Is home owning for young people just a pipe dream?

princeofpounds

Have you heard about the new Housing Zone scheme?

As a rule, any initiative with the word 'scheme' included is typically a political cup to bail out a sinking ship.

Proper reform is typically what is needed and what is often avoided.

There is some reform going on, but it's too early to know if it will work or not.

In the case of this scheme, I wouldn't be surprised if these 50k homes are supposed to be built over many years, and basically to be built anyway, just re-badged into this scheme. But I don't know anything about it.

ReadingTim

cjdavies wrote: »

I think young people are looking at "dream" properties which cost more than they can afford.

I think that problem is that while it may now be an unaffordable dream house for the young people of today, it was within the grasp of their parents when they were the same age.

kitty_kins

Hi

I would say that home owning is not a pipe dream for young people, as long as they are prepared to make an effort!

I'm 22 and my boyfriend is 23 and we get the keys to our brand new house (new build) on Monday incidentally, it is then my 23rd birthday on the Thursday!

The house is £249 950 and we have purchased it through the government help to buy shared equity scheme, which makes the mortgage amount £187 460 (£12 497.50 deposit)

We have been saving years independently for our deposit and we have been (mostly) disciplined! It helps that we both have good jobs but even so the amount we have been putting away each month could have been a lot higher.

Basically, I'm not trying to brag - just trying to say that with a little sacrifice, it is totally do-able

toml85

I find it difficult to find somewhere suitable due to local house prices and the fact that I am single, and therefore only have my own income which means less mortgage. I have however been saving for a few years and have enough for a £35k deposit, plus parents have offered me up to another £25k, and I can get around £135k on mortgage. In my area that doesn't actually buy an awful lot. The recent house price rises are a real killer. I could have bought a decent house just 12 months ago with my current budget, but now I am priced down to a flat at best.

Unfortunately there is so little house building in the area that demand is just too high.

AndyT678

ReadingTim wrote: »

I think that problem is that while it may now be an unaffordable dream house for the young people of today, it was within the grasp of their parents when they were the same age.

Agree. My father and father in law both had fairly ordinary civil service jobs but were able to live, raise children and buy large 4 bed houses on a single wage with (at times) 15%+ mortgage rates.

No way those houses are affordable now to someone in the same position.

[Deleted User]

AndyT678 wrote: »

Agree. My father and father in law both had fairly ordinary civil service jobs but were able to live, raise children and buy large 4 bed houses on a single wage with (at times) 15%+ mortgage rates.

No way those houses are affordable now to someone in the same position.

And was that their first house?

I know my parents moved from a grim 2 bed, up to a nice detatched 4 bed (In the north) - but it was over the course of 15 years

Ironically, I could buy my parents current nice 4 bed now, at a younger age than they moved in because my 3 bed house in the south has rocketed in value

jacko74

ReadingTim wrote: »

I think that problem is that while it may now be an unaffordable dream house for the young people of today, it was within the grasp of their parents when they were the same age.

Their parents probably had a more realistic vision of just what a 'dream home' was for their first home, they were probably quite happy with a cramped, dated and generally run down terraced house which they could work hard and save hard to eventually make into a nice home.

Where as todays generation of young first time buyers seem to want a property that is straight out of the pages of Ideal Home magazine complete with luxury kitchens and bathrooms and all sorts of other designer features... whilst expecting to move in and still maintain their lifestyles of nightclubs, foreign holidays, gyms, shopping expeditions, weekends away at boutique hotels etc etc.

AndyT678

ringo_24601 wrote: »

And was that their first house?

Yup. My parents came back from an overseas posting, rented for a bit then borrowed a deposit off my granny.

In laws bought their house when they got married I think and they're still in it now.

shop-to-drop

Being young has one key advantage for house buying and that is being able to spread payments over the maximum number of years.

A young couple that have two wages, stayed out of debt and some savings behind them stand a good chance of home ownership especially with the current help to buy schemes running.

Anatidaephobia

jacko74 wrote: »

Their parents probably had a more realistic vision of just what a 'dream home' was for their first home, they were probably quite happy with a cramped, dated and generally run down terraced house which they could work hard and save hard to eventually make into a nice home.

Where as todays generation of young first time buyers seem to want a property that is straight out of the pages of Ideal Home magazine complete with luxury kitchens and bathrooms and all sorts of other designer features... whilst expecting to move in and still maintain their lifestyles of nightclubs, foreign holidays, gyms, shopping expeditions, weekends away at boutique hotels etc etc.

This is probably true for a lot of people. A number of my friends have bought houses recently and most have either a) bought an expensive brand new house or b) spent a lot of money doing their house up. That would be fine if they could afford it but the same people are also moaning that they've run out of money a week after pay day and use one credit card to pay off another. Facebook is full of their photos of their houses fully furnished with brand new, expensive items, most of which were bought almost immediately after moving in.

Sometimes it makes me feel like we are doing it wrong - half the rooms in our house are unfurnished and still haven't been decorated since we moved in. It's going to take us a long time til we get to the point where I consider our house "finished" yet they seem to have achieved this in a month. But then I think of their credit card bills and huge mortgages and, while that might work for them, I know that we did the right thing for us