Skipping a starter home

[Phlappy]

I was reading on here the other night that especially in London, people are skipping buying a starter home and going straight for a small family home/flat.

Has this been anyone’s experience?

Also skipping most of the steps and probably going to a 3-4 bed detached. Early and late 40s, in the North. Buying was never financially viable for me on my own and the OH's salary only really started climbing about five years ago when we got together, then it almost doubled. Left London during COVID because neither of us really ever loved it and we craved countryside and not having to fight people to get on the train.

Of mates still in London, mid to late 30s:

One returned from five years in Aus where they lived in a modest house and they now live back in their old two bed flat with their nine yo, it's quite spacious and has a garden, also in Islington

One lives in a tiny flat in Kilburn with a toddler and OH, above a shop iirc

One and their toddler bought a small house in Walthamstow with a toddler as their first home

One split up with his partner just after buying a house and now seems to be looking to buy a house in London on his own

A handful of them, maybe six - still renting or are in flatshares. They tend to do jobs that they like rather than big corporate, e.g. disability rights campaigner. Also, due to being laid back AF and being very sociable but not in couples, flatshares suit their lifestyle.

The rest of them - in their dozens - either left London or didn't live there in the first place and most of them are in houses

Both my cousins in their mid 30s on the outskirts of London bought houses as their first purchase, idk about the her, but the he borrowed 20k from my uncle towards a dposit which he got by cashing in something pension related and is paying him back weekly

I wonder how many of us lived in tiny homes as children and have come out the other side with 'nope, not for me' mentalities? We only lived in a flat til I was 10 but I had to share a room with an awful sister, I wonder if that has some sort of lasting impact? The two cousins who were raised in a tiny house both bought ones twice the size for their first homes.

Is the idea of a 'starter home' not reflective of high London property prices? I'm in my 50s and the only people I know who have ever had 2 bedroom flats at any point live in expensive cities. Everyone else has bought at least a 3 bed house as their first property.

I thought everyone just desperately clutched at whatever fell into the intersection of affordable and tolerable. While avoiding more moves than necessary.

It almost makes me laugh, the idea of people sitting around musing "Ah, shall I go for a starter home, or shall I skip a rung?", like it's a fun board game. Sounds like something from a silly article sponsored by an estate agent.

I kind of agree. Most people buy what they can afford which in London say is not a 3 bed house unless you have an early inheritance.

Flats don’t increase in price now like they used to so it's very hard to build up equity with a flat to then buy a house which have seen much bigger price rises. Coupled with FTBs being much older now, these people may need more space for children

yep & moving is expensive with London prices. Sibling put off buying for a few yrs & skipped straight to a house. I also have some younger colleagues who have done this by moving to outer zones/London borders. Makes sense to me.

I thought everyone just desperately clutched at whatever fell into the intersection of affordable and tolerable. While avoiding more moves than necessary.

We swapped our maisonette for a house a few yrs ago. Originally the plan was to stay in the same area & then move again to a bigger house. However stamp duty makes that prohibitive & I wanted more space & frankly less money tied up in housing so moved a bit further out to facilitate that.

Most people buy what they can afford which in London say is not a 3 bed house unless you have an early inheritance.

Lots of people do have help though, I did & don’t know any of my peers that didn’t. And it’s often very location specific eg a flat in z2 could easily be the same price as a 3 bed in z4.

@KievLoverTwo I have nothing against living in a flat however the mechanism for communal decision making, I find is weak in the U.K. Repairs not being made, lack of consensus etc etc. Other countries that are used to flats (like Singapore) have more oversight to make sure that there's swift and adequate redress in case of issues.

The usual advice is to hold on to a property for at least 2 years, ideally 5 before selling. Presumably so that you've gained a decent amount of equity. If you know you're going to want a bigger place within a few years why buy a flat.

The 'ladder' only works when you hold on to the first property long enough to profit on it.