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’m 59, single for eons, I bought my first house when I was 25, my second when I 30. Its a very bog standard Victorian terrace which suits me fine. I’ll be carried out in my box.

Not everyone wants a @Fivebedexecutivehome but its not unreasonable to want to my own, very modest home.

Or should that be a privilige reserved for the married people, and single people shoved into grotty bedsits or house shares with no privacy or outside space.

Perhaps if the rental market was better regulated and affordable in this country more people would see renting as an option. A neighbour of mine pays £900 a month rent, more than my mortgage ever was.

Looking at the photo of Emma, my first thought is that Will Self has let himself go!

In addition to all the point above about single people needing somewhere to live, the fact that it takes two salaries to buy a decent house (ie small 3 bed in a safe area) causes other problems.

For instance, if houses were affordable on one average salary, ordinary couples would be able to afford to pay their own childcare costs rather than needing government to pay for it. So government funding could be targeted better (eg to single parents, or those unable to work).

I didn't get married till I was 32, but I moved out of home age 19. I bought my first house age 23. I think it's a reasonable expectation to be able to live alone and buy a property.

Op, do you think everyone should be in a relationship?

Another single parent here, part time worker and I own my home. Though I’m in Scotland so homes are much more affordable up here.

Sometimes I think it has to do with expectations. I bought a small 1 bed flat in my twenties (average salary), in a relatively unpopular area of the city. There were similar articles in the press at the time from people on similar salaries to mine bemoaning the fact they couldn't afford to buy (a 3-bed house with a garden). I read the story and wondered what her expectations were. £50k is a high salary to me.

I agree with @AndForAFortnightThereWeWereForever “There can't be any blanket rule or blanket statement about this.”

OP says they and their partner had a joint income of 75k and could buy. A single person could make the same/more on their own, why should they have to rent? By the time you’re making 75k in your career it’s dehumanising to live in a moldy flat or house where you’re not allowed paint the walls or make any changes.

I think a lot of the issue now is how precarious renting is - a lot of landlords are looking to get out of the game, or the rental price they’re stuck at is not worth it. If the economy was in a better place and people didn’t having a looming fear of eviction in the back of their minds, renting would be much easier. The constant threat/fear of eviction is the number 1 reason I want to buy. We pay more in rent now than a mortgage will be.

Depends how much you earn and where you live. I can't help feeling that what this woman means is she can't rent somewhere nice and have a nice lifestyle whilst saving. Probably true.

I find the idea you need to be coupled up to afford a home very odd tbh.

A third of all UK households are single people - should they all be expected to live in rental accommodation with the long and short term challenges that brings?

Normalising the fact that housing is basically unaffordable for most young people is very wrong. You just need to go back a few decades and look at earnings relative to house costs to realise how insane it is

That's a bit silly. My husband and I can't buy as we are stuck in the renting trap so can't save for a deposit despite being high earners.

Income/finances and circumstances are all different. Why shouldn't single people buy a home?

Anyone should be able to afford a place to live. Why should you need to have a partner to afford to live?

Nonsense?

what the op or the article?

I’d have loved to buy a one bed flat in my twenties.

I never had enough deposit + a high enough salary - and every year the prices went up, so I couldn’t catch up!

Like many of my age group, I bought my first home in my thirties. At that age, a one bed flat isn’t suitable if you are planning on a family. And so people look for something they can spend longer in.

Single people are not an underclass, just in case you didn't realise.

Wasn't it normal to buy a house on just a man's wage not so long ago?

Why is it no longer acceptable to be able to purchase a home on a single income?

So single people shouldn't be able to live in their own home?

that article also said:

For potential first-time buyer households in the bottom 25% of earners (those earning less than £22,850 a year), less than 1% could get on to the property ladder in their area, the report said.
Among renters in the top 25% of earners, with an income of more than £71,250 a year, only 44% could afford to buy a first home.

I think when threshold is 75k to afford to buy a first home, large swathes of people wouldn't be able to afford it whether single or coupled. I am just pondering the fact we earned 75k combined in 2019 and bought in London. Small 1930s 2 bed flat but it was still something and it was in zone 3! How times have changed.

I think it makes people feel good about themselves to believe they were terribly frugal, everyone else is entitled and wasteful, that their property has increased in value because of their brilliant property investment genius etc.

Rather than acknowledge they’ve ridden a wave and gotten very lucky as a result.

Most adults that have owned property for 10+ years probably couldn’t afford the same property today. That’s a calculation most haven’t made

exactly, unless OP, you think only married people
should be allowed to own a home??

You absolutely should be able to buy a house as a single person.

I bought my first house aged 21, it was a 3 bed ex council house. I got a mortgage for it on my own, this was back in the early 90s.

Those houses are now 6 times the amount they were then which makes it impossible for my adult children to do what I did, despite them being on decent salaries. It's totally wrong that property has increased that much.

What a peculiar thread. Of course working adults in a healthy and balanced economy ought to be able to afford to buy a home. It should not be dependent on whether they are a couple.

The current situation is storing up problems. With the state of pensions, taxpayers will probably end up supporting all of these people who continue to need to pay rent in retirement. Home owners are usually mortgage free by retirement and are therefore more likely to be self supporting.

It’s in almost everyone’s interests for housing to be more affordable. Except bankers perhaps.