To wonder how the next generation will buy a house

[macaronitoni]

Surely there needs to be a massive overhaul of the system. A new build home with two bedrooms on a new development nearby is £315k. Not London. Midlands. Who’s going to be buying that? Too small for a family with more than one DC but way out of budget for most first time buyers.

Without significant family help, how will today’s children and young people manage to buy a house? Something has to change!

no way

I genuinely think that some of the “Blame It On The Boomers” types have just read that on a superficial level somewhere and like it because it absolves them of responsibility to sort themselves out. I think this because that’s how I was. Lovely to have someone to blame it all on.

My Mum had me as a single parent in the early seventies and had to go back to full time work from when I was six weeks old. I was in nursery from 8 am to 6 pm five days a week. My Dad who was living abroad but came back when he found out about me, joined the army at 16 with just the shirt on his back. Everything they have they earned together from pure hard work. No one gave them a thing. I can’t resent that.

I was in nursery from 8 am to 6 pm five days a week.

How did she afford that on one wage with no help?

Anyway let’s say they did live at home, earned 30k, saved 20k and had no major outgoings like loans. Barclays will lend you 144k over 25 years. Which won’t even buy a flat in most places.

Save £10k a year for 10 years and you’ve got £100k (plus interest). Buy at age 31. Not too bad.

Why would a graduate be on minimum wage? Grad jobs pay more than that, the whole point of doing a degree is to get a grad job.

I will interrogate her as to her financial arrangements back in 1971 when I next see her and let you know 😁

Interrogation is a bit unnecessary a simple question should do the trick! 😆

Rather a sweeping statement! My son and my daughter were able to buy their first houses by the time they were 30 without any help from their parents. How? By living a cheap rental accommodation after leaving university, not having expensive holidays or lifestyles and saving very hard while also focusing on developing their careers.

Even though they had student loans, they both managed to save for the deposit and buy low value houses which they lived in for a few years until buying larger places together with their partners.

My niece, aged 21, chose not to go to University as she did not want a huge debt at the end and did a degree level apprenticeship in marketing instead. She lived at home and saved hard, now her apprenticeship is completed and she’s starting to earn a decent salary so has just this week exchanged contracts on a small two bedroom flat - on her own, no partner and no help from parents other than being able to live rent free at home for three years.

It can be done with determination and hard work but some sacrifices have to be made.

I kind of felt like your question had that tone to it tbh. As though I wasn’t telling the truth… Apologies if I am wrong 😊.

House prices are only high because BOTH political parties want them to be and both parties therefore engineer a shortage of supply.

It doesn't have to be like this.

@BethDuttonsTwin no I'm genuinely curious what childcare looked like then? I wasn't born then & my parents are immigrants.

144k would buy you a 3 bed semi in quite a few places including large coties towards/in north.
Bloody hell, mine isn't even worth that and I am in large northern city.

So again, people should be quite specifying locations because "most" places outside of expensive south areas (uk is massive with geographic majority affordable) have plenty for less than that.

There are predictably a few posts saying it is 'doable' because their son/daughter/friend's acquaintance's DC did it- but what they don't acknowledge is there's always a particular set of circumstances involved

not in ds1s case

BUT

he does have a partner

AND

the fact that ds1 has been lucky enough to manage it (mainly because he has a partner) doesn’t mean it was easy or indeed that other youngsters are able to do it. I can appreciate his luck and the fact that others can’t manage it for all sorts of reasons

@Ilovetocrochet your niece lived at home yes?

"She lived at home and saved hard"

which is what I said, they need help.

Your dc bought at 30 the OP is talking about todays children & young people. It gets harder & harder.

I don't think it's ever been particularly easy to afford property on your own. If you don't have a partner another option is to buy with a friend. It's what I did in the late 80s. She bought me out after a few years and I was then able to afford my own 1 bed flat - just before the property slump so I was stuck in massive negative equity for years.

Hard work, sometimes a full time job and a job at weekends or a couple of nights a week
No nights out
No take aways
Clothes from charity shop
Sim only phone
Not taking on debt.

You know like other generations did before easy credit, living in your overdraft and using credit cards and Klarna to buy cheap shit you don't need became the norm.

Yes, I guess my niece did have help as her parents were able to let her live rent free but I think they checked that she was saving!

My own children are age 34 and 35 now so not that long ago when they first bought their houses. I appreciate that things have changed somewhat in the last few years but it really wasn’t easy for them to save the deposit. They had to give up a lot in terms of holidays, new cars, expensive nights out etc.

I still think that some young people need to lower their aspirations around life style choices - between spending on a great social life in their 20’s or having a quieter life and saving, between renting a smart flat in a city centre or a cheap flat in a less salubrious suburb, between buying a smart place or a run down cheap property which can be improved slowly.

But yes, it’s not easy either way and I think it was easier for my university graduates of my generation to buy our first houses in the 1980’s as we did not have student loans to worry about as well as saving for a deposit.

I've not said it was easy? But plenty of young people won't be able to buy despite foregoing new cars or expensive night outs.

Being able to save on rent is a huge help. I'm not sure why that wouldn't be considered as help?

I bought at 30 with help but wouldn't be able to buy the same property 5 yrs later as my salary didn't keep up with the price gains. And the cost of work now often makes a doer upper prohibitive.

Also when I was in my early 20s I went out loads as did my peers. These days pubs & clubs have been closing at an alarming rate & many young people don't smoke or drink.

Did older generations really not go out as young people?

You need to climb property ladder. Single, first-time buyer needs to look at studio flats, they don't need 2 bedroom house. Then upside and move in few years, when he has a partner and two incomes. Or payrise from his work. You have to put real effort if you want to achieve something.
I bought my first one-bed flat at 22-years old. I was working two jobs and had no help from anyone.
27 year old male still living with patents ? That just luck of drive and aspirations.

Interest rates of 5-7 % for 10 years would fix it all.

I dont think the ladder concept has worked as well in recent years as it relied a bit on inflation eating away at the size of the original loan, not just people getting pay rises by going up a level and gaining partners. For a lot of people there has been a long period of wage stagnation, low inflation and low interest rates generally so loans just look the same size as they did 10 years later and you still cant borrow more as your wage didnt change much either and your savings got no interest and but property prices were going up quicker than you can save. Thats not to say its impossible. Its just the conditions for a ladder have nt been quite right.

Saving and buying what they CAN afford - so not a £315k new build but a cheaper place in a cheaper area - also in the Midlands - 2 bed new build - cheapest here is £250k but a 2 bed terrace in an okay area £170k

Ex's step kids have both just moved into their own homes with their partners - both under 30

In my home town you can still get a 3 bed terrace for under £150k - so it's dependant on where you are and where you work

I know it's harder now than it was in the 90's when I got my first home (on a pretty shit estate in a rough area) but I do think we need to stopping seeing it as impossible - for everyone!

Well that’s your town @ghostyslovesheets and you’ll find if everyone descended on the very cheap areas, they would no longer be very cheap!

Yes that is my town - that's my point - it's not impossible for everyone - people do move here - new build 4 beds now go for over £500k but there are still options - I'm not saying it's easy for everyone everywhere but maybe for some young people it's still an option - some of the next generation will own homes