AIBU-Sick of the narrative that young people can’t buy homes?

[Henryhoover12]

I had a heated discussion with some friends who said it’s “impossible for young people to get on the property ladder these days”.If they do their parents either lent them the money, gifted them the money or they lived at home rent free to save up. It’s not just my friends a lot of people of this age go on about it.

As a young person myself I’m bloody sick of this narrative, anything can be done if your willing to make sacrifices and prioritise for your goals which most young people aren’t. I purchased my own 4 bedroom home at 22 (few months ago) WITHOUT any help from family and whilst paying rent on a flat WITHOUT help from my family to pay for.

I called out all my friends who are blaming how it’s going on their ability to stop online shopping for new outfits every event, going out for cocktails, getting hair/nails/tan done weekly, Taking flashy cars out on finance, etc. that if they stopped then they to could buy but I got told I was being extremely unreasonable and that it’s impossible, well is it or do they not just like to hear the truth.

@Bluebluemoon39

I know where you're coming from OP. Both dh and I bought properties in our early 20's (separately) we saved our own deposits and didn't receive financial help from our parents (although dh did get help with doing work on his). It was hard going sometimes and I didn't have as much disposable income as my friends.

The properties we bought were not in desirable areas but that's why we could afford them!

Even now in the very expensive area I live in, you can buy a one bed flat for about £180k. You could get a house for that if you moved to a less desirable area that would still be easily commutable to the nearest city (in fact, the choices of areas to live with cheap property are vast)

What people tend to mean when they say they can't get on the property ladder, is that they can't buy the house they want in the location they want.
Well no, that's something you have to build up to- we didn't buy our dream home until we were in our thirties, and even then it's because we bought early and worked our way up the property ladder.

Unfortunately we are not entitled to buy our first house in the area we grew up in or that has the best bars & shops etc.
It annoys me when people in desirable seaside towns moan about their dc's being unable to buy a house - well, I live in the middle of the country and my dc's won't be able to buy a house here either and will probably have to move further out at first. That's life.

If you can get a mortgage, you can buy a house. Some people want the moon on a stick these days!

How did you manage to save your deposits while paying your rent and other bills? Because thats why a lif if people struggle. Presumably as you had no help from your parents this includes not living free or very cheaply in the family home to enable you to save?

@ninnynonny

So basically, if you live in a very cheap area of the UK, whilst having a reasonably good job and did a degree which allowed you to work and save as well, you can buy a house. This is totally different to saying 'Young people can buy houses'. Don't you see that?

This is what I was trying to say (and failed).

[quote Henryhoover12]@Sugarsugar25 thank you, I think it’s my roots that exactly got me to where I am. Never had support and never grew up in a life of luxury so I knew I always had to work hard for my self which i did.[/quote]
Just remember though to not alienate your friends over these types of conversations because you don't want to be left on your own in a house. If they want to spend their money on stuff, leave them to it. If you wanna get a house, that's fine too.

@StruggleStreet

What is your salary? How much was your house? How much was your deposit?

I can understand that it’s easier to buy in Wales but you must also be on a good salary to have been able to save a deposit in such a short space of time, and to get a mortgage on a 4 bed house by yourself.

This. I'll bite. I've just looked on zoopla for 4 bed houses within 20 miles of me by price. The cheapest is £300 k in an absolute shit hole of an area. And I doubt many 22 year old graduates could get a mortgage for that.,

There an average 4 bed in our village, right on the road, which has just gone up for sale for £995,000.

Your thoughts on peoples ability to buy a property, lack any critical thinking.

Come on OP you have not answered anyone's question on cost? How much did you pay, save round about figures will do. Were all waiting.

But your friend isn't 'young people', she's one person. Who you don't sound like you like very much. If she really wants to buy, would she be interested in you helping her with a savings plan?

Well, rather than bitch about her on the internet, why don’t you say to your friend that being a homeowner could be possible for her and offer to help with a spreadsheet so she can see her finances more clearly?

