R.E Home Ownership feels so unattainable

[MotherOfRatios]

Hi,
I am in my mid-20s and I already have £10,000 saved through hard work. I save around £500 a month.

I live in London, and before you say to me, just move out of London, it's just not realistic. My job is heavily London-based, depending on what is happening in the news, I can be called to last-minute events in London pretty quickly, so for that reason, moving up north isn't realistic because the transport in this country is expensive and unreliable.

I have considered moving Kent way and outside of London just but I still enjoy a night out with friends or a late night event in London and I would then have to get a taxi home which would be expensive because transport out of London doesn't run at 1am/ 3 am like the tube does on the weekend. I'm still young and still live very much a young and care free life.

I was looking at shared ownership, but since the massive mortgage rates increase the prices I just so so expensive but to buy without S/O it is also incredibly expensive.

I guess this is just a rant because I am just so fed up of house-sharing, but also it seems like it will take forever to get a mortgage.

Let me be clear, it's not the kind of night out drinking lots that's not the kind of person I am but it is a nightmare friends I don't drink heavily maybe one or two drinks but it's a fact that I am with people having fun not necessarily spending a lot of money.

I would look in the more northen commuter belt. Places like milton keynes, Bedford, Northampton all have excellent London links and are just a 30 min train journey. My husband has worked in London for 25 years doing 24 hour shifts in emergency services and has found the train travel fine. Obviously it has its moments, but as with anything.

All those towns and cities have excellent multicultural links, Milton Keynes has a large Nigerian and Ghanaian community for example.

A lot of my friends are living w/parents to save money to get on the property ladder so don't want to move out to flat share I have two fans that don't live with parents but live with partners.

You need to be saying more per month and lower your expectations of where to buy. It's shit but you're not going to buy anywhere in London or near otherwise. I think you need about £60k minimum now.

It sounds like you need more time. I think mid 20s is young to be a homeowner in a major city. I have 3 kids all older than you and 2 have good jobs (3rd still studying) and none of them own a home yet due to high costs.

Personally, I’d prefer no shared ownership and would hold out for that.

I would consider this when I'm older, but not right now if I'm to move outside of London I want to be southern London where it feels like London still.

You need a much bigger deposit essentially. You can get a 2 bedroom flat in Beckenham or somewhere like that for £300k, but you are going to need a 10-15% deposit. Plus money for all the conveyancing costs, mortgage application fees, furniture etc.

It isn’t a great time to buy right now anyway, tbh (interest rates are likely to come down over the next year or two). Wait 3-4 years until you have £30-40k saved up, and move then.

You may have met a partner by then anyway - honestly I don’t know many people who can afford to buy on their own in London anyway. Most people buy with somebody else, so only saving up half a deposit.

I need around £30-40k for a 1 bed flat in zone 3/4 London which is what I'm aiming for.

saving more isn't realistic as I have bills are rent to fight, so I can't save any more. I don't go on holidays I live in very minimal lifestyle and anything I do occasionally have leftover does go to more savings

I will probably get flamed for saying this, but I really don't wanna do the whole marriage and partner lifestyle, but just is not something I intend for my life. I am very happy single and I envisioned that for the future I'm not actively dating and anyone who just tried to move to me I actively say no to you because that is not what I want in life.

Again, some people will probably have a go at me for saying this, but it is my life and that's not something I want if that's what other people want in life such as marriage and children then so be it but that's not what I want for me.

Do you know much about Herts? Or have you been there much?

I only ask as I live on Hertfordshire border and I think it's really nice and affordable Vs much of London.
Our highstreet has a salon specifically for afro hair and three of my immediate neighbours are black. A lot of my local friends arent causcian and the schools Def have a strong multicultural intake (although admittedly I think a lot travel to the area)

My coworker and her DH and kids were moving and had similar concerns about Herts - they are British Asian. They moved to Broxbourne and absolutely love it and have had no issues with racism there.

Agree with others you were right be decline S/O unless it really is your only option which it sounds like it's not.

Ok, so at your current rate of saving it's going to take about another 4 years to save your deposit. Then you may be able to buy what you want. Just bear in mind that your "wants" may be different by then.

@MotherOfRatios Also- are you putting your savings into a LISA? ( lifetime ISA). It’s designed for FTBs and for every 4K you save in a year the government tops it up by another 1k. Then you can draw the money out when you buy a property.

Could be worth looking into?

I have as I have one friend that lives in Hertfordshire and has injured horrendous racism. I'm not bothered about schools as I don't want children.

But I know that's not a place that I want to live, and that is okay. As I said if I'm to buy out of London, I want to be southern London, not Northern London area.

Wanting to stay single is absolutely fine. But there are really no other answers to “how do I become a homeowner soon?” beyond that you need to earn significantly more money or to move somewhere cheaper or to consider buying with a likeminded friend or two. The third option can work out well, provided you and the friend/s troubleshoot the situation beforehand and have clear written agreements about how you’d approach lifestyle changes which may affect the arrangement. I know a few people who’ve bought with friends and cohabited very happily together for years.

No one should flame you for your life choices. No one’s business but yours if you want to stay single.

I have some in a cash ISA but my mortgage broker advise me against the lifetime she said because of the price of property in London exceeds the amount that they will let you use the deposit for. And if it doesn't exceed it now, she said by the time I might want to buy in three or four years property will have risen above the amount so she advised not to do it unless I consider buying elsewhere.

Any sacrifices and compromises you have to make now are minimal compared to when the kids come! Nothing ever gets cheaper or easier for a few decades now I’m afraid. The most successful , grounded people are usually those who put the work in early. It’s fine for you to prioritise a good social life but you will pay the price for that later. Your choice but if I had my time again I’d make sacrifices early. Life can be tough.

My hairdresser bought with her friend, but it didn't end well and that put me off the idea it's something I would consider as a last resort.

As I said above, I'm not planning to have kids so they will be no kids for me. I save a good amount. I'm not out drinking every week I go out but that doesn't mean I spend a lot of money £20/30 is the rough spend as I don't really like to drink alcohol.

Totally fine, but that’s how most people afford it!

I see. Yes the maximum amount to use the LISA on is 450k.

That would be ok today for a 1 bed in most parts of London but who knows in a few years? Martin Lewis has been campaigning to get the 450k limit raised as it hasn’t kept in line with inflation but no luck so far.

Yes - it is annoying but you sound like you are focussed and have done well to save £10k already whilst renting and socialising.

I am in London and I don't know anyone who bought before their early 30s so I really don't think you are doing that badly.

What did you want from this thread?
10K is a lot, plenty don't even have that. So you're not going find lots of 'oh, poor you' commiseration. You're also very young, in your mid-twenties and if you keep saving at the same rate you'll be able to buy before 30. Also as you want to remain single you won't need to upsize.

Rant away if you want but you're doing great. It won't take forever, just a few more years and you said your salary is going up so you'll be in a better position. You don't need any sympathy.

Just seen you don’t want kids but don’t bank on life suddenly getting easier regardless. It only gets easier once you make the sacrifices and buckle down and start to build up assets

No answers OP, but sympathy. We ended up moving out of London to a Northern city to afford to buy, and that was over ten years ago when prices were lower and there were two of us.

You're doing incredibly well to be saving so much on your own without living with parents. In your position I'd take a bit longer on renting so that you can buy somewhere you really want, rather than regretting compromising, as the dead costs of moving (stamp duty etc) make changing your mind so expensive.

As for staying single - definitely better to do that, than to be tangled financially in a relationship going south and not be able to end things because you can't afford to move it.