London salary

[SoThatHappened]

Anyone from London?

Is a £50k salary in London as a single person livable if you want to buy property. Can it be done?

Depends whether you have a large down payment. Or qualify for shared ownership schemes. If the answer to both is no, then it would be a huge struggle.

Not really a huge down payment. Have nearly £30k.

How do you qualify for shared ownsership?

I heard on the radio this morning that £90k is the minimum required to buy a home in London at present.

Shared ownership may be an option

www.sharetobuy.com/

Shit. Thanks.....:-)

It's probably not impossible, but...

Where (ish) are you hoping to live, and what sort of property are you hoping to buy?

North London and I wanted a niceish flat. not bothered about mod cons as i dont want a big service charge.

thats never going to happen right?

I know someone who bought in zone 4 recently with a similar salary, it was shared ownership though.

Have you tried getting a mortgage agreement in principle to get an idea of what the bank would be prepared to lend you? That might give you a better idea of your budget.

Buying in London is tough but you might be able to find something if you're prepared to compromise on size/zone...

I would say yes, but you'd need to look around and make inquiries as to what you can borrow from a mortgage adviser and think about whether those repayments are realistic for you. If you could borrow x4 on your salary you are looking at around 230k. You might be able to get that to 250k for which you occasionally get market properties in some areas of north London. But you could definitely get something on shared ownership (shares often between 30k - 100k, then you pay "rent" on the rest and may in due course "step up", Have a look at the website link someone else has already given you. Also if you can step up to 2 bedrooms, it gives you more flexibility to rent out one room, which helps some people cover costs.

I havent made any enquiries yet.....will have a look.

I think it could be doable for some bits of London, if you just wanted a studio or one bed. Just put a search in Rightmove and take a look.

Enfield
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-33829677.html

Enfield
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-37896147.html

Edmonton
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-51153023.html

Palmers Green
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-52120099.html

In Barking you could get a 2 bed
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-52409530.html

This is very...compact but it's in West Finchley
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-54914105.html

It's definitely doable, I had similar stats to you a few years ago and bought a two bed in South East London

Would advise against shared ownership as the rent portion pushes up your monthly costs

Contact London and country - they are independent, free mortgage brokers and can give you an idea of how much you can borrow and can issue you with a decision in principal

Don't forget to leave aside approx £5k for stamp duty and legal fees, and get your bank accounts in order now - new regs means they will question all outgoings so it's good to pay for drinks in pubs etc in cash! And get rid of unnecessary direct debits

Good luck :)

It's definitely doable if you're prepared to compromise on size of flat or location. When you say North London, do you mean trendy North London, or suburbs? You could get a studio in zone 2 just about, or a bigger flat a bit further out. It depends how much work you're prepared to do as well - if you're up for doing dome cosmetic work your cash will obviously go a lot further. Or would you rather just somewhere easy to move straight in to?

Would you consider an ex-Local authority flat? Much more space for your money and a lower service charge (just not sure what your definition of "nice flat" is!) Our old flat was ex-LA and nice (although we got it because when we bought it was perceived as a really rough area - it's now in a popular London "village" (it hasn't moved!)).

Bear in mind that in popular areas (which include some decidedly average bits of North London!) things are going for over asking price, sometimes significantly so. So if your budget is, say £250k, I'd be looking at things on for up to maybe £230k, as if you're viewing things at the top of your budget you may find you keep being outbid (I speak from experience here!)

Depends on your childcare costs - these are super high.
If you have family then you might be ok.
I would say 50k in London would be extremely tight to buy.

No kids. Just me.

I have payed off nearly all my debts from uni and post grad. I live quite frugally. The biggest monthly outgoing will be into my savings account.

Do they really go through your bank statements?

So if you had a situation where you spent every penny you earn every month for a long time on going out you'd be screwed?

So if you had a situation where you spent every penny you earn every month for a long time on going out you'd be screwed?

That appears to be it, which is bonkers. Do they think that, if interest rates went up, you would continue to go out all the time but stop paying your mortgage, if you couldn't afford both?

They do look at your bank statements yes

It is definitely doable in your situation - I would really advise you just to speak with London and Country, they are totally free and just go through a bunch of questions with you (income, debts, deposit etc) and will tell you how much you could borrow. It is frighteningly easy!

Its not impossible but does depend on the area you are looking at and what you would want from your property. From the sounds of things you don't want anything outlandish so I think you should be able to make it work. Shared ownership can be a bit of a headache but its quite a good deal. The rent portion tends to be low in comparison to market rent and if you are in it for the long term you could eventually buy the whole thing. Certainly worth considering.
A good mortgage adviser will be happy to go through all your options and give an outline of what you can afford so you can house hunt with confidence.

Yes you can definitely buy something in London with that financial position. Just make sure you look in areas that you can afford. Some people fixate on areas they cannot afford and get stuck renting.
I agree with previous posters about using a broken to get a mortgage agreement in principle so you can start your search.

Sorry that should say broker haha

How bad is renting in London by yourself?

Anything remotely affordable?

Depends on how much you earn as to whether it is affordable or not. Considering the population of London it is affordable to many!

You can definately rent on 50k or house share and save for a deposit.

Yeah renting on your own is defnitely doable, although I don't know anyone who does it; everyone I know who rents shares with friends (this is people in their 30s earning £40k+).

I rent on my own in zone 2 but SE London. Costs around £1K per month because I'd had some horrible experiences sharing and couldn't face it anymore! I'd share if I had someone decent to share with. Would probably be a bit less lonely too.

I would definitely consider going through a mortgage broker too. We moved last summer and despite having a massive deposit, permanent employment, no debts apart from small mortgage etc. our bank (who we had been with for 10 years), refused us a mortgage. They even asked us how we were saving for tertiary education for the children! (They were 4 and 2 at the time).

Desperate not to loose the house we had offered on we went to a broker who sorted us out in a few hours (natwest). Totally worth the money and London and country are free so even better.

Clear any credit card debts now if poss. We fell down because of a recently paid off card, still showed on the credit check.

Madness. Good luck.