That way you’ve been a good friend and you’ll never have to come and moan about entitled spoiled young people again.

You have answered peoples questions though OP?

How much did you manage to save?
How much was your house?
What is your annual salary?

Your friend clearly has different priorities but some people don’t want to live frugally and honestly it’s unfair that anyone who does want to buy has to sacrifice almost everything just to do so which certainly isn’t possible for young families and even more so for those who live in the south.
Many renters are paying more in rent than they would for a mortgage but they still can’t get on the ladder.

Depends on where you live

You need to prove your stats op.

In my area for a 4 bed house by yourself, you'd need to be earning roughly 80k to even be considered for a mortgage for the house. And up until then, your rent costs you more than your mortgage would for sure especially if you still want a 4 bedroom home, but would still probably cost more renting even for a 2 bed. That is a new house though, but older houses aren't much cheaper. You haven't said if yours is new or in need of many repairs or half way between.

Some people do spend more than they bring in. But mostly there's more to it than that.

You're literally not answering any questions op

You can get 4-bed terraced houses within commutable distance of London for £350-400K. They're not ideal locations or wonderfully appointed but look OK.
But most FTB should be looking at 1 bed anyway.

@ninnynonny no I can’t see that because that’s exactly my point. As both Person A and Person B live in the same area, want to buy in the same area, earn the same amount so what’s stopping them from buying when they both can? For person B it’s that they want all the little luxuries in life such as her car, clothes, cocktails but then moans she can’t buy when she can if she just made it her priority.

I’m not comparing buying in wales and buying in London

Good for you. Well done.

It might not be impossible, but it is certainly more difficult for younger people now.

My first house purchase in my own name only was in 1990, £60kish, salary just less than £20k. Deposit came from selling my part of a jointly owned house.

Similar houses now sell from some £180k, roughly three times what I paid. Salaries for entry level jobs have absolutely not risen by 300%.

The difference between the mortgage someone can get and the total cost of the house has risen very, very significantly.

That difference cannot be made up by making your own coffee.

It's not impossible, but it is a lot more difficult than it was when I started out. At the time, I welcomed rising house prices because it represented a great return on my investment. Now, I understand the downsides for subsequent generations.

The solution is to expand the housing stock and good, affordable rental opportunities. There is no appetite amongst the haves to help the have nots in this way.

@Henryhoover12

Can people just read what I’m saying instead of asking the same questions that I’ve already answered. My point is and remains: that person A (me) who earns roughly the same salary as person B (my friend) can buy a house in the area we both live in as a young person as it is possible. However person B wants to do that whilst having her cake and eating it to of having a flashy car that she can’t really afford, going out every weekend, ordering stuff on klarna every other day and that she can’t really moan that the opportunity isn’t there for her. Also it’s coming from a place of frustration not gloating as actually person B lives rent free at home where as I was paying rent, her parents supported her through uni whereas I had to make do, her parents helped secure her job whereas I had to do my own. So it’s frustrating hearing her moan.

Also for the people who say I worked for 1 year I worked for 7 all through my studies and that’s how I afforded it.

Again I repeat I live in wales which I know is cheaper then London but it’s the fact that young people in wales still say they can’t buy!

So now you are just talking about your "friend's" attitude...although the way you speak about her it doesn't appear much of a friendship. Whereas in your OP you said, As a young person myself I’m bloody sick of this narrative, anything can be done if your willing to make sacrifices and prioritise for your goals which most young people aren’t The word there is most, not my friend.

I've seen less backflipping from an Olympic gymnast.

People are reading your posts OP, you just don't like the responses.

I mostly agree people laughed at me when I ate nothing but home made lentil Dahl for months on end whilst we saved for a deposit. Needed £7k as 5% for a 4 bed here 🥲.

That same 4 bed house has now sold stc for 34% more than we paid for it 3 years ago.. that £7k and spending NOTHING for a year (we paid rent!) meant we are now sitting on £67k+ in equity.

