First time buyers in London

a08bradley

What do you get for under £300k in London? Well - nothing decent I'm afraid if you want to live in a nice area (where you have less risk of getting stabbed in the evening) and have a bit more space then a shoe box.
People commenting that "you can save 50k if you earn £80" do not realise that half of £80k are gone to the tax man to pay for those "more eligible" for the housing (i.e. benefit cheaters) and when you have to rent until you are 35 or 40??!! If not for those people who have an ambition in live to do well and earn a good living - then who will be going to pay for all these people on benefits?

princeofpounds

Hi there OP, I'm in a similar situation to you (although probably a couple of years down the line in terms of deposit saving).

So I understand the perspective you have on things. You are always going to get negative comments on this thread from people who don't realise the gulf between London and elsewhere in terms of the cost of living and what you get for your money. It's fair opinion, let them have their say and don't bother to argue with them.

But I know that you can't get a decent 2 bed flat (probably the minimum for starting a family) in an ok zone 2 area for much less than 350k (and I use the term decent loosely).

With a 10% mortgage deposit (as you have) you would in theory require a joint income of about £80k assuming a 4x multiple (very aggressive if one of you will stay at home to start a family).

It just goes to show that if 80k isn't that special, if all it buys you is a basic 2 bed in an ok area. Though it's not bad, it allows you to save. If you index the wage to average house prices (provided by zoopla in this instance) then 80k in London is equal to approximately 28k wage in Manchester. People just don't realise this difference (although other costs of living like food are not so disproportionately unbalanced thankfully).

But don't be too hard on yourself. You have saved to a point where you are just about there, but it is a stretch. There's a very simple answer to your frustrations - prices are just too high. Even if they don't come down, they are unlikely to go up much (in real terms, inflation is still a danger) as we don't have wage growth and debt is almost as cheap as it can possibly be. Relax, keep saving and see what happens with the huge budget cuts that need to be made in the next parliament.

And if you cannot wait or do not share these expectations, then you will have to modify your expectations down. Probably the easiest thing to do is look at the areas which don't have great transport access (communting costs when capitalised mean that many decent places you would rail into london from are not actually that much cheaper) but aren't too unpleasant.

As for these schemes, personally I don't think they should be available to anybody. Whatever form they take, they are a subsidy in disguise and the taxpayer shouldn't be helping you to buy your home (mind you, they shouldn't be helping a nurse or teacher or 10-child immigrant either! Or the developers who profit from this).

ILW

There are plenty of 2 and 3 bed houses for under £250k in south east London. But if you think that is a bit below you then the problem is yours.

sooz

But I know that you can't get a decent 2 bed flat (probably the minimum for starting a family) in an ok zone 2 area for much less than 350k (and I use the term decent loosely).

Where are you looking?? And does all transport stop outside zone 2? I'm sure I could see a tube station from here, but I must have been imagining it.

Just on a quick search within 3 miles of Fulham, brings up lots of places under £270 with 2 beds & gardens. Since when have Richmond, Maida Vale, Barnes, Chiswick & Clapham been not decent?

Pete111

robin_banks wrote: »

Think yourself lucky you're earning £84k between you, few in London will be, couple that with being able to call on bank of mum and dad.

And you still have the temerity to moan.

Absolute Tosh, the truth is even in a recession, plenty of professional couples five plus years out of uni will be earning around 80k in London. We were when we were that age (and it was worth more then!) and we were not alone in my group of mates.

OP - You probably want to either save a bit more (ie for another year or look in slightly less salubrious areas.

If you are looking to be within touching distance of your Fulham haunts try some of the slightly less exciting bits of the South west - ie south wimbledon, southfields, raynes park, etc - all decentish areas where you can probably get a 2 bed with a garden for 300k if you look hard enough. Hammersmith is less nice but again fairly close to Fulham and cheaper too.

Otherwise maybe look at 1 bed garden flats in Wimbledon proper, Putney, Earlsfield etc - these should still be under or around 300k

Good luck

princeofpounds

Where are you looking?? And does all transport stop outside zone 2? I'm sure I could see a tube station from here, but I must have been imagining it.

Wandsworth, Lambeth, Earls Court, Highbury, Dulwich.

I just picked zone 2 as an example of areas which are Inner London as opposed to Greater London, but are not central.

That not to say that there aren't alright places outside of these areas (and we all know there are plenty of nasty areas in zones 1-2!).

It's for the sake of example, not a judgment on which zone is acceptable. No reason to read snobbery into it.

Just on a quick search within 3 miles of Fulham, brings up lots of places under £270 with 2 beds & gardens. Since when have Richmond, Maida Vale, Barnes, Chiswick & Clapham been not decent?

I'm not familiar with all those areas, but I can assure you that nothing at or under £270k in Clapham is likely to be that nice! Even a flat on the Wandsworth Road (3 murders in the last year in the local one mile stretch) of that size, no garden, is likely to ask 330k.

sooz

We must be looking at different pages on rightmove then.

I can see some lovely flats properly in Clapham, between north & common tubes, not Wandsworth, Stockwell, or Brixton. I too have no desire to be gunned down

drc

But presumably the £84k is before tax, so take tax off and they don't earn that much. I agree though, move out of London as it is ridiculously expensive and poor value for money.

princeofpounds

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?searchType=SALE&locationIdentifier=OUTCODE%5E2517&insId=1&radius=0.0&displayPropertyType=&minBedrooms=2&maxBedrooms=2&minPrice=&maxPrice=270000&retirement=&partBuyPartRent=&maxDaysSinceAdded=&_includeSSTC=on&sortByPriceDescending=&primaryDisplayPropertyType=&secondaryDisplayPropertyType=&oldDisplayPropertyType=&oldPrimaryDisplayPropertyType=&newHome=&auction=false&x=22&y=3

Maybe... here is my rightmove page: 2 beds, SW4, up to 270k

6 properties over clapham, west brixton, stockwell. None have gardens.

Top one is ok road (though 'needs modernisation' so is probably lacking something important)

Second one is an auction guide price, so is likely to come at a very different price.

Third is on the Bonney estate. Not the nicest place to start a family (though it's not crime central to be fair)

Fourth is a horrible block in stockwell.

Fifth is in Poynders road area, which is actually one of these 'not great but still ok' places I would consider compromising on in the area.

Sixth is also in Stockwell, just off larkhall park (scene of one of the stabbings)

So that's a pretty wide area with tens of thousands of residents and we end up with 6 properties of which maybe 3 are ok if you aren't sensitive to location within Clapham itself.

Don't dispute there is stuff around but you need to push up to 350 (asking) to get the 'mainstream' 2 beds.

Annisele

I'm in a similar position to the OP (a bit older, earn a bit more, and with a bit more in savings) but I'm not particularly stressed about it.

I've got a pretty good idea of how much the flat I'm living in is worth, because a couple of similar properties have sold in the last three months. Each year, I pay my LL rent of about 4% of the property's value.

I can't see myself getting an interest rate of less than 4% on a mortgage, so in my head the "dead money" I pay in rent is equal to the "dead money" that I would otherwise be paying in interest. My landlord takes the capital risk of house prices falling (and also might benefit from them rising), and he pays the costs of repairs. If I need to move quickly, I give one rental period's notice and I'm gone - no messing about with solicitors and estate agents (flip side being that if he wants to he can kick me out with two months notice).

All in all, I think I've got a better deal that my landlord has. In theory I could afford to buy a flat like the one I'm living in, but at the moment I'd prefer to just keep renting and keep saving.