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?

Looking back through the history of the UK, what period was the best time to be a single person purchasing a house?
1990s?

So what were the factors that created that ideal/peak environment, and how can we get them back?

I expect us single people are expected to join up.

Single, home-owning woman here. So now not only am I a risk to the smug married’s husbands (being the harlot I am, I am obviously out to steal them all), but now I’m also taking a potential property away from the market that could be inhabited by a Happy Couple?

U ok OP? Where would you like me to live? Under a bypass?

So when you and your husband divorce will you be moving into rented? If (heaven forbid) you became a widow, should you move into rented?

I don't think it's unreasonable for people to expect to be able to buy a house, regardless of marital status.

And how did I do it? By working my absolute backside off so I could afford the deposit. And then working a little bit more so I could continue to pay the bills. I’m not just sat in my house all day, crying into my cats, you know…

IF, I meant to say IF you divorce 🤦🏻‍♀️

This with bells on.

What a horrible race to the bottom this country is becoming.

What? No of course not.

The whole population of the UK isn’t a homogenous mass that all want the same thing. Not all people want the same or have the same lifestyle. Some people live alone, some as couples, some in family groups or community groups.

I’m confused by your post.

You seem to be missing that a mortgage up north is cheaper than renting. But our earning ability can be lower. So the deposit is the issue. It's ironic that you are in ex social housing. There's a shortage of affordable housing, not housing in general. I think that the solution is to not try to prop up our highstreets and convert the shops to apartments.

My difficulty with the person in the article is them saying they can't buy on a salary of £50,000 in Birmingham. They absolutely could, it would be a flat not a house. I don't see the problem with that as a FTB?

When I was in my late 20s I wanted to buy in London. My salary was £12,000 pa. I joined forces with a single girlfriend who earned a little more than me and we bought a 2 bed flat in a cheap area (two tiny single bedrooms) jointly. I couldn't have done it any other way.

The person in the article just wants publicity. Poor little me not able to afford to buy on £50K p.a.

Shelter is a human right.
Should property ownership also be made one?

Property ownership offers security, so in that sense, yes. A council tenancy should offer security but unfortunately it comes with stigma, and pressure to give up the tenancy when their financial circumstances change.

I'm not sure property ownership should be, but I think everyone should have an affordable, safe and secure (as in you can't be terfed out at short notice for no reason) home. I think rentals have their place, particularly when you're younger and maybe moving around. But I also think we should have more social housing rentals (right to buy was a huge mistake imo) and also longer term rentals such as in other countries so you have more security.

Council tenancies are secure. Any stigma and pressure would dissipate if there were more of them (and doesn't actually change the fact that they are secure).

It is the deposit. I had to save massively for this house. But my mortgage is using if what the rent would have been. I bought my first flat with £5k. Can’t do that now. I live in the north, but in an expensive city. Half decent areas are expensive.

It should be possible for anyone working a half decent job to buy a home, even if it’s a modest one.

I was brought up in a single income family and so were many of my friends, but our families owned houses on a mortgage. Working class, not middle class.

DH and I both work in pretty decent paying jobs and affording our 3 bed semi was bloody difficult and we’re mortgaged until he’s 70. It’s crazy.

May I interject?

This article didn't ring true with me (I want to scream, I want to shout etc) so I googled Emma and this was the first article that came up. Inter alia it mentions this article and the BBC.

https://www.spiked-online.com/2024/07/22/wont-somebody-please-think-of-the-drag-queens/

The writer's hypothesis is that there is a trend for non-articles like this to be published by the BBC to try to normalise transwomen. It's not about the house prices.

A lot of the stigma comes from the housing sector itself.
And they never miss an oppertunity to let you know it isnt yours.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11089999/Heatwave-woe-housing-association-tells-families-garden-furniture-fire-risk.html

To echo others - you’re talking absolute nonsense. I’m a single parent on a good salary and will of course be buying a property on my own.
I’m curious, what’s your suggestion - that we punish single people by not allowing them to buy a property on their own?!!!

@Fivebedexecutivehome
You appear to completely tone deaf with regard to the fact 8.4 million people live alone in the UK. Would you have it so that none of those people were allowed to purchase a home of their own?
Wow just wow. Let's hope you never get divorced or widowed or you'll be back to renting.

I fully agree. It should be proportional, so a single person should be able to afford the deposit and mortgage for an appropriately sized home, i.e. a one bed flat at the very least. Trouble is that "cheaper" properties like that are snapped up by wannabee landlords thus pricing the single people out of the market and forcing them to pay stupidly high rents (to pay the landlord's mortgage!). Something needs to change.

If Emma wishes to buy a flat, she could possibly spend less time on some of Emma's activist activities outlined in the article I quote above and pick up a few shifts in the pub. They are all crying out for staff nowadays. Just a thought.

The BBC did a piece not so long ago on nursery costs and the pressures on working mums and again they had an interview with a transwoman about it. It's relentless.

I agree but I don't want a modest 1 bed flat, I need a spare room for guests, another room for a home office as I work from home, a decent kitchen, and somewhere I can entertain family and friends, and a nice garden.

When I first started working 28 years ago, you could get that on less than I earn now with a 100% mortgage.