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Original poster

How do people afford to buy a house!

407 replies

Itonlymakesyoustronger · 20/10/2021 15:42

Is it me or is buying a house a massive struggle!

Without boasting I have managed to save 45k, to some it may seem nothing but to me its a huggee amount. But after calculating mine and my husbands wage we could only buy a house for £290k, where we lived that wont even get you a decent 2 bedroom house! I don't know how people do it! when I search right move a two bed house is 320-370k.

How do you afford to buy a house, what jobs do you do?

OP posts:
Dishwashersaurous · 21/10/2021 09:12

Buy a one bed flat in a cheap area.

Live there for five to seven years. Then get promoted whilst living there.

Buy a slightly bigger property in same cheap area. Live there for ten years.

Get promoted more. Buy larger house even further out of where you want to live.

Very few people Buy a two bed house in a pricey area first

TuftyMarmoset · 21/10/2021 10:25

@Itonlymakesyoustronger I don’t know if you’re coming back but I think you need to look at your jobs - although I make a lot of assumptions here and inevitably some will be wrong. As you have managed to save £45k I’m going to assume you are are a good few years into your career.

But if you say the bank is only willing to lend you £245k this suggests your household income is only £55k? Which is not very much for two graduates in the SE who have been in their careers for a while. For example that’s around the starting salary of the civil service fast stream but by the time you finished the scheme you’d be on that each.

I know it could be more if some has been taken out due to childcare costs or debts - if the latter, pay them off with your savings.

Snowpaw · 21/10/2021 11:27

In my area it’s more about how to buy a larger house when you need to sell your current house to afford it. I keep being told by agents that I can’t even book a viewing on a property as they have ten others booked in who are all cash buyers. Who has that much cash sitting around?! I feel like I’m trapped in a cramped house that I’ve outgrown and, despite a good size deposit saved I still need to sell my current house to afford to move up.

TuftyMarmoset · 21/10/2021 11:33

I’m not sure what’s strange about that @Snowpaw? Of course you have to sell your old house to fund the new one, people don’t just keep buying additional houses! And most EAs want you to at least have your house on the market, if not under offer, to prove that you are in a position to proceed otherwise the whole process would take much longer. Cash buyers are preferable for that timing issue because the chain slows you down. I know people who have sold their houses and moved into rental for a few months to break the chain.

Marelle · 21/10/2021 11:37

Move to a cheaper area. Or wait till someone dies and leaves you some money.

Bythemillpond · 21/10/2021 11:56

userchange987

I know that even with 100% mortgages even those who I knew in the early 80s who were qualified solicitors/doctors/accountants etc wouldn’t have been able to afford a 2 bed house as a ftb unless they had serious family help or a large inheritance

Yeah this is BS. My low earning working class parents had NO issues getting on the ladder in the 1980s, 3 bed house, in the SE of all places. No inheritance, no family help, and absolutely not professionals. 100% mortgage I believe

You are confusing those that have been qualified solicitors/accountants etc for a few years with those that are newly qualified and have to remain in chambers or with an accountancy firm for a few years post qualification in order for them to gain their practicing certificate that would allow them to be able to set up their own practice in the future.

At the time Dh was earning similar to me I was a filing clerk in an office yet Dh was a newly qualified professional working for a very large company.

Even with 100% mortgage our earnings 1.5 x the higher salary and 1x the lower was no where near the amount for the cheapest flat in the area.

Also wondering how old your parents were at the time. I did notice those that were just a few years older than me did find it easier to buy but that could have been because they were paid more to do the same job. (Friend was paid £40 per month to do the same job as me. Only difference was she was 2 years older)

I can only go by the experience of people around me in Zone 1/2
Didn’t know about any other areas as we were all new to London.
No Rightmove or internet to ask people what different areas were like.
More than likely we could have all afforded a house in the SE but without any guidance the SE is a large area and would have taken years to go through every town, village etc to find the best place to live where the trains ran on time and commuting was less hit and miss.

thebear1 · 21/10/2021 12:30

I live in North East, nice area in a town with bad reputation. Means a 3 bed detached or semi ranges from £120 to £200,000. All my friends also own a home. Most of us were also lucky enough to buy in late 90's.

wispana · 21/10/2021 12:57

I didn't buy until I was in my early 40s but I was able to use RTB on my London council flat where I'd lived for 20 years. Saved for 10 years and invested wisely to be able to buy outright. I was top of the council list due to DV, homelessness, carer to a disabled child so not in a position to increase earning power. Most friends of my own age own their own homes - used over 100% mortgages back in the day, RTB, keyworker schemes, or are very high earners/married to one.

AnneElliott · 21/10/2021 13:15

I agree you start with what you can afford. We bought a 2 bed flat for 43k in a rubbish area. My parents thought we were mad and that my brother had the right idea staying at home (I was only 19).

Two promotions later for me in the civil service and we moved to a 3 bed terrace that cost £124k. We extended that and then sold it for £250k and bought our forever home which is a 5 bed semi. House price inflation is what allows you to move up the ladder - although I know it makes it harder for those who've not bought yet.

