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?

I think single people should be able to buy property if they wish, but, at least in London and the south east, it is unlikely that any but a small percentage would be able to afford to.

OP, do you think only people with a partner or husband/wife should be able to buy a property? What about single people?

Although I agree with you that BBC article is strange. Why is that woman moaning about not being able to buy a house? Most single people buy a flat as their first property.

If single people can never afford to buy a home, then you end up with many people remaining in bad relationships or worse, and the likelihood of coercive control increasing.

I read the article earlier. I bought a flat by myself on an average salary without help from family or inheritance. However it hinged on a few things:
-Having saved approx £500pcm for years and years in order to build up a decent deposit (went for the cheapest possible rent in shared houses in order to be able to save.
-Buying a flat in a cheap part of the country miles from friends or family
-Not expecting to buy my dream home but just something modest and liveable
It is doable but it's definitely not easy. Keeping living costs as low as possible and being determined to save money is the only way.

Jesus wept. Single people really shouldn’t expect to be able to do what couples do? Are you serious,OP? Second class citizenship for thr singles amongst us. Wow.

My DS20 is about to buy a house and he's single?

Depends how committed you are to saving up a decent deposit I guess.

In my street of 30 3 and 4 bed detached, 6 are owned by single women who bought them on their own, mostly around 25 to 30 years ago, 2 were single parents, all professional people eg doctor, lawyer. Backing onto the street is a terrace of 5 houses, 4 are owned by single women. Out of this small sample it's interesting that no men live on their own.

Empathy is a really useful emotion and approach to almost anything.

Would definitely recoomend it.

Shouldn't expect sounds a bit stuck up. Of course you can. I know a couple of single mums who managed it. It depends on where you live, of course. Where I live a 2 bed starter home would cost from £120k. As long as you can save for the £10% deposit and prove regular income, if you can afford to pay rent you can afford to pay a mortgage.

Another single parent here and I own my property. I bought my first flat before getting married.

Surely it depends on your individual salary whether you are married or not.

Where do you think all the single people should live?

Of course it's been the expectation, and the reality, previously.

However, the proportion of adults who remain single throughout their lives, the proportion of adults who are single at any given time, and the proportion of families where one parent is raising the children without any financial or practical help from the other are all higher now than in previous decades. On the other hand, the number of families/households with two adults but only one salary is likely considerably lower.

It's in no one's interest (and historically and currently disproportionally harmful to women) to have a society where people are forced to enter into or stay in a romantic/sexual relationship just to have housing security. And, unfortunately, renting for life simply isn't feasible anymore as salaries, let alone pensions and savings, can't keep up with the rising cost of living. Neoliberal - or free market, if you like - economics is failing if it can't keep up with changes in demand, and successive governments haven't been successful in mitigating the harm.

I bought my first home as a single person and have upgraded twice since then on my salary alone, it is definitely achievable

OP, your thinking is all wrong.

Its the housing market that needs fixing...not peoples meagre expectations of being able to put a roof over their heads.

Small sample sizes are always problematic. Slightly more men than women live alone in every age group up to 65.

this is the case in singapore. Couples can buy government subsidized flats (85% of housing stock) from age 21 but singles can only buy them from age 35 (i suppose though that this is quite close to the age of average first time buyer in cities like London). on a dual income, the flats are very affordable, close to 70 per cent of the Build-To-Order flats launched in 2022 across all estates can be affordably purchased with (the median Singaporean household income of) S$8,400 at a mortgage servicing ratio (MSR) of 25 per cent or less.

Hence the stat that 97% of singaporean singles (below age of 35) live with their parents. Which also gives rise to the stat that 89% of singaporeans live in owner occupied homes. Technically someone living with their parents is also living in an owner occupied home as their parents are the owners.

Its very different culturally and i think in the uk, we have moved on since the 1960s and we have gotten used to the 1950s-1990s housing conditions and have grown to expect them.

I bought a house on my own. I just went in at the smaller end and didn't expect a 4 bed detached in a premium location straight off the bat.

I don't think the expectation is that every person in the UK will each own their own place. For a start that 68 million includes under 18s! But a home per household unit, whether that be a couple, a two adult family, a single adult family or a single person isn't unreasonable. By the time you are in your late 30s or 40s as a single person you're likely to be as fed up at privately renting as a couple, perhaps more so if you have to flatshare. It's much harder as a single adult as you have the one income, one person to save etc, but it is doable if you're on larger income or live in a cheaper bit of the country or use one of the different schemes out there (shared equity, shared ownership, rent to buy etc). It's not really fair to expect someone to stay in insecure privately rented accommodation forever just because they don't have a partner.

This whole premise doesn’t make any sense as single people still have to live somewhere whether they buy or rent. Not buying doesn’t mean fewer houses. they will still be paying rent (probably at a higher rate than a mortgage they can’t get). And someone would own the house they are in…so…

It used to be the norm for some families to have a mortgage based on the man's income alone. It's not fair that single people and single parents cannot afford do this in the current climate.

However, in relation to the specific article, this person seems particularly self absorbed. Suggesting they feel 'completely trapped' (interesting choice of words) because they earn £50,000 and have to rent is quite bizarre. And I am almost certain that they could rent somewhere in Birmingham that did not cost two thirds of their salary.

Saying they want to cry, scream, shout. Hmmmm

@Fivebedexecutivehome There aren’t 68 million single people in the country. What a terrible argument you make. Almost as stupid as the BBC expecting us to believe that the person in their article is a woman.

Oh, right. So single people shouldn't expect to be financially independent, property owners?

The person in the article lives in Birmingham and earns £50k per annum
It is still entirely possible to borrow to 95% LTV so only 5% deposit is needed
There are literally hundreds of flats available for sale in Birmingham that are extremely affordable to buy on a £50k salary, houses even
Yes I know they are renting but again there are plenty of cheap places available to rent which would allow them to save for said deposit
What the article should really say is that they can't afford to buy the property they want to buy in the area they want to buy in. Much the same as the vast majority of people.

The BBC always seems to pick odd 'real world' scenarios - money saving expert says a single person on £50000 could borrow between £162500 & £225000. Giving a conservative budget of £130000 to £170000 Rightmove has over 200 1 bed listings (not studios) in Birmingham. Clearly some will be in the wrong area or might be retirement flats, but if you can't buy ANY flat on £50K that implies you have other financial issues or unrealistic expectations.