Let's do the math for Kirsty regarding an affordable home

[kirstyalslap]

I'm sure everyone has heard that kirsty Allsopp has came out saying that people can afford homes if they only cut out netflix, the gym and takeaway coffees.

I just worked out a meal deal costs £3 a day. X that by 5 days a week 52 weeks a year is £720. Netflix is £8 for 2 screens (?) so times that by 12 months is £96 a year.
Let's add a £20 takeaway every 2 weeks for good measure. £520. Gym costs £14 a month so £168 a year.

So in one year of cutting back on netflix, lunch for work and takeaways I can save £1504
Wow
Now I need 14000 for a deposit so I'm only 10 years away (probably a little but more actually including fees.)

Right now let's think about increase in property value.
My parents bought their house 8 years ago for £90 thousand. A massive 2 reception with 4 bed and 2 huge gardens with a drive.
Bad condition.
Last year the neighbours sold for £230k
This year the other neighbours has been valued at £280k. My parents are thinking of selling for approx £290k.
So in 8 years their house has increased by £200k
(this hurts me as I started saving 8 years ago, nearly 9 and was looking at saving for a smaller house for about 80k needed 4k at the time and had a 5 year plan to get there. No family helping with deposit)

£90k now would get you nothing at all.
Also you need a 10% deposit.
Also rents back then was £500pcm for 2 bed flat. Now they are £700+pcm for same flat.

So how can we do it? How? Please tell me!

Oh also, everyone I know saving for a house has already cut out take away, meal deals, gym (first to go come on!) and much much more.
Batch cooking, shopping around for deals, having friends round rather than going out.
Every thing is rising in price now, I don't know how my children will afford to live away from us, it is scary because as much as we are okay now, we won't be able to have 3 grown adults living in one bedroom until they are in their 30s! Or will it be 40s or 50s by then?

Awful self entitled brat of a woman....ao annoying.....never watch or listen to her ever !

I saw that our local MP had retweeted this article saying it was good advice (the most recent of his Twitter gaffs). Not sure whether encouraging a reduction in expenditure at a time when an increased cost of living is already drawing people away from entertainment and hospitality sectors will align with government economic policy!

Add to that his constituency covers an area of the country where house prices already far outstrip local wages (rural North Yorkshire) and you wonder what exactly he was trying to gain from demonstrating his support for this sentiment - further drive young, working age people away from his are so the demographics are even further skewed towards retirees and second home owners

We got very lucky and bought our place 3 years ago. In those 3 years prices in our area have skyrocketed. We bought a fairly standard 3 bed 1970’s build for £575k. Now worth about £800k.

It’s insane. We wouldn’t now be able to afford to buy.

We sold our flat which had similarly rocketed in value and we’d paid off a huge chunk of our prior mortgage. Flat bought for £285k. Sold for £365k. Mortgage of £120k left.

To buy flat we saved by staying with parents and we’re each given a £10k chunk. Realise how lucky we were to have this. No way we’ll be able to do the same for our dc.

@notacooldad

So all move up north, good luck finding your dream house for 90k near here No one expects a 90k house to be a dream home. It can, however be a great starter home for a young person setting out.

As the rest of my post said, not in this part of “up north” it can’t. Double it and you’ll get a not so great starter home

Excuse me whilst I splutter my take away coffee everywhere whilst exercising in the gym and watching Netflix...

Oh hang on, that was a dream - if only!

She is unbelievable. What planet is she actually on ffs?? I despair for my DS who is renting with his GF and who indulge in none of the above, take every hour of overtime they can, save every penny and the market is increasing faster than they can save for a deposit.

Kirsty, you should be ashamed.

She's a bit thick isn't she.

Not the best advert for private education.

@Comefromaway

Luckily I bought a house in 2001 as I have never had Netflix, the last gym I went in was the one at school and I don't drink coffee. I take a packed lunch to work. OK, I do treat myself to a £5 chippy every week.

She has no idea how real people live.

I went to get fish and chips the other day - first time in ages and a large cod was £6.70 That was by itself - no chips !!

It's the same old line, re-hashed across the generations.

I can remember my arsehole parents watching news stories about people struggling financially, saying "well, why have they got a dog and a tv if they are so poor?"

