Affordable housing able to commute to london

[user1480436542]

Basically I am looking to move back to Hertfordshire, I would like to live somewhere I can afford to buy but also able to commute to London. I only have 10,000 in savings but should be on around 30,000 a year.

Have you approached a mortgage lender or broker to see what your budget might be on those figures? Without knowing what you can afford how can you start looking at what’s available?

Is it just you who would be living there? This in Royston seems okay, which has lots of direct trains to London, assuming you can borrow about £135k on your income.

Can't see how you could do that tbh. If you paid no pension you would be taking home £2k. Commuting into London would be £500 per month roughly. Leaving you with £1500 for everything else.

Why Hertfordshire , in particular?

That job is not paying you enough money to live in/commute to London.

You need to get a better paying job or get a similar job somewhere with a lower cost of living.

If you really want to live in Hertfordshire, you would probably be better off getting a job in one of the larger towns and living locally.

Thanks

the reason I want to live in Hertfordshire is because this is where my friends and family are. Can I ask how do people afford properties in London and Hertfordshire?

Usually buy with someone else like a partner (or a friend) and share the cost (2 salaries) or have a high paying job.
I've lived in both and when moving out of London had to decide whether we could afford to live in Hertfordshire or move further out to get a bigger house.

We were living on outskirts of London and could only afford to buy because most of our parents had died and we'd inherited money from them for a deposit.

And Op, you have my every sympathy. The housing market in the UK is terrible. It shouldn't be an investment, it should be seen as a home, and people should be able to live near their family and friends

I lived with MIL who has a house in zone 3 north london for three years. saved £70k in 3 years due to no rent or bills (this was after we just graduated) DH and i had combined income of £73k or so when we bought our 392k 2 bed flat (in zone 3 north london) so not massive salaries either for the both of us. Deposit of 58k. Could have afforded a 2 bed terraced house in hitchin but did not want to pay commuter fares.

This was in 2019, we are now looking to sell our flat and move to a bigger 3 bed flat in zone 3 north london. We have been overpaying the mortgage and the prices for flats has dropped.

Yes it should be a home and not an investment. My dad (who is a singaporean property developer) can theoretically buy every single property in the UK (as long as he has the money and is willing to invest) but cannot buy 85% of the housing stock in Singapore without selling his primary home (as it is government housing and can only be sold to singapore citizens who own a private home unless they sell it). I don't see how this is a good system. Freedom for the lions means certain death for the lambs. And he is more restricted in his own country than the UK. Does this make the UK a richer and better country?

£10k in savings and a £30k salary is a good budget if you are looking to rent a room in a London flatshare. You can still find rooms for £700-£800 in many parts of zone 2.

As for how people afford to buy in London or Hertfordshire, the answer is usually that they bought 20 years ago, or there's some inherited money, or they got lucky and managed to get a housing association/council property (but again, they probably did this a long time ago).

They have two salaries! Most people bought with partners or spouses back in the day. Another £30,000 salary would give you enough. Single people have struggled to buy for decades now without family help. How many people earn £30,000 and get a property on their own near enough to London to commute? Very few.

Some single people take in lodgers to help with mortgage or other costs. Not for eveyone -loss of privacy etc - but for a short time it can be vey helpful. You can earn quite a bit tax-free under the government 'rent a room' scheme:
www.gov.uk/rent-room-in-your-home/the-rent-a-room-scheme

Is there any chance that I will get a partner? I am 35 years old. I just think it is mad that housing rarely gets a mention as a major issue. It was hardly mentioned in the leadership debate. I mean the government doesn’t have a plan to deal with housing shortages. We need more than 300000 houses a year

Yes but even if you go back years, your salary, on your own wouldn’t buy anything in Hertfordshire. I was earning that 30 years ago. You could possibly look for shared ownership but what we need is more houses to rent because buying on your own isn’t viable. I bought a house in Bucks (tiny 2 bed estate house) for £166,000 20 years ago. These tiny houses are now £100,000 more. I totally acknowledge it’s hard but it’s never been the case that everyone can afford a house on their own.

Its not just the government. Its the residents. They develop a sentimental attachment to an abandoned field if anyone wants to build homes there. Even in my london neighbourhood, people raised objections at building flats over what used to be a car wash. Like it was some sort of national monument. Building over 4 levels- there were objections because it would have overlooked a school and there were 'apparently safeguarding concerns'. They have to build the homes somewhere and if nowhere can do, then very few homes would get built.

Would you consider shared ownership or housing association if you qualify

I’d suggest crossing the border into Bedfordshire . Luton and Dunstable is loads cheaper and well connected for the London commute . They also have lots of HA part ownership places appearing around potters bar , Barnet , Hatfield and Watford- still pricey but a foot on the ladder so to speak.
it’s not for everyone but I’m in north London / Herts borders and there is a really nice park home estate near me , very clean and peaceful and nicely landscaped and they are cheap to buy and to run .
just some ideas from a local :)

You could definitely afford a flat (I assume your upper budget is around £130-£150,000) but what you really need to bear in mind is the costs of commuting into London. I don’t know how often you’d need to travel in, or whether you could travel off peak, but I pay around £40 return daily from a suburb, plus tube fare and parking charges. So I’d definitely research that properly before you buy.

@Heronwatcher Where is there a flat for sub £130,000 in Herts? Other then maybe shared ownership.

@TizerorFizz Stevenage, Hemel, Hoddesdon, Sandridge etc- look on Rightmove. Not loads I grant you below 130k but a good handful, the below isn’t even the cheapest (and more between 130 and 150).
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/129071576#/?channel=RES_BUY

A compromise could be Cheshunt or Waltham Cross - latter is Essex, but on the Herts / London border and cheaper than either Herts or London. Then you'd have a less costly commute than coming from further out. I still don't know if it's affordable to buy though; probably not unless you can get some kind of shared ownership scheme.

That's an auction though. It will go for much more. And I would assume starting so low probably because of a short lease.
£150k won't get you anything near London.

@Kabalagala
Its not much use putting up auction properties is it?! If you know Herts, you know there’s really nothing for £130,000. However there is shared ownership and that’s worth looking at.