Page 7 | How do buy a house in London. Just, how?

Shinebright21 · 2022-08-02T20:27:56+00:00

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?

onthefencesitter · 07/08/2022 02:25

Diamond7272 · 07/08/2022 01:46

So your partner just passed probation in a job and you are 27 and didnt work for ages... And the banks gave you a mortgage of 392k minus your 70k deposit, so £320,000ish.

Morthages then were maybe 4.5 times combined salaries and often required 2 years work history in the role, so in the circumstances you described you were earning about £70,000pa between you?

This is just rubbish.

I am really tired of the "well we did it" (all on our own) argument as it isnt true, and totally devalues those peoples efforts who truly scrimped and saved for decades... It undermines what they went through.

I have so much mire respect fir people who tell the truth...

"we had massive parental help" is the opening line for 99% of people buying in London...

(This is the focus of this thread.)

I didn't say I didn't work. I found a job 2 months after coming back to London. But I was explaining why I stayed so long with family because while I could work, having no visa and a letter that you are waiting on a visa (but are allowed to stay and work in the UK in the mean time) isn't exactly the best situation to rent! I mean, it didn't make finding a job easier, but I did manage to find jobs.

All landlords require passport and proof of visa. I didn't have a visa. And my passport was with the home office for most of that time. I had an initial 6 month visa that i obtained which allowed me to work in the UK and I got my first job using that, and then after I got my job offer, I sent my passport off for the visa application.

LivesinLondon2000 · 07/08/2022 10:25

@onthefencesitter
The ultra orthodox Jewish community in London rely heavily on property ownership in London for their income. In particular they own lots of ex-local authority housing which they bought cheaply when it was first sold and is now worth a lot more. Profit from sales and the rent they make from the properties they keep hold of is often their main source of income.
They’ve been doing this for quite a few years and I would be very surprised if younger members of the community weren’t given financial assistance - if not from parents then from other members of what seems to be a very close-knit community - to get started.

I know many other people (not from this community and usually aged 50+) who’ve done exactly the same - bought 2 or more properties in London years ago when they were cheaper and they now rent them out and live quite comfortably on the income so don’t need to work.

In my area of zone 3 London a small 3 bed house costs £1 million +. It doesn’t take much to work out that you need to be earning a good 6 figure salary to be able to buy one of those houses on your own. So anyone else has to have had some of the money already and, unless they’ve won the lottery, it usually has come from their family.

onthefencesitter · 07/08/2022 10:40

LivesinLondon2000 · 07/08/2022 10:25

@onthefencesitter
The ultra orthodox Jewish community in London rely heavily on property ownership in London for their income. In particular they own lots of ex-local authority housing which they bought cheaply when it was first sold and is now worth a lot more. Profit from sales and the rent they make from the properties they keep hold of is often their main source of income.
They’ve been doing this for quite a few years and I would be very surprised if younger members of the community weren’t given financial assistance - if not from parents then from other members of what seems to be a very close-knit community - to get started.

I know many other people (not from this community and usually aged 50+) who’ve done exactly the same - bought 2 or more properties in London years ago when they were cheaper and they now rent them out and live quite comfortably on the income so don’t need to work.

In my area of zone 3 London a small 3 bed house costs £1 million +. It doesn’t take much to work out that you need to be earning a good 6 figure salary to be able to buy one of those houses on your own. So anyone else has to have had some of the money already and, unless they’ve won the lottery, it usually has come from their family.

Interesting, thanks! My DH grew up in an orthodox Jewish family and went to an ultra orthodox primary school so he has some insight into that world but not anymore as he went to a mainstream Jewish school for his secondary education. DH's mum is a convert and DH's paternal grandpa were typical east end jews! So while his family all own property in London and north Herts etc, it's just the family home and so there isn't loads of help available other than of course letting the kids stay at home longer. But I guess they never qualified for council housing...

onthefencesitter · 07/08/2022 10:44

LivesinLondon2000 · 07/08/2022 10:25

@onthefencesitter
The ultra orthodox Jewish community in London rely heavily on property ownership in London for their income. In particular they own lots of ex-local authority housing which they bought cheaply when it was first sold and is now worth a lot more. Profit from sales and the rent they make from the properties they keep hold of is often their main source of income.
They’ve been doing this for quite a few years and I would be very surprised if younger members of the community weren’t given financial assistance - if not from parents then from other members of what seems to be a very close-knit community - to get started.

I know many other people (not from this community and usually aged 50+) who’ve done exactly the same - bought 2 or more properties in London years ago when they were cheaper and they now rent them out and live quite comfortably on the income so don’t need to work.

In my area of zone 3 London a small 3 bed house costs £1 million +. It doesn’t take much to work out that you need to be earning a good 6 figure salary to be able to buy one of those houses on your own. So anyone else has to have had some of the money already and, unless they’ve won the lottery, it usually has come from their family.