Its what people with lots of money say to ease their conscience. See also "we worked hard for our money" and "we scrimped and saved for everything we have."

Jaxhog how much does a doer upper cost in East Ham these days?

@frustratedbiscuit2

Also moving to different 'cheaper' areas might mean moving further from family/friends/support networks. Property might be cheaper in smaller towns elsewhere but are there job prospects?

That doesn't negate it being possible though. It's about priorities. You can bet those who want a home above all else get one no matter what. Those who want a home a lot but also want to enjoy life and not live like a monk don't have a home yet and it will take them a bit longer. Then there are those who "want a home" but have no discipline at all and will never get on the property ladder. It's true that if you put all your resources into one goal you are very likely to achieve that goal.

Life is about priorities more than anything. I've achieved the things I want in life because I wanted them badly enough. They aren't much and it took me a while to get them as well, but I don't blame circumstances for that, I blame my own priorities and what I turned my own attention to. I've eaten through thousands upon thousands of pounds during my 40 years. I could have owned two buildings if that is what interested me. It didn't, so I don't.

house prices are not often 3-4 times salary in poorer areas where you can get a 2 bed terrace for 100-150K the average salary is lower closer to 20K not 30K
I agree in these areas two people working full time on about 20K can get on the housing ladder and saving10% deposit is much easier when it is 15K than when it is 60K
it is also true that some people do not know how to be frugal to save and spend everything every month regardless of whether take home pay is 1500 or 5000 a month, but unless you are saving a relatively small sum ie 2-10K going without coffee takeaways and eating out is not enough but when people have several small habits that cost it can add up it can be quite easy to spend £40-50 even a £100 a week on unnecessary small things coffee magazines takeaway food lunch eating out, a new top, taxi back from night a pub, alcohol none of these on their own wreck a budget but doing all of them regularly can.
Some people on here are trying to make £200 a month cover food toiletries cleaning products for 4, others seem not to manage on 3-5K per month

[quote CorrBlimeyGG]@Applesonthelawn That's a multiplier of less than 4, not a particularly substantial mortgage and a world apart from the difficulties first time buyers face now. My circumstances were similar to yours, I very much appreciate the advantage I had over people wishing to buy now.[/quote]
Yes, plus Apples got half the deposit paid by mum and dad, even if she had to repay it later. We bought 20 years ago and appreciate it was easier then than it is for people today

@KarenTheGammonRemoaner

Having a mortgage is not owning a home, it's being liable for a debt.

Shhhh, don’t mention that! Or the care home fees after you have worked all of your life to ‘own’ and maintain it.

I just worked out a meal deal costs £3 a day. X that by 5 days a week 52 weeks a year is £720. Netflix is £8 for 2 screens (?) so times that by 12 months is £96 a year. Let's add a £20 takeaway every 2 weeks for good measure. £520. Gym costs £14 a month so £168 a year.

Where you live is cheaper than many. Assuming as you have said that it's for the full 52 weeks:

Meal Deal £3, but sandwich shop will cost more - £5 - £25 per week - £1300 per year
Netflix - £8 = £96 per year
Takeaway - Assuming you are saying it's £20 per person every 2 weeks, and the people I know who have takeaways have multiple takeaways a week. £40 per week = £2080 per year
Gym - a CHEAP gym round here is over £30pm - usually more like £45/£50 pm = £600 per year
Takeaway coffee £3 per day £15 per week = £780 per year

That's £4856 right there

Plus going out, cinema, snacks when you're there, pubs etc
Plus haircuts and whatever - everyone has to have their brows/nails done - god knows what that costs

Added to this, Amazon Prime, TV licence, Spotify/Apple music/sky, it all adds up

I GET it that it's so bloody hard to save money, and things are totally out of control, but the one thing I hope so many have learned over the last 2 years is JUST how much money people are taking off us and for some things we CAN do for ourselves.

So yeah, she's out of touch, but there ARE things to be learned here, it may not result in you suddenly being flush enough to buy a house, but it will mean that you have more money to live your live day to day.

@Butterismylife Doesn’t ‘mortgage’ mean death grip?

