First time buyers with budgets over £1 million

[Zimmertel]

How common is this in London?

Dd says that due to the price of property in central and inner London, a number of her work
colleagues are first time buyers looking at properties over £1mil. She’s looking at flats around £600k, which is the average house price there.

Her best friend is in finance, aged 26, earning near £200k a year before tax. The best friend’s partner is 28 and earns about the same if not more. They just bought a two bed in Zone 1 for £1.3mil. Their first home.

How common is this in London?

and you can assume they aren’t earning the £200k from the minute they turn 20

she stated 26 and 28, and it’s not that uncommon. Investment banking and corp law.

🙄she isn’t cancelling anyone! Piss off with your woke bullshit!

I always remember when I was in the second year at university in London, someone on my course paid cash for a flat in South Kensington. It cost them £200,000.

Yes, it was in the second half of the 1990s :).

I work in Finance in a senior role at 26 & my husband is 35. We recently bought our first home for £850k (I'm not based in London though).

Good lord whats wrong with you?

What on earth are you talking about?

OP if your daughter on her own is looking for around 600k then theres not much of a stretch for one of her peers and a partner OR HUSBAND to buy something for a million with their joint income

Seems very young though

@Kualma & others who have said similar...

Sorry, but 'A senior role' at 26?

Is there no one in finance over 30 anymore?

How many years have you been working (full time in finance?)

I'm 53 when I was working in the City, all the senior roles were held by men in their 50's (& the odd woman, but not very many).

It would be absolutely awful to have a friend who is a banker, lawyer or IT worker! Especially seeing all people who work in those roles all have identical and vile personalities. I even know of a group of investment bankers who started a charity building schools in Southern Africa - they must be really horrible people.

I'd love to know what role you have to be senior at 26. I work with leadership teams across a global bank and I'd struggle to think of anyone under 30 in those roles.

Oh don't be all offended! I just mean I have nothing in common with anyone who is fixated on earning a lot of money at all costs. It leaves me cold. But you tend to socialise with people who are kind of similar to you somehow, nature just sorts it out.

The big earning person I know is actually the husband of an NCT acquaintance from 20 years ago so I hardly have anything to do with him, couldn't call him a friend even. He's just on the periphery of my social world. That's how these things usually work out. I bet he hardly ever mixes with journalists and publishing bods either.

@A580Hojas You have a very narrow view of the world. Maybe get to know a more varied range of people.

I think it’s not uncommon in central London, and as others have said for 2nd homes it’s pretty common London wide. An estate agent said to me that stamp duty is so much money when you’re looking at houses worth 600k plus, and especially over £1 million it doesn’t make sense for people to do a property “ladder” (where you pay stamp duty each time you sell), with 4 or 5 houses, instead people stretch themselves as far as possible and get help from family and friends to cut out a few steps on the ladder.

I really don't have a very narrow view of the world. I just don't mix with the ultra rich. They live in a tiny exclusive bubble. Ask yourself how many 26 year olds in the UK earn £200,000. It's a miniscule percentage.

But you’re happy to opine on people you don’t know. You said “thank God” you don’t have friends who are lawyers. I have friends who are lawyers who do everything from representing asylum seekers to acting for victims of domestic abuse to running law centres for people who can’t afford any representation at all. The idea that all lawyers are “ultra rich” or “fixated on earning a lot” is absolute nonsense. But carry on thanking God you don’t know any of these people, by all means 🙄

@A580Hojas why are you assuming all lawyers etc are ultra rich, live in a bubble and obsessed with making money at all costs?!

mw thinks you have been watching too much tv and that you are in fact the person in a bubble

Oh don't be all offended! I just mean I have nothing in common with anyone who is fixated on earning a lot of money at all costs.

Don’t be offended… followed by extremely offensive statement.

Thank you for the replies - seems it is normal in that specific London circle.

For those saying the salaries I mentioned aren't possible, they are - just look at US corporate law pay, and for quantitative finance roles (Not IT 'tech' or back office). The couple I mentioned are both very very clever, think Cambridge and top of the year in physics kind of clever.

The point about skipping rungs on the ladder is very true. Dd wants to buy in the area she rents in, but 600k would get a one bed. But even she admits that a one bed won't be comfortable for the long term.

£200k in Finance is not common in London. But this is where most high earners are so just by law of large number, there will be quite a few who can afford the millions.

I think that is unusual but 200k is not a normal salary!
I'm in outer London and sold my house to FTB three years ago for just under £700k.
My daughter is buying next year with her boyfriend, up to £400k - they both earn about £40k but my daughter inherited a large sum from her beloved grandma.
My boyfriend just sold his two bed flat (second bedroom is tiny, box room, more like an office) in Camden for almost £800k, to a FTB who is a neurosurgeon. She's in her 30s though and I imagine renting would cost more than a mortgage as he was renting it out for £2800 a month.
He's now buying a four bed house on the Kent coast for £430k - he bought the Camden flat in the early 90s - London prices are insane but your daughter's friends seem to be in a far from average wage bracket.

That level of salary is highly unusual even with those with firsts from Cambridge. I know two ex Cambridge lawyers in corporate law in the city and neither earn that level, not close at 30. Both rent.

Whilst there are always outliers salary wise your DD's friends are highly unusual. I'm sure they help with the substantial deposit too

Nephew is a quantitative trader. At just 26 he is hitting the 200,000 mark after 2 years.

We sold our old house for £1.25m to first time buyers, but they were mid-30s and had been ‘lifestyle’ renters for years, now had a baby and wanted to have their own place

Friend sold her 5-bed £1.8m house in Clapham to a 20-something FTB who had family money plus a very good job. Buyers plan was to rent a couple of rooms to friends, so will be raking it in if she rents at market rate (£800ish per room per month)

DH and I both work in finance and our first flat cost £392k, bought at 27 and 29. I have a friend who is a Cambridge educated lawyer but works in a small law firm, she rented and bought her first house at £425k in east London with her partner (without help). Other friends who are small firm lawyers/accountants/work as a director in a non profit/GP all bought their flats and houses ranging from £400k to £650k but with family help.

This method is quite painful with 7% interest rates unless the help was a gift from mum and dad...

We lived abroad on expat deals and bought in our late 20s/early 30s as FTB. We could have gone up to £1.2m but bought for 450k ish as we needed somewhere that would sell quick when we finish our contracts.

We’re on nowhere near 200k, but had 5-10 years of high salaries in low tax countries and all accommodation & bills paid for, so ended up with about 650k in savings.