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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think it just gets harder for first time buyers?

143 replies

chatterbug22 · 25/04/2022 19:54

We rent a new build 2 bed and are lucky to do so cheaply, we have landed on our feet with it really as properties on this government scheme are cheap and we have two very decent sized rooms with a nice big secure garden.

The goal is to buy in the next 18 months, and we are lucky enough to be able to save quite well. We have good jobs, both on the average salary for people in the UK and we’re not yet even mid 20s. We are up north. The help to buy scheme in our area is capped at £228,100. A year ago you would get a 3 bed semi for that. 6 months ago you’d probably get a 2 bed for it. I have just browsed today out of curiosity and there is absolutely NOTHING that falls under the scheme, apart from a 2 bed terraced smaller than our current house in a not very nice area?!

How is anyone supposed to do this? Demand seems crazy at the moment. Are we best to compete with it all or just stay out until it crashes (which I’m guessing it inevitably will).
I don’t want to needlessly be paying rent that we will never see again but nor do I want us in a situation where we are priced out of our depth.

Boggles my brain!

OP posts:
Camomila · 25/04/2022 20:07

It's stressful isn't it.

We have finally saved enough for a 5% deposit but now we are saving for the moving/solicitors costs and I'm a bit worried prices will rise quicker than we can save it.

Sometimes I look at cheaper areas but then there's no guarantee we'd find a school with spaces that has an afterschool club and a nursery that also has spaces nearby.

Camomila · 25/04/2022 20:09

It's stressful isn't it.

We have finally saved enough for a 5% deposit but now we are saving for the moving/solicitors costs and I'm a bit worried prices will rise quicker than we can save it.

Sometimes I look at cheaper areas but then there's no guarantee we'd find a school with spaces that has an afterschool club and a nursery that also has spaces nearby.

Overthebow · 25/04/2022 20:13

Our first house 5 years 7 years ago was the small two bed. You go for what you can afford then work up the ladder. Most first time buyers, even 20 years ago, don't start off with a three bed house.

Overthebow · 25/04/2022 20:15

You also don;t need to use the government scheme. Go for an older cheaper house. I wouldn't rely on a house price crash either, people have been wishing for that for years and it's never come. You likely wouldn't find it easier to buy if there was a crash so don't wish for one.

Original poster
chatterbug22 · 25/04/2022 20:17

@Camomila yes. Those hidden costs are the part that gets you, and it’s what I’m scared of to be honest! I know people who sacrifice in area but to me that just isn’t worth it, at all. Rather have the smallest house in the nicest area than the biggest one in the worst area!

It is tough, considering shared ownership because then at least your payments partly come back to you in equity and then that could be a deposit on the open market someday for a forever home. I don’t want to buy less than a 3 bed because I don’t want to keep moving, either. The next house has to be one we can stay in for a while if life goes to plan!

OP posts:
Original poster
chatterbug22 · 25/04/2022 20:18

@Overthebow thank you. It’s tough as the older houses seem to sell faster and be more expensive around here than the new ones, they are definitely more few and far between too. I just want something relatively low maintenance and lesser needs of decorating. It’s not ever going to be easy so might as well bite the bullet on that one I think, you’re right

OP posts:
PinkArt · 25/04/2022 20:23

The housing market is nuts and it is tough for first time buyers... But 'smaller than our current house in a not very nice area' is literally what every first time buyer I know did. I did, my friends did, my parents did 40 years ago. That's how you get on the ladder, on the bottom rung.

tiledo · 25/04/2022 20:28

You go for what you can afford then work up the ladder.

working your way up the ladder doesn't really exist anymore.

Most first time buyers, even 20 years ago, don't start off with a three bed house.

Most FTBs are older though

ReadyToMoveIt · 25/04/2022 20:30

Yeah, it is really tough and getting tougher.
I agree with @PinkArt though… it’s perfectly normal to buy a first house that’s smaller/less desirable than the one you’re renting. That’s exactly what we did. It was the only way to get on the housing ladder.

Octomore · 25/04/2022 20:30

Overthebow · 25/04/2022 20:13

Our first house 5 years 7 years ago was the small two bed. You go for what you can afford then work up the ladder. Most first time buyers, even 20 years ago, don't start off with a three bed house.

This. My first house was a 2 bed ex-council house. Most FTBs compromise in some way, whether it's on the size, location, amount of work needed etc.

Autienotnaughtie · 25/04/2022 20:31

I bought my first house in 2000. A 2 bed semi in a nice ish area in the north. £28k, no deposit needed just paid solicitor fees. That house is worth 150k, the thing is I'd be surprised if wages have gone up x5 in past 20 years.

ReadyToMoveIt · 25/04/2022 20:31

Autienotnaughtie · 25/04/2022 20:31

I bought my first house in 2000. A 2 bed semi in a nice ish area in the north. £28k, no deposit needed just paid solicitor fees. That house is worth 150k, the thing is I'd be surprised if wages have gone up x5 in past 20 years.

