Would you buy a flat to get on the property ladder?

[Luv2chat2U]

Hi all,

Would really appreciate your advice.

Born and raised in London and lived here all my life, work, friends and family here too.

Want to get on the property ladder but at the moment the market seems at a standstill. Either that or my budget isn't enough. Currently when searching Essex or Kent, my budget will only allow for me to buy a house in Ipswich, Dover and just about Gillinham (don't know these areas). But I can purchase a flat a little closer (not in london but closer than the above mentioned areas).

Do I gamble and hold off (currently renting but low rent) and wait for changes in the housing market (if any) or buy now? and if so

Would you buy a flat to get on the property ladder or a house further out?

I wouldn't buy a flat because I never wanted to stay in a flat. If you do then a flat is fine.

I also think prices in London aren't going to rise considerably over the next year so I think there is less of rush as you have affordable rent.

I believe that more FTBs then ever left London in order to get on the ladder last yr. I don't think that trend is going to reverse personally.

@amiadillo

What about another city or a house on the outskirts of London?

Thought about another city but family and work is in London so it would just be me moving, but every time i look at house prices in other cities and the amount of land and house you get for your money, i'm gobsmacked and get carried away with temptation..

My first purchase was a flat in zone 3 nice area. Kept it for 6 years and it doubled in value. Provided a nice big deposit for the house in zone 6 that we lived in for 20 years. Would never have been able to afford the house without that nice profit from the flat.

How long would you stay in the flat for? sorry if i missed this

a few friends who are not ready to leave London or can't afford to buy have bought a house elsewhere as a BTL so they are at least on the ladder & continued to rent on London.

Where in London do you need to commute to Op? And where are the places outside of London you can afford to buy a flat in?

I think people are getting more down on flats because they have dropped in appeal since lockdown, especially if they don't have access to outdoor space.

What I do think is silly is people saying 'Never buy a leasehold', because good luck finding flats that aren't!

@SmidgenofaPigeon

If first time buyers in London refused to buy flats to get on the ladder they’d just be sitting in rental accommodation until they were 45+.

It’s quite ridiculous to suggest that it’s a bad idea for first time buyers not to touch a flat under any circumstances.

I agree, in the south east often the only way to get on the ladder is by buying a flat first, only the rich can buy houses straight away, prices are astronomical. Everyone I know bought a flat first and several now have moved on to houses. It's a good first option.

This is a good article

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.ft.com/content/5c49931e-9ddd-3db3-8a67-3fc2bc18f0d2

Everyone I know bought a flat first, of course you should consider it.

I bought one with a car space that we turned into a garden, then a first floor maisonette with a tiny garden.

It depends on what you think your needs will be in the next five years or so. It is very common in London to buy a flat in an affordable area before you need to be worry about schools etc. then sell it five years later. It's a real bonus if you can buy one you can add value to by say, replacing the kitchen /bathroom, making the garden nice etc. For what it's worth, my first flat was in the arse end of Acton and my now - husband's was in the dodgy part of Fulham. We both sold them when we got engaged and that is how we got our first house.

Not keen on Ipswich personally but Colchester is very good value - 45 mins - 1 hr to Liverpool Street. I don't know what your budget is but you may be able to afford a house there (I know someone who has just bought a 4 bedroom semi for £305,000).

If you can stretch to a house, I think it is a better investment. New flats are usually quite small and there are charges to consider. Conversions can be badly done, although I have seen some quite nice conversions. If you can't stretch to a house, then buying a flat is, in my opinion, better than renting.

Flat. I was in this situation a decade ago and bought a garden flat.

"36FinallyFluid

My late great Godfather was a surveyor and told me to never ever buy a flat, he said that they are harder to get rid of,so that is all I am basing it on."

My mother also gave me this advice in the 80s and I regretted taking her advice ever since! A flat was all I could afford. And I could have afforded it easily. Instead I

I don't know any homeowners in London who didn't buy a flat first, however swanky and ginormous their house is now. I also know people who have happily always lived in flats, not feeling a need to upsize.

