Help, first time buyer in London with £55k/year

Whilst I appreciate all too well that it is frustrating to be paying high rental costs, I don't think you need to be in any rush. You're doing pretty well; good salary, good savings, scope to save more.

But you're not sure of where you want to "settle down", granted not everyone makes a plan to stay in the same house for 50 years. Maybe I'm old fashioned but I wanted to try and buy a house that I could see myself staying in, assuming no other drastic life changes. But you're not even sure if you want to stay in London for the next couple of years! Renting gives you flexibility, it puts you in a great position to buy when you feel ready. You could meet the person of your dreams tomorrow and want to settle down and buy a place together, which would get a little complicated. You could end up wanting kids quite soon, and in a house too small to accommodate.

For £350k in London, I think you'd struggle to find a house. A quick search turns up a few 1 bed flats, a couple of 2 bed properties, but not really any houses, depending on area of course.

In terms of notice for renting - on a statutory tenancy, the landlord will serve notice. However you don't need to be out at the end of that. If you stay, and continue to pay rent, they must apply to the courts to have you evicted, which probably won't be a high priority for someone who is continuing to pay rent and be a model tenant. So it can take months to get someone out.

Mark1987 wrote: »

If you think it is worth to buy staying here for the next five years then I could make an effort and stay here, even a bit more than five years. As I said, I am only wondering about my future. It could be possible that I sill stay in London until I am old. We'll see...
Regarding the area to buy I don't really care about living close to the center and I don't like busy places so I would be more than happy to consider zone 4-5 and south of the river. Any idea? I saw affordable semi detached houses around Staines and Egham but also not far from Hampton, like west Molesey.

You're talking about two different things now. Living in London is not the same as living in suburbia! The areas you mention are potentially more suited to both working in London, and settling down, so possibly covers both bases in terms of longevity.

This isn't to say people don't settle down in London of course. But it usually follows what when people start thinking with a family view, they want to move away.

Staines/Egham are outside of the standard travel card zones, a season ticket would set you back around £2,500 per year at the moment. West Molesey isn't really commutery, but it's near Surbiton which is a big commuter spot (and rather expensive, as a result).

It depends where exactly your work is in London; think about the routes in. Is Underground a possibility (north west of London has longer tube links). London Waterloo serves most of the south west stations so Surrey onward. Waterloo East, London Bridge and Charing Cross serve more Sussex/Kent side. Paddington out to the West (e.g. Reading etc). And there my knowledge runs out!

And think about wider issues such as what else may be important to you. For us, that was a garage. Parking.

Living anywhere near London is imho a mugs game nowadays economically and from a quality of life perspective. That job that pays 60k in London you can get further north paying say 40 but the accommodation is degrees cheaper which means that your money left over is much higher.
By all means go to London for the experience but I cannot imagine wanting to live anywhere near there for 5 years or more taking part in such a rat race life, it's a horrible grind that really take its toll long term and the stress of it takes years off your life.
If all you want is endless HPI from buying a house in the south east then I would question whether over the next 5 years that would even occur in the same manner as it did in the last 5 years, with the costs involved in buying would you after 5 years be likely to make a profit on what you bought now? I am not so sure but maybe that is a debate for the HPC crowd?
I cannot understand the obsession with living in the south east of this country, maybe if you are from a different country you cannot understand that there is an economy outside the south east. But hey by all means stay in London or the south east and pay 300k for a 1 bed flat above a kebab shop waking up every day wondering what you are doing with your life, up north we can have a nice 4 bed detached with big garden in a nice area for the same money and the wages are not much less!