They haven’t.

Octomore · 25/04/2022 20:32

Most FTBs are older though

The OP is in her 20s, which is a young FTB.

ReadyToMoveIt · 25/04/2022 20:33

We bought our first house in our early 30’s. Couldn’t afford it until then.

tiledo · 25/04/2022 20:34

@Octomore yes but I was explaining why the concept of the ladder is outdated.
For many it makes sense to future proof what they buy rather than have lots of moves. Plus ever rising prices make it harder to move up the ladder, that's why so many buyers are stuck on it.

ComtesseDeSpair · 25/04/2022 20:36

Except in cheap areas, people in their early twenties earning average salaries were rarely able to buy three bedroom houses in the past. When I speak to my parents, they and all their peers started off in flats or smaller houses in less salubrious areas before climbing their way up.

I don’t deny that in many areas housing is out of step with incomes, but I think a lot of young FTBers can be unrealistic about what their first home should look like, and incorrect in their assumptions that back in some golden heydey any average earning couple could buy their family home by the age of 25.

spuddy56 · 25/04/2022 20:41

ComtesseDeSpair · 25/04/2022 20:36

Except in cheap areas, people in their early twenties earning average salaries were rarely able to buy three bedroom houses in the past. When I speak to my parents, they and all their peers started off in flats or smaller houses in less salubrious areas before climbing their way up.

I don’t deny that in many areas housing is out of step with incomes, but I think a lot of young FTBers can be unrealistic about what their first home should look like, and incorrect in their assumptions that back in some golden heydey any average earning couple could buy their family home by the age of 25.

Any I know are trying to buy a first family home by the age of 35, not 25. Potentially too late to have families anyway.

I doubt that I will be able to have a child despite us earning well above average. We don't have any deposit help available.

Tiredalwaystired · 25/04/2022 20:43

Overthebow · 25/04/2022 20:13

Our first house 5 years 7 years ago was the small two bed. You go for what you can afford then work up the ladder. Most first time buyers, even 20 years ago, don't start off with a three bed house.

Yeah we thought this 16 years ago. Bought our starter home. Still here because the prices on bigger houses grew even faster.

No way we can afford to move and no way could we even afford our own home at market price if we were buying today

Which means this perfect starter home isn’t going to a starter and we’re trapped.

it doesn’t work for anyone.

ReadyToMoveIt · 25/04/2022 20:43

spuddy56 · 25/04/2022 20:41

Any I know are trying to buy a first family home by the age of 35, not 25. Potentially too late to have families anyway.

I doubt that I will be able to have a child despite us earning well above average. We don't have any deposit help available.

Show quote history

We bought our first house at 34 and 35… took us that long to save a deposit. Downsized from our rental. We already had 2 children by the time we bought.

Camomila · 25/04/2022 20:43

I think we were guilty of having overly optimistic expectations when we first started looking...now we'll be happy with another 2 bedroom flat a similar size to the one we are renting but with no mould!

We probably should have bought before having the DC but my DM had breast cancer young so I took all those "have DC before you are 35" warnings to heart.

Overthebow · 25/04/2022 20:45

tiledo · 25/04/2022 20:34

@Octomore yes but I was explaining why the concept of the ladder is outdated.
For many it makes sense to future proof what they buy rather than have lots of moves. Plus ever rising prices make it harder to move up the ladder, that's why so many buyers are stuck on it.

Makes sense to them but realistically it’s buy what you can afford. If people are serious about buying then compromises might have to be made. Otherwise people are free to rent the three bed house if they aren’t willing to compromise.

tiledo · 25/04/2022 20:46

@Tiredalwaystired exactly. We are trying to buy our next property but when prices increase by 20% or whatever that's a huge whack on what you are trying to buy.

GrumpyPanda · 25/04/2022 20:47

Non-Brit here for a different perspective. Given that you're in a place you like, cheap rent and from what it sounds like a secure long-term tenancy I don't see the need to rush. It's good to saving and wanting to invest but investing in property really isn't the only way to do it. Do a couple of sessions with a good financial advisor and depending on your medium-term plans (relocations? Kids? time frame?) consider investing in a mixture of broad global index funds and shorter-term assets. The financial advisor can run comparison scenarios for you on both options. I'm based in Germany atm and the business pages run articles all the time on "when/how many years for buying to be more beneficial than renting". Many many people don't buy until well into their 30s or later and many remain renters forever even if they could afford to buy. You're still quite young, and if you've saved and grown your savings by investing there's no reason why you wouldn't be just as well placed several years from now.

tiledo · 25/04/2022 20:47

If people are serious about buying then compromises might have to be made

Even people with 1m plus budgets have no choice but to compromise!

tiledo · 25/04/2022 20:50

I doubt that I will be able to have a child despite us earning well above average. We don't have any deposit help available.

It's not a good thing that people can't even afford dc anymore. And so much of your life choices depend on family help as to earnings.

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