To think there’s no good option for first time buyers

[ton29]

Prepared to be told it’s always been like this but I’m not quite sure it has.

On our combined income as it is now (both earn the average UK salary) in 2018 we would have been able to buy a 3 bed semi, possibly 3 bed detached in a really lovely area. We couldn’t buy then as we were still students.

Fast forward to this year and prices have rocketed so much so the same houses are 60-80k more making them unaffordable.

Buying a flat isn’t always the answer if you’re going to outgrow it immediately because if you move fairly quickly after buying, there’s the risk of negative equity and costs associated like legal fees and stamp duty on the new property.

Buying a house in need of renovation isn’t suitable for everyone. It’s ok if you have family help or are quite creatively minded, but if you work very busy 9-5s it’s soon going to get expensive and untenable to rip up flooring and knock through walls.

Moving 30-40 miles away to a cheaper area makes life inconvenient for commuting to work and seeing family.

I’m not sure why you can no longer buy the average sized house when you are on average sized salaries. Buying wouldn’t be an issue either if it was more secure to rent, but as everyone knows renting in this country is huge instability.

The prices are utterly ridiculous they seemed to skyrocket after the pandemic, but reports say they are dropping slowly so could you wait a while. It is utterly shit i worry for my kids how they are going to survive financially.

Buying a flat isn’t always the answer if you’re going to outgrow it immediately because if you move fairly quickly after buying, there’s the risk of negative equity and costs associated like legal fees and stamp duty on the new property.

This is not new. DH and I bought a 2 bed in 2008 (1 "bed" being a 5ft wide boxroom). Of course we "outgrew" it but we had to wait the market out for 5 years. We bought our 4 bed townhouse just shy of age 30.

I'm only 38 so not going to start banging on about 15% interest rates, don't worry. 😁

A 3 bedroom house as your first buy is not ‘average’
Its called a housing ladder for a reason, you climb it, you don’t expect to be magically half way up.
Buy a 2 bed flat, why would you magically immediately outgrow it? Unless you’re expecting quadruplets?

Sorry OP as others have said a 3 bed detached is not a first time buyers house for the average couple. You need to sort out your expectations, one or two bed terrace or a flat is more or less to be expected for your first home.

Geta grip, generation I want it now.

It is if you're in your 30s and already have children or are planning to have children ASAP.

A starter studio or 1-bed flat is fine if you're in your 20s and just starting out in life.

Hi OP,

In your shoes, personally I'd go for the area I wanted with the best property I could get (ie a lovely 2 bed home in a gorgeous place rather than a 3 bed house in a deprived northern/Welsh town).

Imagine being single (happily) like me, OP. I have one little salary & deposit. No family help. I wouldn't change this as I don't wish to have a partner (or at least avoid living with someone), but all these things are tough. I also wouldn't compromise on location as I need to feel safe.

Personally, I'm having to go shared ownership I think; could this be an option to stay in the area you prefer?

Just wait now for others saying you need to move 70 miles away, make more money with a better job/working 70 hours a week etc!

I’m not a boomer either.
Bought 2 bed flat in 2016 for 180k, 5% deposit and a help to buy loan. Sold in 2021 for 210k. Bought 3 bed house in 2021 for 370k, we were 31/32.

That’s a really good suggestion. Thank you! Hope you find a lovely home.

Buying a flat isn’t always the answer if you’re going to outgrow it immediately because if you move fairly quickly after buying, there’s the risk of negative equity and costs associated like legal fees and stamp duty on the new property.

Are you really going to immediately outgrow a 2-bed terrace? Locally they're about £150-200k vs. £260-300k+ for a 3-bed semi.

Prices have risen so much. 20 years ago two of us on good but average salaries could buy a 2 bed house, no real garden and on street parking if you're lucky, but in a desireable area. When we sold the property 10 years later it's market value had risen from £70,000 to £350,000. 10 years ago I was able to move to a 3 bed detached with a good size garden, a drive and still in a desireable area, but had to move 15 miles away and since that move . In the decade since that last move properties on my street have risen by an additional £200,000 to £300,000 That isn't realistic and sustainable for this kind of timeline. We don't have kids but with the added cost of childcare and all their bits and bobs I don't see how we would have managed this.

It is bonkers when you put it like that. Wow!

