First time buyers in London

Castleman

I used to live near, and have several friends still living in, Stockwell, Camberwell, Brixton areas. Not as bad as several people have made out.

And yes, £84k joint is a very good salary for a couple at that age, even in London.

TerryTibbs05

lynzpower wrote: »

To be fair if we were earning that I know we woulld save at least 50k as thats the ratio we save at.

Dont blame others for the fact you havent saved!!!

I'm sure if i didn't pay taxes i would in fact save 50k - but seeing as i do, probably won't

ILW

sooz wrote: »

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

Blimey, I have lived in SE london most of my 50 years, I am surprised I havn't been murdered yet judging by some of the posters on here. Bunch of big girls blouses.

MGCP

Personally I'm pretty much settled on renting in London for the forseeable. I'm early 30's, wife and I earn just over £100k between us before tax and have about £85k in savings.

However I have to factor in that if we want to have a child we can't rely on two salaries for much longer, so any calculations I make have to be based on about half that figure. The affordability gap for homes in London is ridiculous that it does become rather frustrating to see people rubbing their hands in glee at the prospect of even further house price inflation. This can only hasten the creation of a two tier society, so I can see us embracing the European model of simply renting rather than continuing to play the housing purchasing game.

To be honest, I rather like knowing that any change in our circumstances can be dealt with quickly and at minimal cost. We can be flexible about work and where we live, and someone else picks up the tab for any repairs.

cheekymonkeb0y

googler wrote: »

What do you get for your £300k in London?

A flat, with 1 or 2 bedrooms?

Why not move away from London, to a place where £300k gets you a 4 or 5 bed detached house with double garage and front and rear gardens? (on a decent, recent-build estate....)

and no culture whatsoever......

FATBALLZ

lynzpower wrote: »

On a salry of 80k a year you sohuld be saving minimum half of that every year. To be fair if we were earning that I know we woulld save at least 50k as thats the ratio we save at.

Salary of £40k, assume low pension contribution of 5%, student loan repayments, salary after tax = £25700.

Multiply by 2 and you have £51400 to live off.

So you'd save £50k and live off £1400 in London? How - sleep in a box and raid the bins?

Running_Horse

cheekymonkeb0y wrote: »

and no culture whatsoever......

You obviously don't get out much. There is plenty of culture outside London if you look for it. My local "what's on" has pages of theatre, art, gigs, restaurants etc. And if I want London culture there is this great invention called trains. £300,000 for a couple of pokey rooms, or several bedrooms and a garden in a low crime area? Hmmm, tough choice.

googler

cheekymonkeb0y wrote: »

and no culture whatsoever......

Yet within 30mins drive, and a 20min train ride from, Edinburgh. Home to the annual International Festival, and a host of other cultural events.....

You said that without knowing where I was referring to. Wasn't that a touch premature?

googler

princeofpounds wrote: »

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

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

That THUD you hear is my jaw hitting the desk..... £245k ?!?!? OMG, !!!!!!, etc.....

Radsteral

It took me a very persistent 15 months, 65 k deposit and on top of that the skills of a mortgage advicer that i think done too much and asked for too little, in order to buy a house..
We cut the crap short and bought a property above lewisham area for 240 k. and still we think we got a good deal as is semi detached, and 5 mins from station...
we didnt want to live in crumbled place in the city, where you have to throw your sofas as the corridor is 70 cm wide :rotfl:
it takes me 45 mins drive to come from work , but then its a nice bright house....
sun doesnt just shine in fullham;) it also does in lewisham