To think this just isn’t possible?!

[Scoobydoobydoo123]

To save enough money to buy when renting?
We work all that we can, don’t buy luxuries etc. We are both at breaking point in terms of tyre amount we work. We rent the smallest place possible with two DC.
In the absence of a lottery win that we don’t enter! How else can we save for a deposit for a house?

Also depends where you live. Down south we could never afford to buy up north we could even more so in NI

This depends on a lot of things, we have never been able to do it but I fell pregnant as soon as we moved in together and I’ve been a stay at home mum and carer for my disabled child ever since so we live off of one income and it’s just not been possible to save. I was due to start training as a TA when Covid happened :(
If we had had more time before children or most probably would have been possible but it still would have taken a very long time, the easier way is to live with parents and save as much as possible, everyone I know who owns their own home did it that way.

Most people we know didn’t have family help, an inheritance, lottery win or lived with parents as adults, but they bought before having children.

XH and I did it. It was boring but worth it. And then he kept the house and I had to start again...

its a pointless question unless we know your income and outgoings plus the area of the country you live . If you earn £100k a year and live in Yorkshire then YABU . If you earn £20k and live in the SE then YANBU

The income and the ceilings of that income is important, there has always been people who could not afford to buy but fortunately for those in the past there was social housing. When they could at least save or live a slightly better quality of life.

yes its possible, but only with massive compromises. i.e The area you live in, if you are willing to share with someone.

I lived in an awful flat, with awful flatmates for years while I saved up enough. Drove an old banger, our flat was above a very loud pub, I wore ear plugs to sleep in for 4 years and we had a constant mouse problem.

However, I was lucky that I lived in a town where prices aren't high, and that I met my DH later in life when we'd both had years to save and bought property independent of each other.

I don't envy you trying to save when you already have children at all, it must be very difficult!

@emilyfrost

YABU. Of course it’s possible; plenty of people do it.

You just have to reduce your expectations (ie. one bed instead of two, compromise on a garden, move location etc.) or make active moves to up your earning potential.

well, it's definitely possible, but probably not if you've got kids. It was a dealbreaker for me that we wouldn't start TTC until we had enough to buy a house, because once you have kids all your extra cash mysteriously disappears...

When we were early 20s no-one advised us to save for a house, our parents rented etc. People all around us were getting 110% mortgages at the drop of a hat so it never occurred to us getting a mortgage would be a problem!! So we merrily went off working and travelling abroad for 3 years. By the time we came back, settled down with jobs and started thinking about buying we had been completely priced out the market and now needed a hefty deposit which seemed unsavable!
3 kids later we have been gifted the deposit from inheritance so are finally buying.

My advice is to make sure all the 20 somethings you know are aware that it’s easier to save before kids, cheaper to buy a start home (as opposed to a house that needs to also home a couple of kids) and that mortgages take into account kids etc!

It does seem impossible, that's why we have dd living here so she can save for a deposit (and we are gifting her some).

I didn't realise they don't consider your rent expenditure as a part of your affordability rating in the U.K.... in Ireland if you are renting for 900 and you save 200 then they put them together and your affordability is 1100 l.

@emilyfrost

YABU. Of course it’s possible; plenty of people do it.

You just have to reduce your expectations (ie. one bed instead of two, compromise on a garden, move location etc.) or make active moves to up your earning potential.

Do you live in a 1 bed with 2 children?

How much rent do you pay? You say you couldn't get anywhere smaller but could you rent in a cheaper area? We were only able to save after having kids after DH got a payrise and by moving in to a deprived area rental. Often people are too scared to do this and their rent is the biggest expense.

It's no point people going on about Netflix and phone contracts and coffees because if you add up all those small expenses it would still take way too long for most people to afford a deposit before retirement unless they can significantly reduce their rent.

Do you live in a 1 bed with 2 children?

StopTheTrainWantToGetOff I’ll say the same to you as I did to the other poster who made a similar remark:

I’m not being specific to OP’s situation there, I’m talking in general about compromises that have to be made.

You can’t always have everything you want in the place you want, but that doesn’t mean you can’t afford to buy. Just that you’re not willing to sacrifice on location, garden, room numbers etc.

Of course you can do it, we did. Have you actually created a budget to look at what you could save? If you’re outgoings do actually completely match your income then perhaps you don’t want to be in a position of owning a house anyway, if anything happened to one of your salaries you’d be screwed.