To think you shouldn't expect to buy a home on a single salary?

[Fivebedexecutivehome]

Genuinely interested in people's thoughts.

There's no doubt there's a shortage of appropriate housing in the UK, and that prices make home ownership for many people on average salaries.

But I find a lot of reporting about the topic weird- lots of interviews with people who seem to want to buy a property by themselves.

most recent one on BBC but not unique:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7209lk8x2wo

My husband and I managed to get on the housing ladder a few years ago, early/mid thirties, both full time with a combined income of about 75k at the time, had been saving for about a decade towards deposit, plus a couple of grand from each of our parents to get it over the line. Got in towards the bottom end of the market of the (south eastern) town we live in.

I recognise both of us are quite privileged in lots of ways - having a bit of family support and salaries in the 30ks and 40ks. But there's no way either of us would have been able to ever buy a property by ourselves. But there's 68 million people in this country, surely the expectation can't be that everyone wants to buy a property themselves? And surely that's never been the expectation previously?

the media is basically centred in London (and media/journalist pay has not kept pace with house prices to a greater degree than other professions). Mumsnet was started by a woman who lived in north london and she got her first subscribers by leafletting in her local neighbourhood (islington).

So while mumsnet has become far more diverse, it is not hard to see that if the earlier subscribers have stayed, they are likely to be still living in London/SE and have kids in that area. Also i read somewhere that older mums (more prevalent in London) and mums who are far from their family are more likely to join parenting forums... the former probably because their friends may be past the baby stage, the latter because they want a support network.

If you are an older mum, it may be because you met your partner late or fertility problems or you just wanted to have children late, but another big factor is also house prices (based on the stats)

also anecdotes isnt data.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/ng-interactive/2023/nov/21/find-out-where-you-can-afford-to-buy-or-rent-in-great-britain

The typical household cannot afford to buy a mid-price home in almost half of postal districts, while renting is unsustainable in others.

Sure the typical FTB doesn't buy a mid priced home (i certainly didn't buy a mid priced home in London at 26, I bought a 400k 2 bed flat that was 25% below the median price at that time), but at the same time aspiring FTB would probably have lower than average salaries due to their age (I was certainly earning below an average londoner at that time though DH was earning slightly above and that combination took us over the threshold plus benefit of rent free living with parents).

Either way, I think at least 35% are priced out of owning their homes (even at age of 50, higher for singles, lower for couples. worrying thing is that in the past a big chunk of the 38% lived in social housing but that is less of an option these days

No, I don't.
Your point of view is extremely simple. Currently, social housing has been decimated and LL's have too much power.
Therefore, the solution is for ... Everyone on minimum wage to be able to buy a property.

All I pointed out was
a) How is this supposed to happen, when there are more people needing homes, than available properties?
b) Why are you focused on home ownership, Vs stable housing?

Also, I'm an immigrant myself. Whether you like it or not rapid population growth puts pressure on housing. You can plan for a rate of population growth based on births and deaths. Even if the birth rate increases it'll be 2 decades at least before they reach adulthood and need housing.

Immigrants, especially those with families arrive and immediately need a big enough place to stay. Where are you going to magic a house up from?

Anyway there's more I could say. But you don't seem interested in deeper discussion and are flouncing as you're incapable of it. Probably for the best instead of wasting my time

Extreme policies won't help but neither will magical thinking that just says 'oh, it should be this way' with zero idea as to how it could possibly happen.

Single mum of two and I've managed it on a similar salary to the person in the article.

Yes, it's a bit of a fixer-upper and it's located in a dodgy area, but since buying it I haven't had to spend my time worrying about being put onto yet another S21 after 6 months/ 1 year - the main reason I've moved almost every year since I came of age. I have also not had to worry about finding somewhere in the vicinity of the kids' schools, somewhere that would fit my furniture or even just about leaving a mark on a wall and having to find the right shade of magnolia to cover it up.

Having said that, I do wish people would stop perpetuating the myth that the ability to fork out £200pcm more on rent than a mortgage would enable people to buy and maintain even the basics of a house. By the time that insurance and basic property maintenance have been taken into account, you are paying far more while owning than you do renting. There is a reason rental prices are so high, and that is to cover the cost of maintenance and stuff going wrong. That's before profit is even taken into account, so rent controls won't help much there.

UK housing is in a mess, and much of it comes down to the general cost of living, but also the age of property here. I've lived in other countries which were, in large parts, flattened during the war and had to be rebuilt from scratch - hence, property doesn't fall apart like it does over here in the UK. That and better general building standards for still reasonable prices.

In short, it's very much possible to buy on your own, but you do have to adjust your expectations. On a single salary, you will naturally not be able to afford the same size or quality as people with double the monthly income.

I suppose when British people say people should be able to buy their own home, we mean they should be able to access secure housing and in the UK that tends to be buying a home. I think it's weird that you don't understand that, and imperiously saying that you'd like someone to name all these other countries where it's the norm implies that you're stirring a bit. Given that you, as a couple, couldn't manage to buy without significant family help and a decade of saving...why are you picking on single people as being unreasonable in their expectations? 😂

House prices have risen exponentially compared to salaries so single people have been hit harder and many people who would have been able to afford a purchase alone now can't afford it. I don't think there's anything wrong with them drawing attention to that.