Yes to conversions, purpose-built maisonettes, or small older blocks with large communal gardens being the way to go with London flats. Covid has meant that any type of garden is essential, flats without gardens are being reduced in price as they aren't selling well, but personally I feel aren't a good buy even if they're cheaper. A garden provides a better quality of life. The cladding and maintenance cost issue means many new flats are a no-no, but the other options are fine.

Try and get a two-bed so your adult child has somewhere to stay or you can rent out etc.

As you get older, you get less years to pay a mortgage off.
What part of London are you in OP?

... ended up privately renting for 30 years as forever priced out!! I could have easily have been on that ladder and worked myself up. 🙄 So. If that is what you can get my advice would be go for it!! Maybe they are slightly harder to sell but nowhere near impossible!! (I do accept a lot of people are struggling with the whole fire, cladding etc fiasco but you'll be aware of these pitfalls now thankfully).

Currently when searching Essex or Kent, my budget will only allow for me to buy a house in Ipswich, Dover and just about Gillinham

I wonder how you found a property in Ipswich when searching Essex and Kent!

@WhatsTheTimeMrCat

Have you looked into Help to Buy or shared ownership closer to London?

I'm afraid I would say do NOT touch these schemes with a barge pole at the moment due to the Building Safety Scandal. I bought a new build, one bedroom flat in London 8 years ago. The build met all regs at the time, but post-Grenfell, building standards were made far more stringent. As a result, my neigbours and I (along with thousands of others) could be liable for tens of thousands of pounds in repairs - all of which can be demanded with 28 days notice.

If you are considering new build, I would not act on it until the Building Safety Bill has been thoroughly thrashed out later this year. But hey! This is 100% personal opinion.

I used to go to Stevenage for work. Its not very nice at all, with nothing much to do there either. Please don't leave London for Stevenage OP!

Go for the flat. Why on Earth would you move to a town far away, away from your job, family and friends just so you can buy a house. You may be in a house but you may also be miserable being so far away. Buy whatever you can afford in the locations most convenient for work, family and friends. It’s ridiculous to suggest flats won’t go up in price at all. They will over time. Maybe not in the same proportions as houses but they will go up

I would've said "yes, but not in London" , a lot of the new leasehold's in London come with a lot of other costs like insane ground rent and/or service charges (often costing several thousands a year).
It's become a bit of a scam particularly in the last decade or so.
Also, the conversion types are often not great. This is normally where a greedy landlord cuts a house into pieces and repackages them as flats and/or studios and you're often only separated from your neighbours by thin internal walls and wooden floors where you're at the mercy of your above neighbours stomping around.
Maisonette seems to be an estate agent euphemism for one of these ground floor conversions.
The purpose built types of flat tend to be much more solid, as they're built from concrete which separates the floors etc. But again, the market around them is full of so many caveats (I haven't even mentioned the cladding thing but maybe that's avoidable with some research).
Speaking from experience as I've rented both types in London and eventually moved a bit further out and bought a house (still technically in London in an outer borough and a quick commute).
With leaseholds you never really own it IMO you might as well rent as be in a leasehold situation because it's so much easier to walk away. Unless it's one of those with a 200+ year lease. Also, any shared ownership scheme is often another layer of scam on top of the other mentioned stuff.

Why are people so sneery about flats in U.K.? I love my flat. It’s considerably bigger than some of the houses that my “could never live in a flat” family live in. We’ve got a lovely shared garden. We could never afford a house where we live - houses that are smaller than our flat are considerably more expensive, but our flat has large rooms, high ceilings, plenty of storage space.

@pheebumbalatti - a maisonette is purpose-built. Estate agents don't call conversions 'maisonettes' because they are not. Some maisonettes initially look like conversions but have their own front door and the upstairs one tends to have its own share of the back garden, whereas with conversions, often only the ground floor flat has a garden. Maisonettes tens to have a good use of space and 'make sense.' Also there are ex-council maisonettes which are more like tall thin houses.

@MrsSchadenfreude

Why are people so sneery about flats in U.K.? I love my flat. It’s considerably bigger than some of the houses that my “could never live in a flat” family live in. We’ve got a lovely shared garden. We could never afford a house where we live - houses that are smaller than our flat are considerably more expensive, but our flat has large rooms, high ceilings, plenty of storage space.

Totally agree! I love my spacious flat with a garden, and have lived in flats that are bigger than terraced houses.