NewBuild Homebuy schemes in London - actually any help to first time buyers?

twistedmoosie

Thought I'd open a little debate thread up here.

Seems to me there's a fair few of us in London who are destined not to reach the property ladder until our late 30's, whether we decide to stay in the city or not. If the 'bank of mum and dad' have nothing to give you, your job continues to not pay any bonuses while the economy is down, you are busily paying back your share of debt as part of the 'debt generation' in their twenties, and you are all the while paying extortionate private rent, where is there any opportunity to save for a deposit?

The NewBuild Homebuy scheme has been recommended to me by countless people, and I've even been accepted for it, but it seems to me there is still a massive gap where a deposit of at least £15k is required that I don't have the opportunity to save for.

So, debate open. Are such schemes worthwhile when there are many who don't even have a deposit?

ILW

Move into a cheaper rental and save a deposit.

Linton

twistedmoosie wrote: »

Thought I'd open a little debate thread up here.

Seems to me there's a fair few of us in London who are destined not to reach the property ladder until our late 30's, whether we decide to stay in the city or not. If the 'bank of mum and dad' have nothing to give you, your job continues to not pay any bonuses while the economy is down, you are busily paying back your share of debt as part of the 'debt generation' in their twenties, and you are all the while paying extortionate private rent, where is there any opportunity to save for a deposit?

The NewBuild Homebuy scheme has been recommended to me by countless people, and I've even been accepted for it, but it seems to me there is still a massive gap where a deposit of at least £15k is required that I don't have the opportunity to save for.

So, debate open. Are such schemes worthwhile when there are many who don't even have a deposit?

From your sig it looks like you are paying off your own debts, not a share of someone elses.

I dont believe people who are in debt and "dont have the opportunity" to save even £15K are really in a position to consider buying a house.

Brock_and_Roll

Not meaning any disrespect to the OP, but aside from a few mad years of the boom (and look where that got us), there has never been a period in British history where someone with no assets and no savings has been readily been able to buy their own home. For most of history such people used soley private rental (or the workhouse!) with a a brief and somewhat shortlived flourishing of social housing in the 20th century.

Quite frankly, if you are unable to raise a deposit of circa £15k then buying a house regardless of the scheme is high risk for both the borrower and the lender and I can see few long term benefits for either.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

I've got no debts and a deposit of ~30k plus 5k for solicitors/moving but on a single salary am unable to buy in London. Have never looked into these schemes- the word "new build" puts me off straightaway, as the new build flats in London are tiny and massively overpriced.

A dating site for people who have deposits and want to buy might be a money maker in the current climate!

ILW

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

I've got no debts and a deposit of ~30k plus 5k for solicitors/moving but on a single salary am unable to buy in London. Have never looked into these schemes- the word "new build" puts me off straightaway, as the new build flats in London are tiny and massively overpriced.

A dating site for people who have deposits and want to buy might be a money maker in the current climate!

Unless your salary is very low, you can buy in London, might not be what you want though.

FTBFun

twistedmoosie wrote: »

Thought I'd open a little debate thread up here.

Seems to me there's a fair few of us in London who are destined not to reach the property ladder until our late 30's, whether we decide to stay in the city or not. If the 'bank of mum and dad' have nothing to give you, your job continues to not pay any bonuses while the economy is down, you are busily paying back your share of debt as part of the 'debt generation' in their twenties, and you are all the while paying extortionate private rent, where is there any opportunity to save for a deposit?

Well, not spunking 4 grand on one's credit cards is usually a good start.

Cleaver

twistedmoosie wrote: »

but it seems to me there is still a massive gap where a deposit of at least £15k is required that I don't have the opportunity to save for.

How come you don't have the opportunity to save for it?

Average earnings in London are about £33,300 (source) so you'd earn about £2,200 a month net. I'm sure most people, with a bit of focus, could save around 20% of their income most months. On that basis you could save £15,000 in less than three years. Before anyone starts shouting at me that actually the average wage is £4.36 an hour and that average is actually only their because of Roman Abramovich, I think a lot of people save for houses as a couple and actually most people could save a lot more than 20% of their income when saving for a deposit. I remember when we really decided to save hard for three years and we managed to save anywhere between 30% and 65% of our net income each month.

Sorry to be harsh, but you seem to have run up quite a lot of credit card debt, so maybe your spending habits are stopping you thinking that you can save?

CLAPTON

there is of course a considerable amount of land in london that could be used to build a lot more flats and houses

however, much of it is owned by local councils and housing asociations who can't afford to delevelop it and won't release it to anyone else

plus the mad planning rules often make it unattractive for private delevopers to actually build stuff that people want to buy.

Cleaver

ILW wrote: »

Unless your salary is very low, you can buy in London, might not be what you want though.

What constitutes a 'very low' London salary? The average wage in London is £33,000 so would we say:

Average = £33k
Slightly below average = £30k?
Low = £27k?
Very low = £24k?

Let's say you earn £30k. Setting aside the OPs homebuy scheme, and the fact that I'm about to write a post that completely contradicts my last one, how would a person realistically live in London on £30k and realistically save for a deposit for a starter property in London? I know that theortically you could, but I'm not sure anyone in their right mind on £30k a year in London could be bothered to save 40% of their income for years and years and years to get themselves a 1-bed flat for £180K somewhere. And that's if someone would actually lend them the money once they'd save dthe deposit.

ILW

Cleaver wrote: »

What constitutes a 'very low' London salary? The average wage in London is £33,000 so would we say:

Average = £33k
Slightly below average = £30k?
Low = £27k?
Very low = £24k?

Let's say you earn £30k. Setting aside the OPs homebuy scheme, and the fact that I'm about to write a post that completely contradicts my last one, how would a person realistically live in London on £30k and realistically save for a deposit for a starter property in London? I know that theortically you could, but I'm not sure anyone in their right mind on £30k a year in London could be bothered to save 40% of their income for years and years and years to get themselves a 1-bed flat for £180K somewhere. And that's if someone would actually lend them the money once they'd save dthe deposit.

OVJ who this was addressed to, already has £35k savings.