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?

What a silly article! Surely it depends on any particular person's salary - and the house prices in the area. There can't be any blanket rule or blanket statement about this. There's a professional lady I know, who bought a house on her own in the Midlands. (3 years ago.) She paid £150K for it. (2 bed semi.)

But I also know 2 income families who have one or two children. who struggled like crazy to pay for a house with a £110K mortgage - and ended up giving it up and going into renting.

There is no one-size-fits all. I know some couples who can't afford to buy, and some singles who can.

Life is unfair.

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

OP makes the dinner party guests in the first Bridget Jones movie seem like a bunch of lightweights. 😁

I bought my house by myself. I suppose I could have bought a bigger one with someone else.

I imagine this is very easy to think when you've got an income of £75k, help from family and don't have to worry about it

Where I live, the average price for one bedroom in a shared house is £800. 1 bed flat is around £1k and £1.2k upwards for small houses. So if they shouldn't expect to buy, they should just be expected to spend a ridiculous amount on sharing with someone else until they have a partner and are deemed worthy of being able to buy somewhere? Or rent somewhere on their own and never be able to afford to save for a deposit

Sorry OP, but you are utterly bonkers here.

I was 35 when I finally got on the property ladder, and still single. Should I have lived at home with my parents? Rented for the rest of my life if I didn't meet someone?

Do you know how many people are single parents?

Bereaved?

Divorced?

Choose to be single adopters, foster parents or go down the donor route?

No. I completely disagree with you. Homes should be affordable on one salary.

Why is the BBC gaslighting us?
And I bought as a single parent 30 years ago, I had to buy a cheap house true, but I still did it alone. And if it was now, I could not afford that house.which is sad. But there are plenty of cheap houses, may not be in areas you want to live, might need doing up, but they are around. Single people can buy them.

Of course houses should be affordable on a single salary. Not everyone wants to be in a relationship! But they still need housing.

There must be more to the person's circumstances in the article than it says. I bought in an expensive part of West Mids a few years ago as a single person on the same salary. There are plenty of cheaper places I could have bought if I was priced out of the area I am in now.

However, I had no kids nor debts so had rented small places prior to buying in order to save maximum deposit (and had been saving for over 10 years: could have bought sooner but moved around a lot). And interest rates are obviously higher now. But I'm still surprised there's nothing to buy

Of course houses should be affordable on a single salary. Not everyone should have to work themselves into the ground just to afford to live.

Couldn’t disagree more, OP. You should be able to buy a home on one salary. Maybe not a big one, or an impressive one, or one in an expensive area. But a decent one. And then if you’re in the position of being able to contribute from two salaries, you can either have a bigger, better house, or you can have more disposable income to spend on other things, or you can be very comfortable and have some wiggle room if anything needs to change.

"And surely that's never been the expectation previously?"

Yes, it was. Not so long ago, only the husband's income was taken into account for the mortgage so while people bought as married couples the mortgage was based on 1 income.

I’ve never let being single get in the way of anything I have wanted to do in life.

I bought by myself a few years ago. Most of my friends who are homeowners also bought by themselves.

Edit: Just to add that this is in London, and in my case as well nearly all cases among my friends, there was no family help with deposit.

By the time I got to the end of the article I wondered if they were just trolling us

"Why is that woman moaning about not being able to buy a house? Most single people buy a flat as their first property."

I agree that a flat is good for a single person, but I also know that if you live in the countryside, there aren't many flats.

So, what about people like me. Long-term relationship split up in mid-40s. We weren't lucky enough to be successful in having kids. Am I really so low in society that I don't deserve secure housing? As it was, I was lucky enough to be able to buy out my partner from the flat we were in.
I earn £45k in central Scotland. I couldn't afford the 2-bed flat I really wanted in Edinburgh, so moved 20 miles out. It's fine. Worth it for me to have housing I'm not worried about being evicted from.

Search the name + BBC on X to be enlightened.

Imagine single people thinking they're, like, independent grown-ups. Madness.

Everyone should be able to buy a home. You’re being ridiculous

I bought my first flat on my own earning about £25k in 2010 in a frontline public sector job, couldn't do that now, the salary for that role has barely moved in 14 years for a start

Indeed....

Emma likes the limelight I think
(and hasn't read up on flattering angles)

Not saying that.

Just saying that nuclear independent living is not the norm in the world, and certainly wasn't pre 1950s. We can have expectations but if the middle class is being eroded, not sure how we are supposed to maintain it.