50 years ago it was standard for people to live with family until they got married. Widowed parents often moved in with a child too. Nowadays single people want their own homes once they get into their 20s and there just aren’t enough properties for that. Bear in mind as well there are more single people because we’re getting married later or not at all. Obviously Kirsty is an idiot with her comments but taking a broader view it’s impossible for all these people to have houses, there aren’t enough and it’s pushing prices up. We will have to go back to multiple occupancy but it’s not an unusual way of living - what’s unusual is all of the people who currently expect to live alone.

@MrsBaublesDylan

It's the same old line, re-hashed across the generations.

I can remember my arsehole parents watching news stories about people struggling financially, saying "well, why have they got a dog and a tv if they are so poor?"

Its what people with lots of money say to ease their conscience. See also "we worked hard for our money" and "we scrimped and saved for everything we have."

This. Poor people shouldn’t enjoy life, shouldn’t even have children, nevermind pets, according to authoritarians on here.

Look, just cut out one skiing holiday a year, what is the matter with you all 🙄

She's so out of touch, it's a joke. I'm "up North" and the average cost of a house in my postcode is £550,000, there aren't bedsits or studio flats and a one bed flat cost around £230,000. You are going to have to cut out a lot of coffee and takeaways to save up enough for a deposit let alone a mortgage. Typical comments from someone who's never had to worry about money. I suppose my daughter could move to a "two up, two down" in the roughest part of North Manchester, she could afford to buy something there after about 5 years of saving for a deposit, it's over an hour from her work but as Kirstie suggests giving up your car to save money I'm not sure how she'd get there? Ignorance and arrogance are never an attraction combination, I suggest she sticks to making handmade decorations from tin foil and toilet rolls.

She really is trapped in her little wealthy bubble.

I have been financially independent since 17, being able to afford a posh coffee or prime (dvds through the post back then!) would have been a huge luxury.

I bought my flat when I was 30, I have a good job with decent pay, I also have a second job which isn’t well paid, but still a decent second income. While I do like some expensive things, they are a very rare treat. I was able to buy my flat as a few years ago I bought a property with a friend, it grew in value significantly so when he sold I was left with enough for a large deposit. Without that I wouldn’t have been able to buy until I married my husband with his additional income and savings.

Lets all remember that Kirsty thinks women should focus on looking pretty, getting married and having a baby, she doesn’t value education or financial independence.

@Journeybacknorth perhaps to remind/help convince people their problems are their own fault instead of a result of government decisions?

What Kirsty actually said (as well as the Netflix bit) was that if you want to buy a house you can't necessarily buy one where you want to. That was always the case. I couldn't afford to buy in St Albans or Kensington. You just have to live somewhere else, and yes, that might mean moving away from family. For example I know people from London who moved to places like Ashford in Kent where they could afford to buy (and then commute - which is now easier with WFH and hybrid working).

It doesn't come over well from Kirstie as she has two houses, which is part of the reason house prices are so high - but she isn't wrong that people have to be less picky and buy what they can afford where they can afford it.

My DS and his g/f were both 21 when they bought a 2 bedroom flat - in the SE - commutable to London. No Bank of mum and dad.

Usually I can't stand Kirsty Allsop and she has phrased things badly AND it is grating when a v v privileged person lectures the rest of us but....

There are ways:
Buy with somebody else
Don't buy a 'forever home' straightaway (or expect to)
Have a job where there is a lot of potential for overtime
Think carefully about what you will do as a job after Uni / do you really need to go to Uni

The year they bought their place they were still going out / foreign holidays (although I must admit he uses MY Netflix log in)

@RuthW

It is possible. My dd has 50k for her deposit. She works full time now and went to uni for 4years. She pays me rent monthly. She's 24. She saves and saves.

So in two years, she's saved £50k, while paying you rent?

You do know that most people her age don't even bring home £25k a year, never mind be able to save it, even if they do live with their mum.

Even without paying you rent, she had to be earning around £40k at 22, to save every penny of her take home income. So to pay you decent rent as well, she must be on mega money for a relatively recent graduate.

I mean, good on her for getting such a good job. But you can't even begin to think of her as being an average 24 year old.

Lets all remember that Kirsty thinks women should focus on looking pretty, getting married and having a baby, she doesn’t value education or financial independence

What she actually said was that women are having babies too late. Which is probably true. Not sure I'd have wanted one at 24 but it would have been better in many ways than having one at 44 and having a 5 year old now (I didn't, I had mine at 30).