Most of my DH's classmates even in the 1990s lived in flats. I do see a lot of them still in flats in areas near me with young DC. I mean a £500k flat near the north circular/Brent cross is very different from a £1 million house...they do have lower expectations.

LivesinLondon2000 · 07/08/2022 10:59

@onthefencesitter
I only know this because a relative of mine also invests heavily in property in East London and interacts regularly with them.

There are (or at least pre Covid there were) regular large auctions of up to 200 or so properties that for various reasons were difficult to sell - things like ex-local authority flats with sitting tenants, short leases that needed to be renegotiated etc.

They were often cash sales as the various issues meant you may not be able to get a mortgage on the properties so there were great bargains to hand if you had the cash available and were able to deal with any issues. The ultra orthodox Jewish community were a regular presence at these auctions both buying and selling. I would think if you are a young couple in that community, there would be lots of help potentially available to get your own property.

LivesinLondon2000 · 07/08/2022 11:12

@onthefencesitter
Yes agreed - I don’t know a lot about the community but yes the impression I get is that they care more about living in a particular area where their community is than having a particular sort of house. And yes a 500K flat is more attainable than a 1million pound house.
But even a 500K flat is super expensive if you’re on a low income so I suppose the point I’m making is that they too probably need help to buy their first home.

A quick Google search tells me the average London salary is 40K (& I assume this includes older people more advanced in their careers). I find it quite depressing that it comes nowhere close to allowing you to buy any property in London. It’s unlikely that this mismatch between salaries and property prices is going to change anytime soon but at the very least we should have much stricter controls on rents and better rights for tenants to at least give people renting who may never be able to buy long term security.

Housebuyingfamily · 07/08/2022 13:31

LivesinLondon2000 · 07/08/2022 10:59

@onthefencesitter
I only know this because a relative of mine also invests heavily in property in East London and interacts regularly with them.

There are (or at least pre Covid there were) regular large auctions of up to 200 or so properties that for various reasons were difficult to sell - things like ex-local authority flats with sitting tenants, short leases that needed to be renegotiated etc.

They were often cash sales as the various issues meant you may not be able to get a mortgage on the properties so there were great bargains to hand if you had the cash available and were able to deal with any issues. The ultra orthodox Jewish community were a regular presence at these auctions both buying and selling. I would think if you are a young couple in that community, there would be lots of help potentially available to get your own property.

Exactly correct, they operate as community credit unions. Same with certain Asian communities too.

wingingit33 · 07/08/2022 13:34

My first house was a tiny 2 up. 2 down in zone 6 so definitely "outer London" but if it wasn't for my parents and inheritance it'd never have happened. That was 2012 and was £365k.

onthefencesitter · 07/08/2022 13:42

Housebuyingfamily · 07/08/2022 13:31

Exactly correct, they operate as community credit unions. Same with certain Asian communities too.

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Gemach is good for weddings but don't think you can borrow your house deposit for it. The bank would probably have an issue with that! My MIL got her wedding dress for free using a gemach years ago and they offer free clothes and furniture as well as short term loans.

One way of earning money is going door to door for donations. My MIL would give despite not having much money herself. Like once there was this guy who came to our house when I was living with MIL asking for money to marry off his daughter and my SIL gave him some money and he said it wasn't enough. I think she gave him a bit more. Between that and the gemach and saving while living with parents, perhaps you could cobble up a deposit for a small flat and that would be your typical young couple home.

YouPutTheScrewInTheTuna · 07/08/2022 13:47

MortifiedMelon · 03/08/2022 00:06

We bought a house in the Morden/Sutton area. It's 50/50 social housing and private ownership. The cars are either brand new or old bangers. Houses are either falling apart or being done up to the nines.

It was a shock to move here after renting in Teddington for ages but it was important for us to buy a house.

We are now used to it and go out to eat/walk in Wimbledon and I commute in to London on the tube. We've renovated the house over the past few years and it now feels like home.

There are still houses here for £350-500k which is just about affordable for London.

PM if you want the exact location and a tour/coffee

Ah the good old St helier estate!?

UnnecessaryFennel · 07/08/2022 16:01

Sunshineona · 03/08/2022 16:58

One of these:

have a high paying job like banking, law, management consulting, or

have rich parents who give you a load of money, or

inherit, or

have a time machine

Sucks. I’m from London. Left cos priced out. People live in the commuter belt for a reason. Come to East Kent!

Exactly the same as me.

3 beds, detached, garden, 10 mins walk from the beach for the price of a 2-bed flat in Peckham. And my commute to central London only takes 20 mins longer than it did when I was living there!

I'd happily return to London if I won the lottery, but for the time being I think I'll head to the beach