An ‘averaged price house’ is not a starter home for a ftb.
Prices have gone up and some areas are really difficult markers, I say this as someone who lives in London, but your making life harder due to your fussiness.
You don’t want something smaller, you don’t want something that needs work … well too bad if you can’t afford a 3 bed finished house.

Sometimes buying the fixer uper is the quickest and cheapest answer for some. We had 4 kids, three with sen, one severely effected by ASD and classed as the highest rate dla for his disability. We bought and extended a 3 bed into a 5 bed. We would never in a million years been able to work up the market to a 5 bed. Some people have no other choice if that's what they want / need. I'd rather have a two bed tiny house then still be renting in five years with another massive price increase.

Our 3 bed was 250k 9 years ago. Next door smaller the same layout as ours pre extension was 435 two years ago.

I feel so badly for first time buyers nowadays. Prices have become insane. I bought my first house in 2000. A lovely little 3 bed terrace in a nice part of the nice town I lived in down south and it cost £42,000. And that was absolutely the average of what my friends were paying for their first houses. I bought with my partner but I could have afforded it (and the deposit) on my own income.

I checked earlier - that house is now valued at £195,000!

Options are shared ownership, rent to buy (not very common), buy smaller property or wait. New builds often have incentives. It is really hard OP I agree.

There is nothing wrong with buying a 2 bed flat if you’re thinking of having children. You could easily do 5+ years in it and move up the ladder when you can afford to.
You live with what you can afford. A 3 bedroom house isn’t always necessary and sulking over not being able to buy it isn’t helpful either.

I just checked rightmove for our old neighbourhood. Prices there have risen in th last 10 years, but not at the rate of my current neighbourhood, they've gone up by another £100,000 and the properties look tired, in need of decorating at the very least.

The average house on the average salary is now 8 times the average salary, it is ridiculous.

We bought in 1999 and the population of the UK was 59 million it is now close to 68 million. It’s multi factorial but there is the supply and demand aspect. In the 1970’s approx 10% of households were single person households, it’s now at just over 30%. So whilst the population has increased, it was around 56 million in the 1970’s also the nature of required housing has changed. This is because of two reasons, people living longer which everyone knows about. But another reason is a huge societal change in social attitudes, it’s acceptable to not marry now or remain in an unhappy marriage. This can be applauded and who doesn’t want the true emancipation of women but it has had a big consequence and impact on housing. Three of my friends have divorced in the last decade for various reasons but in the past they would have probably sucked it up, terrible for them personally and great those women are out of that misery but those 3 households became 6.

I’m a millennial and bought my house last year, about 100k more than it was worth 10 years ago. It stings but worked my area off and went without.

I agree my parents generation got a 3 bed for 18k on wage of 10k. House now 180k but are wages 100k? Are they fuck. It’s harder nowadays but they still bang on about the interest.

A lot of people renovate with a “busy 9-5”. You do it after work and at weekends.

This is the situation we were in when we bought in 2017 and still so when upsizing in 2020. In 2017 we opted for the small property that we outgrew faster than we could build good equity in. So for downsizing we opted for moving 30 mins away to a cheaper area. Renovation was never an option as we did not have the cash, time or inclination.

My parents made similar decisions in 1990. So I think this has often been the core of buying with limited help as a FTB for a long time.

There are many more options that exactly this descripted expectation.

I would stick to the area you want to live in and get the best property you can afford there.
As other have said you do need to be realistic. It has never been the case that a ftb couple on average salary can afford a 3 bed detached in a nice area (at least not without the bank of mum and dad). That's as true of 20 years ago as it is now. You need to look at entry level properties and get on the ladder at the bottom like everyone else.
A flat is a perfectly good option, even with small children. We lived in a flat till our oldest was 3. It was really nice and I have found memories of the place.

*upsizing, not downsizing!

I think you are forgetting about building equity to use as a deposit. Plus your salaries may grow over a bit of time too.

We both had above average salaries when we bought our first house six years ago. Paid £200k and I loathed it 😂 but we did it up, sold it fairly quickly for a big profit, bought a nicer house to do up again.

Now age 34, we’ve recently moved a short distance and bought our final home which is a gorrrgeous detached period property with six bedrooms. We still need to do it up though! Despite it not being convenient to work around our jobs, it’s worth it.

Buy something you can stick with short term and make money on.