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Original poster

How do buy a house in London. Just, how?

161 replies

Shinebright21 · 02/08/2022 21:27

Married, two kids, mid thirties, husband is not a first time buyer but I would be.

How? It seems absolutely impossible, and house prices are through the roof.

Anyone successfully done it? How did you work?

OP posts:
Original poster
Shinebright21 · 02/08/2022 21:29

Terrible grammar - how TO buy a house in London.

OP posts:
MsPincher · 02/08/2022 21:32

Not helpful I know but you have to buy before you have kids. What happened to your dhs house?

TheWayoftheLeaf · 02/08/2022 21:33

Usually very high earners, family money or help, help to buy, rent to buy or shared ownership nowadays.

Either that or inheritance.

TizerorFizz · 02/08/2022 21:35

My DD (not yet 30) has a flat. It’s zone 1. 2 beds, 2 bath, shared garden. She earns a lot. We gave her a thumping deposit. All her friends who own property either earn a lot (£150,000 plus) or mum and dad help out. Or both partners earn less but together they have a high joint income. What other way is there? Many areas around London are not cheap either.

Fupoffyagrasshole · 02/08/2022 21:37

Yeah I couldn’t do it now I have my child. ! We bought while I was pregnant ! Didn’t dare even try for a baby until we had the deposit saved tbh

sorry not helpful

Intemperatefatty · 02/08/2022 21:39

You need money, LOTS of it.

Or…you invent a time machine, go back in time 40 years and buy one for tuppence.

royly · 02/08/2022 21:39

Everyone I know (who hasn't bought yrs ago) had good salaries & help from parents. I'm increasingly seeing further help from parents to move up the ladder. Obviously huge inequality as not everyone has parents who can or will help.

Although your DH has a home so I'm not sure why that doesn't help?

royly · 02/08/2022 21:40

Not helpful I know but you have to buy before you have kids.

I don't really agree with this as it's not much difference when trying to move up the ladder.

royly · 02/08/2022 21:43

Or…you invent a time machine, go back in time 40 years and buy one for tuppence.

yes if i'd been born 2 yrs earlier, not bothered with uni & got a retail job I'd be way better off now due to house prove growth.

user1477249785 · 02/08/2022 21:44

You need a three step plan. Every step of it must be followed to the letter:

  • Step 1: stop buy Starbucks coffees and save the money up instead
  • Step 2: pack up a lunch and take it into work. Save the money you would have spent on lunch in a savings account.
  • Step 3: win the lottery.

Sympathies op. I agree. It's unattainable for most.

PleaseMind · 02/08/2022 21:47

What happened to DH's house?

Do you have any wealthy relatives who might die and leave you millions in a will?

Thats about it I'm afraid

Decidualcast · 02/08/2022 21:59

First time buyers buying flats worth 1+ million. I asked the agent how and he said parents are funding a lot of properties for their kids.

eurochick · 02/08/2022 22:12

It is a helluva lot easier to do pre kids. You only need to buy a one bed. If you can afford a two bed you can rent out a room to help with the mortgage and split bills. Once you need a family home as your first purchase it becomes a lot less attainable.

ComtesseDeSpair · 02/08/2022 22:16

You buy in outer London and commute in, you compromise, you start off with a small flat and work your way up. Possibly all of the above if you are only average earners.

If you’re wanting to buy a large house with big garden as a first home in e.g. Balham whilst one of you earns London average and the other only works part time then you’re being unrealistic.

royly · 02/08/2022 22:19

You buy in outer London and commute in, you compromise, you start off with a small flat and work your way up.

This is quite outdated as it's much harder to build equity these days to move up the ladder.

felulageller · 02/08/2022 22:20

It's called a property ladder because you are supposed to start at the bottom with a studio in a cheap part of town. If you wait til you need a 3 bed house near schools etc it won't happen unless you get bank of mum and dad and more.

Violettaa · 02/08/2022 22:21

DH got a scholarship while at uni, which he invested.

That was a massive help with the initial deposit, and we got on the ladder pre kids.

now we pay the mortgage by both having good professional incomes.

Echobelly · 02/08/2022 22:22

Inherit a property is sadly kind of the only way if you're not on City Big Money salaries.

I owned my own place as I inherited enough for a good deposit in my early 20s, let it out when DH and I bought our first place together (with aid of a smaller inheritance) and honestly we could only afford a family home in London because we had two properties to sell. Without it, even with a household income well above national average, we'd have had to move out of London to get a 4-bed home.

cestlavielife · 02/08/2022 22:25

Sell your dh s house
Earn lots of ££££
Use helpto buy or shared ownership
Live in barking

Where do you want to buy how many bedrooms snd what is your budget?
How much can you get from dh s property?

cestlavielife · 02/08/2022 22:26

Buy a flat
Not a house

royly · 02/08/2022 22:26

It's called a property ladder because you are supposed to start at the bottom with a studio in a cheap part of town.

yeah but the issue is that cheap property in the cheap part of town is still prohibitively expensive. Plus generally flats in London aren't seeing anything like the historic growth & they certainly won't the way interest rates are going.

titchy · 02/08/2022 22:27

royly · 02/08/2022 21:40

Not helpful I know but you have to buy before you have kids.

I don't really agree with this as it's not much difference when trying to move up the ladder.

Except lenders take dependents and childcare costs into account when deciding how much to lend, and once your have kids you're geographically limited as parents often don't want to uproot their kids from a school and friends they're happy with to live in a shit hole that needs doing up.

Comedycook · 02/08/2022 22:28

I got an inheritance. Most people I know without dead relatives have been given a deposit from their parents.

Comedycook · 02/08/2022 22:29

Or if you buy in an unfashionable area of London, you can get a house for about £400k or maybe even less.

OnaTraintoSaltLakeCity · 02/08/2022 22:29

Shared ownership if your income is low enough

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