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Original poster

High cost of buying a house - how has it affected YOU and your family?

131 replies

rumtumtigger · 10/04/2006 09:16

There is a story in the news that people are having fewer children and later in life due to the high cost of buying a house.

I am interested to see how it has affected us all - I am sure some people have benefited hugely from this phenomenon whilst others have found it a nightmare...what's your story?

OP posts:
ruty · 10/04/2006 14:45

i don't expect the govt to take care of me in the sense of mollycoddling. But yes i do expect them to try and do what is in the best interests of the majority of the population - silly me.

Uwila · 10/04/2006 14:49

I don't really trust them to get much of anything right. But then I'm a cynic.

Earlybird · 10/04/2006 15:12

I bought 10 years ago - a very nice 2 bed flat in a mansion block with parking/porter - fantastic for a single, career woman. It's now worth at least twice as much as I paid for it.

We are desperate for more space, but the next step up the ladder would cost roughly £250k more in this area, and I have not been willing to consider that sort of debt. Also have not been willing to consider moving to another part of town where prices are lower. There may come a time when I change my mind though....as I trip over the drying rack....or ignore the folded ironing board stuck behind the door...Grin

expatinscotland · 10/04/2006 15:26

sacrificing their home comforts for 2 years, live frugally in a bedsit or shared house in order that they could save up a sizable deposit. Similarly, I think they should consider living in cheaper areas whilst they save up but I find that many do not want to sacrifice their lifestyle

Oh, yes the old 'they can't afford to buy b/c of luxuries and being spendthrifts' load of bunk. Yes, it's all our fault we can't afford to buy and have debts. If we just lived in cheaper areas we'd have been able to save blah blah blah blah.

This is as bloody 'cheap' as it gets. A two bed unfurnished, housing association flat. And it's £500/month for rent alone. There's also £135 in council tax. And £75/month for power. Over £700 for shelter. Then there's food. Frugally as it gets, it's £200 for four of us.

This broadband is paid for as a business expense for one of my two jobs. We don't have 'luxuries' or 'home comforts' b/c we can't afford them.

And we STILL couldn't afford to save for deposits, pensions, etc.

Got screwed over by a tax credit office error. £3,000 worth of debt when they cut us off and left us paying for food and bills w/a credit card till one of us could get yet another job. We were compensated £100 for their error.

My 'lifestyle' consists of paying all the bills and then being stony skint for usually at least a fortnight a month.

Go out? LOL! Last time we did that was when my parents came across and gave us money.

Holiday? We went to Ireland before we had DD1. Since then, nothing.

I'm sick of this entire myth that people who can't afford to buy property or who have debts are in that situation b/c they're financially irresponsible.

morocco · 10/04/2006 15:26

we have 2 kids and are just buying our first place, having rented for years. It never stopped us having kids but waht would stop me having more is lack of good and affordable childcare for early years. I can't afford to take yet more years out to look after the kids at home.

Northerner · 10/04/2006 15:27

We bought our first house in 1998 for £50k, sold in 2005 for £128k and bought a bigger 3 bedroomed house in which we are very happy.

We have 1 ds who is 4 and have just found out number 2 is on it's way in November. Child number 2 was not possible eralier due to childcare costs for 2.

ruty · 10/04/2006 15:28

agree totally expat. we're in a similar situation.

CarlyP · 10/04/2006 15:42

we bought in 2001 at 93k and sold, then 2003 bought at 160k, then 2005 bought at 250k, house now worth 325k due to renovations we have done and once all complete (and cost us over 50k) it will be worth 450k.

we both work, have 2 small boys, and bought a house to renovate so that we had a nice size property to live in......and the compromise was its needs reonvation...........everything! not jsut a lick of paint!!!

it costs us a fortune for the mortgage, let alone the repairs etc. its a struggle......but one day worth it i hope.

cx

speedymama · 10/04/2006 15:46

Er Expat and Ruty, I was referring to friends and colleagues that I work with because I know their situation and I know how it could be different for them. Of course there are many families who through no fault of their own are unable to get on the property ladder. Sad

My comment probably did not come across well but I was basing it on my personal experience and did not mean to cause offence.

drosophila · 10/04/2006 15:47

Expat, is a 100% mortgage an option for you? I'm not sure if they still do them or even if they are sensible but it may be worth investigating.

Mum2Ela · 10/04/2006 15:51

I feel very lucky that I met my DH when I was young and we got onto the property ladder early. I am now 26 and we moved in November into a house that cost £500k, with a £250k mortgage, which does sound like a hefty mortgage but we are fortunate that DH earns decent money and I work a couple of days a week for my sanity, rather than because I have to.