What's your problem with single people OP?

I'm single by choice and have just got the keys to my first house, a 2 bed semi with a garden. Admittedly has taken longer than expected due to various setbacks but have done this myself on a single average wage. I'm very proud to have bought my house by myself and not have to rely on having a partner to make it happen. Why should I either have to buy a house with someone or rent to fit your narrative?

Mortgages can also increase depending on the interest rate of the day but at the same time you can also take out a longer fixed term mortgage e.g. 5 or 10 years instead of 2 years which may mean your earning power can improve in that time...or it may not, though salary inflation should mean that your pay increases with time.

Rents on the other hand can be increased far more often which can be problematic.

House insurance is like 25 pounds a month and I had it when I rented anyway. Rents are definitely higher than mortgage. All other bills are payable whether or not you own. So yeah actually if I pay £900 a month rent regularly then I can afford to pay £700 mortgage a month. Rent is a rip off and it’s not because the property needs constant improvements because it never used to be this high.

Of course single people should be able to afford a home - not much, just a one bed flat at least! It’s not like we’re all out here demanding 4-bed houses.

More people rent in Europe because the rent is controlled. Here the situation is ridiculous and in some cases costs more per month to rent than a mortgage. My mortgage on my one-bed flat is 700pm but to rent it would be at least 1200!

Well the person in the article has a single income that's more than the average U.K. household income, so their income is more than many couples in any case. I don't think the maths of this case really add up, but then I think this individual has been wedged into the article for reasons other than being a good example of the point being made.

I've just had my initial assessment approved for my mortgage and I'm mid 20s borrowing 5.5x my salary with a 5% deposit in London it's been hard but the cost of my mortgage will be the cost of a room in London.

If we had good renting options in the uk I wouldn't care to buy but renting is expensive and awful in this country.

You're being really daft - which is leading you to be unreasonable.
People want to buy property because, historically, if you are able to own somewhere outright before you retire, your pension doesn't have to stretch to rent, so you can live more cheaply. It also means that provided you can cover food & utilities and don't get into debt you will always have a home.
Also if you buy, you are paying a mortgage roughly equivalent to prices at the point you bought, and therefore reduces, in real terms every year, whereas rent tends to only go up.
This security is even more important for single people to achieve, as they are less likely to be sharing their living expenses with anyone else when they retire.
It's not rocket science!

YABVU
Who do you think should be allowed to buy tiny studio flats? Just couples and families?
A single salary should be enough to buy property. And in some areas that will be a tiny studio, in others it could be a 3 bed house.
The thing is that now, a single average salary is not enough to live on, let alone buy property.

Oh dear 😱. I’ll be sure to let her know 😬

Of course the BBC found a transactivist to be the focus of the story. She probably doesn't even want to buy a house, just wants to be on TV.

I bought my two bed terrace myself 5 years ago. I was only on about 25k.

You would like someone to give an example... but you started the thread, so perhaps you could look for any examples needed?

Anyway, this puts the UK home ownership stats at nowhere near the top and indeed below the EU on average.

https://tradingeconomics.com/country-list/home-ownership-rate

So..if you’re single you can’t expect to have anywhere to live? Have I missed something? Honestly confused.

surely the expectation can't be that everyone wants to buy a property themselves? And surely that's never been the expectation previously?

Actually the expectation has always been that a home should be affordable (rented or bought) on a single salary. Until we got reliable contraception as soon as a couple got married there was a risk that they'd have a child and normally that meant that the wife left the workforce and the husband's wage was meant to provide for the whole family. Its why my in my parent's generation a mortgage offer was calculated on a multiple of DFs salary alone. Longer ago than that women were usually expected (and sometimes legally required) to give up work on marriage - a friend of mine has kept her letter from the Foreign Office telling her that she would no longer have to resign if she got married and that was dated 1973....

It makes sense for homes to be affordable on a single wage - divorce, prohibitive childcare costs, bereavement, end of "job for life" security in the workforce. What happens if someone never meets a significant other - are they supposed to never have a home of their own?

The actual outlier is the recent change in the housing market - not enough affordable rental accomodation and a relatively recent change in lending criteria allowing people to borrow a multiple of 2 salaries fuelling a massive increase in house prices. Created a perfect storm.

When I met DH I was single and looking for a property. I was in the civil service and got paid a decent income to get a mortgage. At the time you got a max offer of 3,x income if you were single or 3,x main income plus 1x second income.

Obviously this no longer happens and it's a pity.

Single teacher here. What should I have done waited to see if I.met someone before buying myself?

My DH already owned a house on his own when we met 10 years ago. It just took a lot of hardwork and inheriting 100k from his grandfather.

I'm single and according to you shouldn't be allowed to own my own home?! How selfish and what a way to make single people lower than those in a couple.

I'm separated, I've owned property since I was 30 and when I sold the house I owned with my ex of course I wanted to get back on the property ladder as soon as possible.

I’m single and on a salary higher than your combined salaries - respectfully, why on earth shouldn’t I expect to have bought my house by myself?

And I did it without parental help either. What an odd post!

It's much more difficult now- that's why almost half of single parent families are below the poverty line in the UK

For the most part, that is pretty much down to a failure at many different levels to have one parent make a half decent financial contribution towards the upbringing of their children.