33 still cannot afford a house

[NoFrills01]

I feel so low at the moment, my dream is to have my own home

Our child goes to an incredible school, we both have good jobs in terms of job security, our joint income in 50k we have 30k + deposit the housing market is just ridiculous at the moment, we cannot move too far out because we only have one car, currently I'm able to take child to school and work partner car shares with his friend.

I'm consiering getting a weekend job something to make more money, I feel so embarrassed to not have my own home.

I'm saving as much as I can every month, no treats in any form really to add to the point just feels so miserable at the moment. I'm not sure what to do, we have tried every mortage company the highest we got was 233k which I don't believe average was 217k which doesnt get anything

Yup 40 here still renting. No kids either due to Ill health which also means I can't work anymore than very part time so no opportunities to increase income. Do have some savings but the market moves faster than my savings do so feeling quite stuck with it all.

The reality is that getting on the housing ladder is much harder once you have children. You need more bedrooms. You will probably be reluctant to take in a lodger to help make ends meet. You might have high childcare costs. Or need to be within reach of a particular school.

To use myself as an example, I bought before kids. I could have bought anywhere within London or within reach of London (for work). I stretched myself hugely to get a two bed flat, and took in a lodger to help pay the bills. To save the deposit I lived in a flat share to reduce living costs. I had no childcare costs to contend with. It would have been so much harder with children in the mix.

Same... we live with my mum which is fine as she has more than enough room but no way near enough to buy. Not enough to be able to rent around this area either.

@Dobbyafreeelf

could not agree more. I also disagree with the expectation that a someone should have to upsticks to a cheaper area. It’s all ridiculous .

We need 3 bedrooms as have 2 DC. They are currently sharing but at the end of the day they have a roof over there head and food on the table. We make sure we take them places and they have a childhood with fond memories.

@Timeisavirtue

We need 3 bedrooms as have 2 DC. They are currently sharing but at the end of the day they have a roof over there head and food on the table. We make sure we take them places and they have a childhood with fond memories.

We shared. It did us no harm. My parents did exactly what you did. We had lots of great memories. Most people I know shared actually.

So what then @lurkermum? We are all entitled to be able to buy the house of our dreams in the area in which we fancy? And complete our family first? Sounds great, I've always wanted to live in Richmond. Sign me up.

Well, I'm 45 and very unlikely to ever own a home. I'm a low earning single parent. Be thankful you have the funds to be considered for a £200K mortgage. I think my max is about £70K which will buy nothing today.

The market went wrong as soon as house prices rose to be based on two average salaries instead of one.

@BarbarianMum well no. I am just of the opinion that the system is buggered. All inflated nonsense. I don’t think anyone is entitled to just live anywhere etc.

But I think it’s broken if the expectation is that you have to move to the arse end of no where / move away from support .Just to buy an “affordable house”.

Better options - secure long term tenancy..
If you can pay rent for 5 years consistently this should demonstrate capacity for a mortgage ..

I don’t know - I’m not a bank

.. I just think it’s all really unfair probably more so for those starting out at whatever age.. especially if life has been a bit curvy..

Prices have risen 20% since last summer. Not everyone can just up and move to cheaper areas

Yes, Rishi Sunak's stamp duty holiday has made things much harder for FTBs (and families that need to upsize). Lost the taxpayer billions too.

Instead of further inflating the bubble, stamp duty tax could've been used to help house low income, disabled, and long term ill (like MiaMarshmallows's relative.

And people definitely can't all just move somewhere cheaper. Aside from support networks, proximity to workplaces, and childcare, there's the very obvious fact that somewhere cheaper won't be somewhere cheaper when everyone moves there. Add in insular locals who make clear their dislike of newcomers.

I've just been on another thread. An OP wants to move from London to Wales. She can't afford London. She's been told the locals won't welcome newcomers pushing up house prices. (They don't seem to have thought about the the irony of complaining to a Londoner about newcomers pushing up house prices...).

@BarbarianMum

So what then *@lurkermum*? We are all entitled to be able to buy the house of our dreams in the area in which we fancy? And complete our family first? Sounds great, I've always wanted to live in Richmond. Sign me up.

People should not be forced to move from areas where they have grown up and have families, friends and lives because other people are willing to throw more money at a property and price them out. Nor should people be able to own multiple properties. Buy to let needs abolishing and a more central housing system which offers secure long term tenancies without the stigma or shortages that are associated with the current council house system.

[quote lurkermum]@Dobbyafreeelf

could not agree more. I also disagree with the expectation that a someone should have to upsticks to a cheaper area. It’s all ridiculous .[/quote]
Yes. Not least because locals in the cheaper areas have very vocal about not welcoming an influx of incomers.

