how are single people supposed to afford the price of rent/housing is increasing?

fitnessguy1

hi everyone. i am new to the forum, but i've been lurking for a while. i am starting to find it incredibly difficult to afford a place of my own. in the area i live (south east england) it is becoming more & more expensive to own your own place.

i have a girlfriend, but we've only been dating a very short time and i am not ready to jump into renting a place with her. she currently rents a flat with her best friend and they seem to have a good set up going on. i occasionally stay ai have a low paying job, dead end job which just pays bills and to be honest i am left with not a lot left after that and that's with living at home toot her's, but it's really about time i found my own place. i currently live with my parents and although we get on well, i just don't have much time to myself.

i have been relentlessly searching for flats in the area but they are all out of my price range. most of the places are £500-600 pcm and that's not including bills. it would pretty much mean i would have to get another 1-2 jobs just to afford my own place which i'd have no time to spend in as i would be paying it off by working so much. i am unsklled and have no qualifications, so getting a great job is unlikely at the moment

stu12345_2

to be brunt, you either get more qualifications or you rent somehwere cheaper with a low skilled paid job, and that may mean moving to cheaper parts of the uk that still have a reasonable job market,
folk have to move around uk for work, but they have to realise there is a point when their wages cant make it affordable to live there.
council homes were built to allow workers to rent cheaply in that town and be able to work for local employer.
those days are sadly almost gone.
my motto in life is get a job that allows u to have money in ur pocket at end off week , even if it means living in a town that is not ur first choice.
you may have to relocate, ive travelled up and down the uk for work, but been lucky as i rent council, but hard to do mutual exchanges with tenant.
but evry town ive been to has jobs, but the town is affordable and i dont have a degree, but still have money in my pocket as my overheads are low per week.

eg, grangemouth in scotland has a huge oil refinery and lots of low skilled jobs, eg night shift pipe cleaners £12 an hour and the private rent is only £70 a week or £40 council rent.
you have to think outside the box.

fitnessguy1

stu12345 wrote: »

to be brunt, you either get more qualifications or you rent somehwere cheaper with a low skilled paid job, and that may mean moving to cheaper parts of the uk that still have a reasonable job market,
folk have to move around uk for work, but they have to realise there is a point when their wages cant make it affordable to live there.
council homes were built to allow workers to rent cheaply in that town and be able to work for local employer.
those days are sadly almost gone.
my motto in life is get a job that allows u to have money in ur pocket at end off week , even if it means living in a town that is not ur first choice.
you may have to relocate, ive travelled up and down the uk for work, but been lucky as i rent council, but hard to do mutual exchanges with tenant.
but evry town ive been to has jobs, but the town is affordable and i dont have a degree, but still have money in my pocket as my overheads are low per week.

eg, grangemouth in scotland has a huge oil refinery and lots of low skilled jobs, eg night shift pipe cleaners £12 an hour and the private rent is only £70 a week or £40 council rent.
you have to think outside the box.

you are right. i think it is the first step in living elsewhere that is daunting. i have been here all my life so to leave would be a big deal, but the price of housing isn't good.

in terms of employment - would you say the north is best?

BitterAndTwisted

It's the low-paying dead-end job that's handicapping you, not necessarily the very high rents.

Most young people share, not leave the comfort and security of their parent's homes and move straight into somewhere of their own. For the moment your expectations exceed your ability to satisfy them. In your position I would concentrate my efforts on improving my future prospects, not complaining that I can't have what I want or think I deserve.

stu12345_2

if you are 100% you dont have the qualifications to go to uni or rack up huge student debts,, you remain unskilled, so you consider looking for an employer that will train you for free.
but if you are sure that you dont have the intellect to move up to a job requiring lots of skills etc, then you have to think where can i work that is low skilled, but housing costs, transport is cheap.
but donot move to a high unemployment area even with cheap rent or low waiting time for council house, eg welsh valleys, north east.
find an area withbasic jobs , but cheap overheads,
i would honestly recommend stirling, grangemouth, scotland,somewhere near a big city or town, but not in it, but the town must not be dead like middlesborough, somehwere that has few public sector jobs, but more private sector.
my friend left school with no qaulifications , joined the navy and retired at 40, on a £15000 company pension.bough house also.
it can be done, but do not relocate to say skegness,blackpool, keep inland, and away from dead towns.regardless of how cheap the rent is.

tallybee

^ Yeah moving is an option but can be expensive too!

I would be looking into house/flat sharing if I were you, this is what nearly all folk in my social groups did when younger and some still do in their 30's and beyond.

BigAunty

Check your entitlement to housing benefit on the Turn2us online benefit calculator. Your local council website will indicate the maximum Local Housing Allowance rate for either a shared property (for the under 35s) or 1 bedroom rate (35 years plus) and that calculator will take into account your income. Most new Housing Benefit claims are submitted by those in employment.

That said, I'm not sure why you are shocked that on low wages, you can't afford a place to yourself. Sharing can halve the cost. Even 25 years ago, before the massive property price boom, I could only afford shabby digs or lodgings on my low wage. Then after University, about 20 years ago on a typical graduate salary, I still couldn't afford my own place, just less shabby digs or lodgings.

mrginge

The moral of the story is....

Stay in school kids.

Carl31

Of course, the reply you will get is 'earn more money' etc... easier said than done. The point you make though is a valid one, we are quickly losing an affordable housing solution for working people on low incomes. The options for housing in this country are council, which is now reserved for those mainly in receipt of welfare support, private rent or private ownership, the latter two fast becoming something that only the wealthy can afford in some areas.

Of course you could just uproot your life and move, away from friends and family and your job, that seems to be a suitable answer for many people, not a particularly happy outcome though

BigAunty

Do some research into the availability and feasibility of property guardianship in your area. This is where the occupant gets v. cheap rent in return for living in an empty property in order to stop it from being vandalised or squatted. It is insecure and some of the properties are very modest.

Basic info here on this thread but do google to see if there are any vacancies in your area, if you fit the criteria and if you can cope with the culture of such a life.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=66387281&postcount=19

BigAunty

Also, I don't think the OP will be surprised that there's a strong, but quite often hidden, sub-culture of people living in campervans.

This includes what is known as 'stealth' vehicles which are usually commercial vans whose interiors are adapted for living in so don't look like a conventional motorhomes, lacking windows, for example. That way, they don't tend to be so prone to theft, nosiness and anxiety from local residents, attention from the Police and so on. It means they don't tend to get identified as a residential unit,don't get moved on, can park for free, etc.

I've seen anything from quite shabby affairs (barely insulated van with some portable camping equipment slung in it) to very professional and cosy adaptions with solar panels, showers and aircon/heating.

Doesn't address the lack of affordable housing for the young or those on low incomes but I can see this type of living becoming more popular due to the limited means of people wanting to achieve some kind of independence.