How do people afford to buy a house!

[Itonlymakesyoustronger]

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?

@lonelyapple

They won't! The younger generations are completely fucked! Thanks boomers!

There's always one! Apart from the weird stereotype that doesn't cover even 50% of those born in the Baby Boom years. You might be mistaking the statistic that 75(ish)% of people over 65 own their house outright (which you'd kind of hope would be the case at that age) mixed up with the % of houses owned by people over 65. That's just 36%. What age group/s own the other 64%?

So have a look and maybe wind your neck in! Don't be so bloody ageist!

www.statista.com/statistics/321065/uk-england-home-owners-age-groups/

The only thing I have noticed that is nothing to do with the price of houses is the greater proportion of people want to but family homes as their first time purchase.

Few seem to want to buy a tiny, cheap flat in an area they don't really want to end up in, but it will do for now.

Then as you partner up, get beter paid jobs, buy something a bit bigger, again, maybe not in your favourite area, but one that is a bit run down, and hope it will get done up over the next few years.

Then make up your mind - has the area got nicer, is the house big enough, will an extension fix it, should you move?

In the last years of my teaching most of my 16 - 24 year old students talked about home ownership and they all talked about houses just like those their mum and dad lived in! None would discuss bedsits, house shares, flats etc. Made me feel really old!

I was a single mum when I got my first house. I moved area. As I couldn’t afford where we were renting. Meant a 45 min commute via train to work / nursery every day (until eldest started school) but I got a lovely 2 bed house for 120k which wouldn’t even buy me a 1 bed flat (unless I wanted to live in a high crime area) in our old city.

When DH and I brought together we compromised a bit so the parking is shit but we have a beautiful 4 bed house for under 200k

We built our own house. At the time cost us £180k and was instantly worth £100k more. Now worth £400k

I have decided that me and H need to be prepared to die rather than going into a care home, so that our kids can inherit enough to be able to buy a house.

But what use is that? Your DC will likely be in their 50s or 60s by the time you die if not even older.

Must be nice for those who have inherited property and/or money!

I bought my first (shared ownership) home about 25 years ago. 100% mortgage for which I paid through the nose. I also paid through the nose in rent and service charges. I was lucky: when I sold, I got enough equity to buy my current house in a cheaper area. I also inherited chunks of money from two relatives.

If I were starting today, I would try to get a well-paid job in an area where housing is cheap. People say they don't want to move away from their family and friends; sometimes, you have to make that sacrifice.

I managed by buying a 2 bed small flat with my ex - it was quite a struggle to save and pay rent whilst we saved up the 5% deposit which was all that was required in the early 2000's. We also bought in an area that would not have been our first choice but was close enough to where we wanted to live. We then split up and I bought my ex out - the property went up in value and my earnings went up quite a bit over several promotions/job moves over a few years. I then sold up and moved to a less expensive area and bought with my now husband and we pooled our deposits so could afford a decent size house (with a pretty big mortgage).Both of our salaries have gone up again during this time and the property prices have risen. We have been paying the mortgage off as much as we can and hopefully will have paid if off by the time I plan to retire in 8 years.

I agree it seems much less attainable now than when I bought and I remember it being a struggle then. Once you are on the ladder it becomes easier as presumably your equity grows.

@Bythemillpond

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

It isn’t about jobs but about starting from the beginning and not trying to jump several steps. I know that when we started out the only thing we could afford was a tiny studio flat. From that we worked up to a 1 bed then 2 bed flat then a terrace house and then a detached.

A couple of people I know started off in one bed flats with 2 children. Children had the bedroom and friends and their Dh’s got a sofa bed in the living room.
It was tight but it was cheaper than renting and they were able to save more.

In some parts of the U.K. £49000 would actually get you a house for cash.

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.
Even when they had bought a flat they took in lodgers and or worked extra jobs to pay the mortgage

If you can’t afford where you work then you move out and commute in and or get a flat instead of a house. Even with small children a 1 bed flat can be ok for a few years whilst you save for the next place

Sorry but the bit about the 80's is bullshit, house prices early 80's were easily manageable multiples of wages. Plenty of bog ordinary people were buying houses even down here in the South without any kind of additional help and on much higher interest rates than today

We moved away from London to the NE. In our area £290k gets you a lovely 4 bed detached house, or a large 5-6 bed victorian terrace.

