One bed flat purchase in Ealing

[Claregalway]

Close relative is FTB. Is it worth holding off for another year (still paying rent) to buy. They can’t afford a 2 bed or house in the area and don’t want to live futher out and commute. Worried that it’s all on a downward trajectory - but seems to have been since Bexit - any indication when / if this might reach a trough for 1 bed flats. Or are we just going to see more and more released by LLs?

@Claregalway that’s for central London only, sorry I don’t know much about Ealing so can’t really say. Your relative can work out the trend in the area by researching sold prices in the last 10 years - time consuming but doable. Anecdotally I know a couple of people who recently bought a large one bed with a nice garden in the suburbs, at a ridiculously high price (in my humble and biased opinion). So perhaps that sort of flat is what holds value better.

Renters are more secure now because of the RRB. The saying ‘you’re throwing money away renting’ doesn’t really apply these days and for a long time people have believed the fallacy that you can’t go wrong with bricks and mortar. But you can, in multiple ways, as many flat owners all over the country who’re now struggling to sell are finding out.

That depends if you buy a flat to actually live in or with the expectation that you’ll sell and make money. I don’t think renting is “throwing money away” and I support the RRB, there are many reasons renting might work better for someone than buying and that’s a valid choice. But if you know you want to be in a particular area, are happy living there long term in a flat and don’t expect to make a profit if/when you sell, plus the potential for the mortgage to be cheaper than rent (not always) I don’t think it’s a bad idea. You don’t have to subscribe to the idea of a housing ladder.