We couldn't afford to buy our house now - even with 2 good incomes.

BasiliskStare · 21/10/2021 14:53

My FTB was on a busy road but it was nice & very affordable. I think if you like your area you have to be realistic or investigate other areas. ( No shit Sherlock )

BasiliskStare · 21/10/2021 14:59

Oh and FTB 2 bed house - that was not the case when I started out - 1 bed house . Every one wants what they want but not always possible -particularly in the area you want. So compromises. I think it have ever been thus

Motherland101 · 21/10/2021 16:50

You need to widen your search. I guarantee that your money will buy you a decent house somewhere. You need to prioritise and look for an area that you CAN afford, about not looking at houses somewhere out of your budget.

We moved to an area where we could afford a 3 bed semi detached house with a big garden. That was our priority. The area where we rented for nearly 8 years was completely out of our question, the same house was near enough double (at around £400k) to what we ended up paying for our home. So for us, it was compromising on location. It's just means we have a longer commute as we now live outside of the city, in one of the nearby villages.

Ladyofclass · 26/12/2021 19:20

Everyone I know had big help from parents e.g 40k for the deposit added, otherwise they would have no chance so just luck in their case. I know someone who has never worked and bought multiple properties, just luck with money from compensation. My sister managed to buy a house an ex council house with a good mortgage broker. Covid has not helped either as apparently taking out the loan goes against you. My other friend works 3 jobs and still can't get a shared ownership hoise. Really tough out there.

Mamaily · 29/12/2021 23:29

We have 2 houses. Only dh working. His salary is 64k. He got his first house when he was 30 and still earning 35k. It was 1 bedroom flat in oxford. And the price still £120k. He managed to save big chuck of money for deposit. Then we got married and he start saving money for our marital house. We bought our 3 bedroom semi for £204k it was in poor condition. At this time my dh income was £40k. We managed to save £80k for deposit by doing nothing for 3 years. Not enjoying life at all. Not even eat out, or going to pub or going to cinema. Not buying anything. Just stay at home and live miserably for 3 years and we managed to save £80k. It was horrible but very worth it in the end. Now we only got small mortgage £200 per month. And we did extension and refurbishment to the house. My house now from 3 bed semi become 5 bedroom semi and get £500.000 appraisal. I think buying a house is still achievable but you have to make really big sacrifice to save for the deposit.

Alysskea · 29/12/2021 23:35

I'm the same OP. We have scrimped and saved a decent deposit amount (I am frugal to a fault!) but with salaries in the low 20s no one will give us a mortgage for a place that isn't crumbling down. Mortgages offered to those without huge salaries won't cover practically anything.

TiddleTaddleTat · 29/12/2021 23:37

Bought in a cheaper area. Moved specifically for house prices. Deposit was about 75% inheritance and 25% equity from growth of FTB flat that was owned about 3 years.

snapsieplopp · 29/12/2021 23:56

At this time my dh income was £40k. We managed to save £80k for deposit by doing nothing for 3 years.

40k a yr is 30k before any pension deductions so how did you live on 3k a yr?

ConsuelaHammock · 30/12/2021 00:22

We stayed at home with parents longer than I would have liked. We didn’t have children until we had the house so didn’t have to worry about maternity leave or childcare.
You’ll need to compromise on both the property and the area if you want to have your own place.

NRRK28 · 30/12/2021 08:44

@snapsieplopp to be honest i forget how much we spend for a month. But it was really hard. We dont go out at all. And i do part time aswell and get £900 a month for my part time. We managed to save £80k due to my dh got bonuses in the end of the year aswell plus our flat in oxford was rented out. Even with flat rented out we want to buy another house on top of it so we need to be frugal about it. We live in share flat and we dong go out at all.

snapsieplopp · 30/12/2021 09:00

Ok it makes more sense now if you had another 10k coming in plus rental income because I was confused how you paid rent/mortgage plus food & bills when you said you were living on 3k a year.

RealBecca · 30/12/2021 09:07

By not getting everything we wanted first time.

Perfect house but had to move an hour away and suck up the commute for a good few years before moving back.

snapsieplopp · 30/12/2021 09:12

I don't the majority get what they want 2nd or 3rd time though

JohnHuffam1812 · 30/12/2021 09:17

Lots of people lie, they leave out inheritance, cheap rent deals from friends and family, help from the Bank of mum and dad from both sides.

Sometimes they leave out all of these and waffle on about hard work and saving.

Mostly that's not the case in area of high demand.

Wisewordswouldhelp · 30/12/2021 10:30

We moved away from all our lovely friends to move to a cheaper area about 40 miles from where we were. However where we live now has massively gone up in value, so imagine it's not affordable for newcomers now.

RussianSpy101 · 30/12/2021 10:33

We bought in 2012 when houses were much cheaper and we live in area where housing is fairly cheap.
Wouldn’t like to be a first time buyer now.