Most of my friends are not so fortunate although most are doing ok now, its been difficult for them, and I know that needing 2 incomes will be a factor for them if / when they have children.

ruty · 10/04/2006 15:52

no offence at you personally speedymama. Just at the general idea. I should clarify actually we have bought a flat in a cheaper area of Londond but we can't afford the mortgage on it anymore - it went up quite a lot and our earnings went down - so we have to rent it out and live with family since i had ds. It hasn't gone up in value that much and it means we still can't afford to buy anything bigger. We bought after most of the house price rises unfortunately.

drosophila · 10/04/2006 15:54

The thing about 100% mortgages is that they tend to charge a higher rate of interest but if the property increases in value you would be able to remortgage at a later stage and ineffect have a deposit (the increased equity). There are risks but is is a possibility. I did a google and they still do them.

CarlyP · 10/04/2006 16:00

we had a 100% mortgage to start with, worked well for us.

cx

expatinscotland · 10/04/2006 16:06

even w/a 100% mortgage, we still wouldn't qualify for enough to buy here.

speedymama · 10/04/2006 16:11

Is it possible to get a 100% mortgage and fix it for at least 2 or 3 years? At least if it was fix, you would have more control over your outgoings. Also, what about these part buy part rent schemes? My DH's friends girlfriend did this. She bought a 2 bed flat in East London (salary less than £25k and she works as a trainee management accountant) on her own. I think the flat cost over £120k. I don't really understand how these schemes work though.

Uwila · 10/04/2006 16:13

And what happens if the property value goes down? Negative equity. That is a bigger risk than I would be prepared to take.

We moved to a bigger house, and paid more rent to have enough room for a live in nanny so I can go to work for long hours to pay her (and buy the groceries and few more basic necessities). The additional rent was less than the increased pay for live-out childcare.

Oh well, when DS goes to school and I can trade down from nanny to au pair, and channel that saving plust the money I now spend on rent, then we can buy a house. The trouble is we'll both be in our forties by then, and I wonder if they give mortgages to first time buyers in their forties... Sad If we hadn't had kids, we could definitely have bought a house by now. But I wouldn't trade my lovely kids for a house any day.

expatinscotland · 10/04/2006 16:14

We do NOT make enough to qualify for anything but a flat in Broomhouse or Sighthill or some place like that. I worked my arse off to get out of a place like that, if that means renting for years and years, that's fine by me.

It's not important enough to me to risk my family's personal safety.

ruty · 10/04/2006 16:15

my dad is a priest, and when he retired he and my mum went to the bank with a deposit they had saved over the years to try to get a mortgage. they suggested he buy a trailer on a trailer park! So he now rents out of his pension.

ruty · 10/04/2006 16:15

which means he is extremely broke of course.

expatinscotland · 10/04/2006 16:16

you know, ruty, i actually considered a trailer. i mean, it's detached, after all. no damn neighbour on all sides.

ruty · 10/04/2006 16:16

you can't get a mortgage though on them can you expat? even tho i know exactly what you mean...Sad

expatinscotland · 10/04/2006 16:17

no, but we can't afford to rent a house, either. now a trailer just might be a possibility Wink.

crunchie · 10/04/2006 16:19

Fortuneatly the high price of housing has not affected me, I have benefited from it like some others here.

However people have said that prices are daft in comparison to average wages, my understanding (and I am sure I am wrong, o feel free to prove it) was that we are not paying MORE as a % of earnings on housing, than in the 80's

If you look at history, the 1980's and Maggie are the reasons we have such silly prices right now. Until then most people didn't expect to own their own home and were happy not to. However releasing all the council houses in the right to buy madness of the 1980's suddenly meant everyone expected to own their own homes. this meant huge rises in house prices, and has meant some people have benefited and others not.

In Europe - France in particular, not so many people own their own homes, renting is far more common/normal. Here ownership is a status symbol.

Like I said I was lucky, I bought about 10.5 yrs ago, I was 26 and bought as soon as my wages could afford a flat (I had a pay increase from £12k - £17k!!) an bought immediately. Yes I was lucky I had a deposit (inheritance from all my grandparents who were all dead) so I had a mortgage of £55K, and a flat worth £67k. But I bought in Clapham North/Stockwell, which back then was a sh*t hole, I lived of a notiorious road in S.London, outside the magic 'Clapham' bit.

2.5 years later I sold the flat for £130K!!! and bought a 4-bed cottage with 100' garden near colchester. I knew I wanted a family house (just got married, no kids though) so I bought the 'house for life' for £120K, my morgage was £65K. 8 years later, a new kitchen and conservatory I still only have a mortgage of £85Kish, and pay £600 a month.

So no it hasnb't stopped me having 2 kids, I have been lucky.

kama · 10/04/2006 16:23

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