All of our friends did the same. Moved from London or near London to cheaper areas. These are all professionals with (often multiple) degrees and yet almost none of us could afford to buy in London - technically we could but I didn't want to spend £500k on a 2 bed flat.

We compromised on location moving to a cheaper area, perfectly practical but not "naice".

You've done really well to save £45,000 with a LO, have you looked at help to buy options near you?

Move.

DH and I bought our first house aged 21 for £65,000 with a £20,000 deposit which we saved up by living with parents instead of moving out and renting. We both had full time jobs from age 18 and saved £500 a month each. DH has built up a very successful business so we were able to pay off the mortgage aged 27.
We sold that house this year for £190,000 and have used another £35,000 we had in savings to put down £125,000 on our new home which is a 4 bed detached in a really nice area for £375,000.
We’re now 30 and as the mortgage is only £150,000, we took it over 15 years with 5 years fixed at £890 pm so will be mortgage free again by 45, probably sooner as we save a lot.

Have you actually been to a broker, not to your bank? Many people make the mistake of going direct to bank which is unlikely to get the best rate or level of affordability.

If you have I agree with what's been said - start with a flat, or move areas. If you're still paying for childcare your affordability will increase in time, ditto work on increasing salaries!

Start with something small in an area which will hopefully increase in price? You need to start somewhere.

As other have said, either family help or good positions. Not sure what you and your husband do or how old you are.

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.

Where the hell was that?

Out here in Normal Terrace it was cheaper to buy a small property than it was to rent. Which is why we bought a flat, which in turn meant we could each afford to go to university and get better jobs. And that was with 8+% interest. It only went pear shaped when interest rates got close to 20% and people who had maxed themselves out couldn't keep up.

Cheaper area. I don't work. Husband works in IT for a slightly above average salary. We bought our 5 bed for the lower end price of your 2 bed, after moving from a cheaper 3 bed, which we built up equity in. Got a few grand from my parents given to us.

I had to move OP. My family are all in Cornwall but I didn't have a chance in hell of buying a house there as prices are so high and wages low. I moved away for 15years to save on a better wage and then was able to move back.

We could only afford a deposit on a house because my husband worked abroad for months at a time over the course of 3 years and accrued a huge amount of overtime, the pay of which we saved. Otherwise there was absolutely no chance we'd have been able to buy a house and we wouldn't have been given a deposit by family - not that we ever expected that, we always knew if we wanted to buy a house it would be on us to find the money. When we did buy we also went with the old saying of buying the worst house on the best street - it needed a lot of work to bring it up to scratch but affordability wise it was either buy a wreck of a house or a 2 bed flat so we went with the house.

As an older person I really feel fo

By living in a cheaper area.

Your 290k would get a great house where I live.

This is exactly why I am moving back to my local area in the north or as near to now, with wfh and flexi working and the wages not really being much different there isn't much point for me after this year to stay in London and try to buy a tiny flat for a huge price. I'd much rather get on the property ladder with a 2 bed do-upper for 140 in the north

I think a big issue is whether you can buy somewhere before having children

Once childcare bills kick in, and mortgage lenders adjust what they will offer accordingly, it makes a big difference
But it also means you have to factor in extra bedrooms, school catchments, flat gardens etc - which are all desirable things that add money to the asking price

If you can buy when you’re childless , you can compromise on all these things to get your foot on the ladder

We put off a family til later to prioritise getting a house first, and am glad we did because we would never been able to got here otherwise

Some of the flats I lived in early on were far too sketchy and damp to be family homes..!

Most people don't afford to buy their first house at almost £400k. It's not possible for a huge proportion of people.

Average house prices are £255k at the moment, and most first time buyers will be buying houses at the cheaper end.

I've been working for 25 years, on the property ladder for almost the same and I STILL can't afford £400k. That's a really big amount of money for a house. Guessing you live in an expensive area and it's skewed your perspective, because £290k will buy you a lovely home in many parts of the country.

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.

They sold that and moved away for other reasons before prices went crazy, my mum cries at how much that house would be worth now!!

@yesterdayisinthepast

Must be nice for those who have inherited property and/or money!

Oh yes, it's just wonderful losing both your parents in a short space of time. I count my lucky stars every day

Not live in London or the South East.
We are in South Yorkshire, and you can get a 4 bedroom detached house for your budget.