Page 13 | How do people afford to buy a house!

Itonlymakesyoustronger · 2021-10-20T14:42:11+00:00

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?

TractorAndHeadphones · 30/12/2021 10:41

Honestly?

Start early with a dodgy flat pre-kids
High income
Inheritance

No amount of scrimping and saving is going to help if you’re on a low income, with children and are looking for a family home as your first house.

If kids are in good schools and you’re tied to your job you can’t just up and move to a cheaper area without significant sacrifice I’d imagine.

Xenia · 30/12/2021 10:42

In 1984 when we bought and my salary was £6250 a year most people could not as London was so expensive but we had two professional salaries and bought before we had children and although I was 21 and a trainee solicitor in London and we slummed it out here (still do) in outer London zone 4/5 my husband had had a house in N England and we sold that and then bought, but before that lived in a flat provided by his school (only way they could get teachers as in 1984 London house prices even in outer London were far out of reach of teachers and much more expensive than other places and the London weighting allowance for teachers was a joke - it did not reflect the fact houses were so much more expensive) . So pregnant I slept on a mattress on the floor of one of those school flats and then worked until i went into labour and back to work full time after two weeks (yes weeks not months).

I would have liked to live near work in inner London but too expensive then and now.

So my advice to people is buy as young as you can with two full time professional salaries and buy before babies come. that is what I did, my children did and my parents did who put off babies for about 10 years (!!!!) to buy their first house in NE England with a doctor (consultant - doing exams until he was 30) and teacher salaries - full time wages.

How do people buy a first place today? Depends where you are. My son bought at the end of a tube line - in Chesham for about £320k (2 bed terraced house) before moving to Oxfordshire now to a 3 bed detached house where you get more for your money.

We don't know where itsonly lives but in much of the country including places near Halifax and Newcastle and Yorkshire where we have family you COULD buy somewhere with that income and those savings in 2021.

Also it depends on your career. I chose law because I knew pay rises. I might have started at £6250 a year (about £20k today in today's money) but potentially it rises higher in London. Not all jobs do that.

Bluesarestillblue · 30/12/2021 10:43

Move to Scotland. We live in a 4 bed, 3
Reception house. Cost £225k

mumda · 30/12/2021 10:44

@HalfShrunkMoreToGo

You need to buy in a cheaper area, £290K in my area would get you a 3 or 4 bed detached house with driveway and large garden.

We bought our house 10 years ago, 3 bed mid terrace for £85,000.

The same price on our street 10 years ago, and is now £175k. It's beyond insane.

JohnHuffam1812 · 30/12/2021 10:45

Xenia you gave your son a sizeable deposit as I recall. He wouldn't have been able to buy that house on his own.

You're also leaving out the fact that you were able to save cause you got cheap rent through your exh's job.

Why leave that out ?

snapsieplopp · 30/12/2021 10:46

Why do people leave out help? I don't understand. Guilt?

I had help, couldn't have bought otherwise

JohnHuffam1812 · 30/12/2021 10:50

People leave out help because of self attribution bias. It's down to their efforts and others just don't try as hard.

Hence all those articles in the mail where young people buy their houses outright but leave out the fact that they got with their partner at 18, lived at home for years rent and bills free whilst saving as much of 2 incomes as they can. The first part gets left out and it's all put down to not being frivolous.
I mean if someone subsidised us like that for years we'd have done it much quicker

thevassal · 30/12/2021 10:51

Live in a cheaper area. In mn its always discussed as "nobody" can afford to buy - I'm 32 and hardly anyone I know my age or my younger siblings don't own their own house. Most people I know had bought their first house mid/late twenties and are now on their second. Interestingly it's those who didn't go to uni and had kids earlier who bought earlier, and pretty much all of them went straight from parents to their own home -no renting or living with mates in between.

BTW cheaper doesn't mean shit -I bought a 2 bed semi in a Capital city by myself with no inheritance aged 28, dp bought a 2 bed flat a few years younger, plan is to combine and by a nice 4 bed detached by the coast. One sibling has a 3bed semi with huge garden they bought this year for 210k - its a walk into a market town or 5 mins to a motorway/half an hours drive to 2 major cities or less than 15 mins to the seaside.

Obviously it's not a solution for everyone, and even the cheaper places are now going up in price but just offering it as a counter to the definitive "NOBODY can afford to buy nowadays without inheritance/excellent jobs etc." Whereas in huge swathes of the country they can.

Whitefire · 30/12/2021 10:52

The area is a major factor. We have just sold the in-laws 3 bed mid terrace in an ok area (but also catchment for a pretty decent secondary) for 85k. It needed a lot of work, but could have been lived in.

For us, we simply managed to buy before house prices went rocketing.

TractorAndHeadphones · 30/12/2021 10:58

@Whitefire

The area is a major factor. We have just sold the in-laws 3 bed mid terrace in an ok area (but also catchment for a pretty decent secondary) for 85k. It needed a lot of work, but could have been lived in.

For us, we simply managed to buy before house prices went rocketing.

Omg where is this

JaninaDuszejko · 30/12/2021 11:00

£290K is higher than the average house price in the UK. That means with the amount of money the OP has over half of all the houses in the UK are affordable for her. If she chooses to live in an area where she can't afford the house she want that is another issue but it's not that it's impossible to buy a house for everyone. In my area you can get 2 bed houses in a nice area for £100k, for £290K you could get a 4 bed Victorian townhouse in the best part of town.