People seem to be crap at delayed gratification, short sightedness.

@oviraptor21

You can get 4-bed terraced houses within commutable distance of London for £350-400K. They're not ideal locations or wonderfully appointed but look OK. But most FTB should be looking at 1 bed anyway.

And how does a 22 yo acquire one the year after graduating, shortly after travelling the world, whilst also paying rent and living costs?

@Henryhoover12

Can people just read what I’m saying instead of asking the same questions that I’ve already answered. My point is and remains: that person A (me) who earns roughly the same salary as person B (my friend) can buy a house in the area we both live in as a young person as it is possible. However person B wants to do that whilst having her cake and eating it to of having a flashy car that she can’t really afford, going out every weekend, ordering stuff on klarna every other day and that she can’t really moan that the opportunity isn’t there for her. Also it’s coming from a place of frustration not gloating as actually person B lives rent free at home where as I was paying rent, her parents supported her through uni whereas I had to make do, her parents helped secure her job whereas I had to do my own. So it’s frustrating hearing her moan.

Also for the people who say I worked for 1 year I worked for 7 all through my studies and that’s how I afforded it.

Again I repeat I live in wales which I know is cheaper then London but it’s the fact that young people in wales still say they can’t buy!

So this is basically 'look at me, aren't I so much better/harder working/more clever than my friends/most other young people'.

Shame humility isn't one of your 'virtues' isn't it.

OP do you actually live and work in Wales?

I could’ve bought a 4 bed house in the university town I did my degree in. It would’ve cost me £120k which on a start salary of £35k would have been fine.

Utterly bloody useless as I needed to be in work everyday in a totally different part of the country to be paid that £35k.

Generally cheap local housing is a result of low wages locally - so I suspect OP might well have been able to buy a super cheap property in Wales but is likely WFH at a company that has a city rating for salary.

The point of the op is NO help at all. Not possible, sorry. Without even living at home? Nah.

How much of the house do you own?

A lot of my cousins who are early 20s like to brag that they’ve bought homes when us older ones in our 30s haven’t, but they only own like 25% of the house Which cost them 200K and they’ll never be able to buy the other 75%. Ever.

I agree to some extent. Like you the majority of people I know (and that's old school friends, uni aquaintances, similarly aged siblings and cousins and their friends, work colleagues, etc. etc.) have bought their own homes before the age of 30, with lots on their 2nd homes by then, and without amazing jobs or big deposits from their parents. The ones that haven't are usually the ones who rented their own flat in a nice area rather than slumming it in dodgy shared housing for years, or bought a coffee and a pret lunch every day instead of yesterday's leftovers, or had manicures, hair extensions, spray tans every time they went out, and so on. No it's not 'give up avocados and save £20 grand' but the stereotypes exist for a reason - for a lot of people saving a deposit is actually fairly doable, and more so, doable while still living a perfectly nice life with treats and holidays, not miserly counting every penny.

HOWEVER this is with the caveat that I live in a reasonably affordable part of the UK. If I was doing the same job in the South East I probably wouldn't be able to afford a home now. I definitely wouldn't have been able to afford it 5 years ago when I first bought mine, and if I could afford something it would be a 1 bed flat not the 2 bed semi I live in.

So I find the South East bias of "ABSOLUTELY NOBODY UNDER 40 CAN AFFORD TO BUY" annoying, as it excludes the majority of the country where it is totally achievable. But at the same time I feel the frustration of the people living there, as it is shit to have to move away from your friends, family and social network to be able to buy.

Clearly it's harder these days. Back when my parents married my father had a job in a small pet shop. Didn't own it, just worked there five days a week. My mother didn't work. They got a mortgage on a three bed semi near Oxford with no difficulty.

Renting is also much harder these days, because now all the new builds are snapped up by BTL landlords who slap a rent on the place that is double the mortgage payment. So a renter has to pay someone else's mortgage, and then some, while saving for a deposit.