cheaper area and / or try to get a better paid job in your position. If there are reasons why you can’t or don’t want to do this, then you are making choices. These choices have consequences.