Is it really that hard?

MARTYM8`

lisyloo wrote: »

Madder you're doing really well with your savings, however you are trying to live in the most expensive city in the country.
I keep getting told that it's easier in other parts of the country so just out if curiosity could you move? Or do you work in a very London centric industry?

Madder makes the point very well. Earning £28k - which is actually above the London median wage.

Yet what chance does that poster have as a single person - they could perhaps stretch at a 4 times salary mortgage to buy this delightful one bed flat in a council high rise block in East Ham?

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-34804902.html

Its also all very well saying - well why don't people just leave London. They may have family and other ties - or simply couldn't get work in their career elsewhere (or be paid a lot less - thus negating the advantages).

Of course if now the aspiration for a Londoner on average wages is a one bed flat in a council high rise in East Ham - well why bother!:D

Linton

MARTYM8` wrote: »

Madder makes the point very well. Earning £28k - which is actually above the London median wage.

Yet what chance does that poster have as a single person - they could perhaps stretch at a 4 times salary mortgage to buy this delightful one bed flat in a council high rise block in East Ham?

....

In the old days few people bought a house before they got married. They either rented or lived with parents. Given a shortage, house prices rise until they are at a level that only just enough people can afford. This means two incomes.

seven-day-weekend

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-51069608.html
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-34274382.html

Two houses in a very popular area, near the M54/M6 and commutable to Birmingham/Telford/Shrewsbury - not everything has London prices.

lisyloo

Totally agree Marty.
I keep getting told to move up north but we have elderly parents who need picking up off the floor in the middle of the night.
I was just asking the question that's all.

Thrugelmir

maddermanblue1 wrote: »

I refuse to pay for a grotty £150k 1 bed flat.

You are part of the want it now generation. Whereas we started with a flat. As it enabled us to get a first foot on the ladder.

Chocolatefund

maddermanblue1 wrote: »

You have no idea.
University fees?
Lack of homes being built?
The great social housing sell off?
Council Tax? (Is actually poll tax)
Decrease in jobs available when graduating - think Internship/ work experience with no pay?
Increased DIY landlords?
I admit, food was more expensive those days, but fuel was cheaper.
Increased rents?

I would only dream of a 2 bed terraced house, now, if you are lucky to get a grotty 1 bed flat in a not so nice area now starting at £150k

I earn 28k PA basic, I am single, no dependants, no mortages, no loans, I rent a room in the 'burbs of London, save £900 a month on average (50% take home pay), have £40k in savings built up over 4 years. I am in my mid 30's
I STILL cannot afford a "£250k" tiny 2 bed terraced house. That would be 7.5 x my annual wage with a £210k mortgage.
I refuse to pay for a grotty £150k 1 bed flat.

Your mortgage would be at the time (for 5k) would be 1.7 x your annual salary.

So please sir, where am I going wrong?
This sounds like you started work in the mid 70's am I correct? (40 yrs ago, of course I'm correct!! Enjoy your smugness.

And here I worry that I won't be able to afford a nice 1 bed flat in the west midlands...

Carl31

Linton wrote: »

In the old days few people bought a house before they got married. They either rented or lived with parents. Given a shortage, house prices rise until they are at a level that only just enough people can afford. This means two incomes.

In the old days people also died a lot younger and of hideous dieseases too

Pobby

The big thing, as I often have said, is the 70`s ( when I first bought was super inflation days.

1971. 6 day week working for gross £24 per week. Lots of much older guys were earning that with me and thought a good wage. 1973, around £40 a week and a company car. Future wife was earning about £25 per week. Both living with parents. Saved £1,000 for a 3 bed semi in Reading priced at £10,000. 1975 brought me promotion to a mind blowing £5,500 a year and my wife was doing about £3,500.

!978 we moved into a bungalow in a very nice part of town for £15,000.

!980 we had joint incomes of about £18,000+. By 1982 there was about enough in savings to pay off the mortgage.

The point is that promotion, I was a director of a very small import business and my wife worked through the ranks at ICL, coupled with wage inflation sorted the whole problem out.

Also I will add that at the time, the 80`s, most of my friends owned houses in that area, married and single.

Don`t tell me that today is such an easy ride.

ukcarper

Pobby wrote: »

The big thing, as I often have said, is the 70`s ( when I first bought was super inflation days.

1971. 6 day week working for gross £24 per week. Lots of much older guys were earning that with me and thought a good wage. 1973, around £40 a week and a company car. Future wife was earning about £25 per week. Both living with parents. Saved £1,000 for a 3 bed semi in Reading priced at £10,000. 1975 brought me promotion to a mind blowing £5,500 a year and my wife was doing about £3,500.

!978 we moved into a bungalow in a very nice part of town for £15,000.

!980 we had joint incomes of about £18,000+. By 1982 there was about enough in savings to pay off the mortgage.

The point is that promotion, I was a director of a very small import business and my wife worked through the ranks at ICL, coupled with wage inflation sorted the whole problem out.

Also I will add that at the time, the 80`s, most of my friends owned houses in that area, married and single.

Don`t tell me that today is such an easy ride.

You obviously did OK average male salary in 1976 was just over £3.6k and for woman it was just over £2.3k.

Linton

Carl31 wrote: »

In the old days people also died a lot younger and of hideous dieseases too

It wasnt that bad 40 years ago. But 40 years ago singles rarely bought houses.