People shouldn't have to upsticks to cheaper areas no. But OP said she couldn't afford a house. She likely can. Just not where she wants. No it's not how it should be, but it's not the same as can't.

@NoFrills01 have you tried Nationwide? They have recently brought in something for first time buyers called helping hand which offers 5.5x income. You need to both be ftb to qualify as well as have 10%+ deposit and take out a 5 or 10 year fixed rate product. I recently applied for this with help of a broker and totally recommend using a one if you haven't already.

Oh and please don't feel embarrassed. I know very few home owners and many choose not to buy. We are just getting on the property ladder in our mid 30s because it works out best in our situation but no shame either way!

There's a real hypocrisy and double standard directed towards people from London and the south east.

When they can't afford to buy (or rent) in the area where they're from, where their families live, their community and support networks, they're told they shouldn't expect to live in an expensive area. As if they chose where they were born and grew up.

Yet, when someone in one of the "somewhere cheaper' areas complains about priced out people from more expensive areas moving to the cheaper area, they get loads of sympathy. They're told people shouldn't be forced away from their home area, families, and community...
They never acknowledge that the priced out moving to the cheaper area are only priced out because of people moving to their own home area.

Cool, I was born and brought up in London. So I'd like a house in Richmond please. So how is this going to work? I am going to need at least a 3 bed and I've only got 300k. So do we find some foreigner or owner who was born in a different part of the country and force them to sell to me?

[quote LopsidedWombat]@NoFrills01 have you tried Nationwide? They have recently brought in something for first time buyers called helping hand which offers 5.5x income. You need to both be ftb to qualify as well as have 10%+ deposit and take out a 5 or 10 year fixed rate product. I recently applied for this with help of a broker and totally recommend using a one if you haven't already.

Oh and please don't feel embarrassed. I know very few home owners and many choose not to buy. We are just getting on the property ladder in our mid 30s because it works out best in our situation but no shame either way![/quote]
Great idea!

Tbh Nationwide are a terrific lender, they do 40 year terms too. My mortgage is with them lol.

I’ve not seen this offer, what are the rates like on 5 yr fix, for curiosity? Xx

And all these (taxpayer funded) schemes like Help to Buy taxpayer gives lots of money to help developers push up house prices through shoddily constructed new builds, and government aka the taxpayer guaranteed 95% mortgages only make a bad situation worse.

FTB (and upsizers) would be better helped by lower prices. We need to stop using taxpayer funds, much needed elsewhere, to inflate the bubble. We also need a lot more social housing (minus taxpayer funded Right to Buy).

This whole outdated paradigm of property being a 'ladder' needs to go the way of the Dodo bird. The reality is the way lending is these days a lot of people, if they can, will be able to afford one property and be stuck in it.

The British system of homeownership is one of the most fucked up I've seen in the world, but then, so is it's private renting system.

@osbertthesyrianhamster

This whole outdated paradigm of property being a 'ladder' needs to go the way of the Dodo bird. The reality is the way lending is these days a lot of people, if they can, will be able to afford one property and be stuck in it.

The British system of homeownership is one of the most fucked up I've seen in the world, but then, so is it's private renting system.

Yes this. Except that I'd bring the dodo back (but keep them safely away from humans this time round).

You could definitely afford where I live, my mortgage covers our house which is £175k.
It’s a new build, bought on the help you buy scheme, so it might be an idea to think outside the box, maybe try new build estates. You can barter the price of houses down. Case in point ours should have been £185k, the developers were desperate to sell, we weren’t that bothered. And we got shitloads of extras because they were wrong about so much stuff.
Whereabouts are you trying to buy?

QE since 2008 has caused significant asset price inflation. Stamp Duty holidays have achieved the same. Either these were unintended consequences or the purpose. The system seems to be working exactly as intended, in the interests of those for whom it is designed to benefit.

Go for a new build shared ownership scheme

@July2mebabywouldJuly2me

Bit why have DC before you've bought a house?

Genuine question.

It is a reasonable question. I wanted to raise my family in a house in a particular neighborhood. I postponed starting my family until I was 30 so I could buy the house I wanted. Instead of trying to buy in an expensive neighborhood, why not move to a less expensive one and buy a second car to take your DC to school?

@Zilla1

QE since 2008 has caused significant asset price inflation. Stamp Duty holidays have achieved the same. Either these were unintended consequences or the purpose. The system seems to be working exactly as intended, in the interests of those for whom it is designed to benefit.

Yes 100% this.