JohnHuffam1812 · 30/12/2021 11:03

About 20 million people live in the South East of England, by far the most populated area of the country. This area has become very difficult for people to buy. Just saying move to a cheaper area doesn't quite cut.it for a lot of people.

userisi2 · 30/12/2021 11:05

We moved to a cheaper area and used HTB with a low despot, this enabled us to buy a family home sooner, as we already had children we didn't have time to "climb the ladder". We will pay off HTB after 5 years before interest kicks in (the cost being having to pay over 20% of the "profit"), by then we'll have no more childcare bills (and I've had a big jump in salary since buying) so it should time well...touchwood. The property market is a game of risk.

Mouseonmychair · 30/12/2021 11:06

It's all about area, aggressively maximizing income and prioritizing or not children and inheritance. I brought for cash compromising on all 3 for a two bed three years ago. At 150k in Suffolk (yes there are some cheaper places in the most expensive counties) with a 30 min commute to Cambridge for work it made sense.

Neveragain85 · 30/12/2021 11:06

My advice would be to buy whatever you can. Even if it's a one bed flat it's not ideal short term but you can renovate it over time, overpay the mortgage if you can, then sell in a few years, then buy a 2 bed flat. Work your way up the ladder. It's never been easy, you just need to take that first step

milkysmum · 30/12/2021 11:15

I live in a beautiful north Lancashire village- however purchased an ex local authority house in order to be able to afford to buy ( £102,000 8 years ago ). At the time there was me and DH, now I'm on my own and about to take over that mortgage. I'm a nurse ( earn £39k pa) and have 2 children.

JaninaDuszejko · 30/12/2021 11:21

@JohnHuffam1812

About 20 million people live in the South East of England, by far the most populated area of the country. This area has become very difficult for people to buy. Just saying move to a cheaper area doesn't quite cut.it for a lot of people.

But you make your choice. BIL earns more than me and DH. We live in a 4 bed house in the north, he lives in a tiny 2 bed flat in a posh part of London. If you want to live in a crowded city then you compromise on space. Don't complain and pretend that it's somehow impossible to buy a house for everyone when you are richer than most, have a big deposit and can afford an above average property. Buy your tiny flat or move.

userisi2 · 30/12/2021 11:29

My advice would be to buy whatever you can. Even if it's a one bed flat it's not ideal short term but you can renovate it over time, overpay the mortgage if you can, then sell in a few years, then buy a 2 bed flat. Work your way up the ladder. It's never been easy, you just need to take that first step

This worked well a few years ago but with the cost of moving increasing and prices stagnating (prior to Covid, and assuming they start to level off now) it's not always the best advice. We bought our first home in 2017, outgrew it very quickly, didn't have the money to extend, it was only due to the stamp duty holiday and HTB (before the new changes) which enabled us to move before we were trapped in a much too small house for a long period of time. We tried to be sensible a buy cheaply with our first house when we should have thought more long term. This was outside of the SE though where prices are a bit more realistic and stable.

snapsieplopp · 30/12/2021 11:31

@JaninaDuszejko sometimes people want to live near their communities & family though. Everyone laments the locals pushed out of Cornwall etc but they forget people are born & raised in London. Plenty are 2nd gen immigrants so may not feel so comfortable in other parts.

snapsieplopp · 30/12/2021 11:32

Work your way up the ladder. It's never been easy, you just need to take that first step

I disagree with that, the idea of the property ladder is flawed these days. Hence why the stamp duty cut so saw much action.

FateHasRedesignedMost · 30/12/2021 11:32

Save up the deposit and live frugally until you can afford the house you want. Seek promotions and both work FT in high earning careers (you can reduce your hours or switch to a less stressful job once you have the mortgage).

JohnHuffam1812 · 30/12/2021 11:33

"But you do make your choice"

Many ordinary people in Lpndon and tje Sputh East don't. It's where the work is, where family is etc.

Always saying "live somewhere else" is impractical for many.

Cantgetgoing · 30/12/2021 11:34

Happened to live in a cheap area, both working full time on average incomes. Bought in 2019 - house for 170,000

Thwackit · 30/12/2021 11:40

I’ve just read someone on here say that their parents encouraged them to save their birthday and Christmas money so they were both able to buy property in London in their twenties. So, getting £250000 in cards is my top tip.

Cantgetgoing · 30/12/2021 11:44

@userisi2

My advice would be to buy whatever you can. Even if it's a one bed flat it's not ideal short term but you can renovate it over time, overpay the mortgage if you can, then sell in a few years, then buy a 2 bed flat. Work your way up the ladder. It's never been easy, you just need to take that first step

This worked well a few years ago but with the cost of moving increasing and prices stagnating (prior to Covid, and assuming they start to level off now) it's not always the best advice. We bought our first home in 2017, outgrew it very quickly, didn't have the money to extend, it was only due to the stamp duty holiday and HTB (before the new changes) which enabled us to move before we were trapped in a much too small house for a long period of time. We tried to be sensible a buy cheaply with our first house when we should have thought more long term. This was outside of the SE though where prices are a bit more realistic and stable.

This is exactly why we opted to buy a three bedroomed house, even though it needed shed loads of work doing to it as I knew we would likely outgrow it quickly and then not be able to move. I agree though that prices have gone crazy recently, we have made around 50K equity in two and a half years