Are houses unaffordable?

Marvel1

Depends on the area, near me easy to get 3 bed terraced under £100k

Marvel1

Lala2015 wrote: »

Comments like this really upset me.

I'm 26 (nearly 27) and I have been working full-time since I was 17 and saving every penny I can since I was 17 whilst all my friends have partied and spent their money like water.

I now rent alone due to a relationship breakdown (I am unable to live at home). I have a average salary (29k) but regardless of the amount in the bank, I am unable to afford a home - Due to being a sole applicant / my 'affordability / Loan to value rate.
I live and work in the SE.

Not all young people that can't afford a home have brought it upon themselves.
Some of us save and save and save and can't get on the ladder because we are single, but people are still happy to take 900+ a month rent ALONE off us every month.

Not everyone is lucky enough to be able to live at home with mum & dad rent free.

Let's not forget Mammy and Daddy giving them the deposit for the house.

ukcarper

I think a lot depends where you are. Where I am in the South East they are definitely more expensive in relation to earnings, but you can borrow more now and interest rates are lower.

SailorSam

I bought my first terrace house for £6,500. Almost 40yrs ago. I didn't have anything new in it, nothing. I begged furniture; pots & pans, bedding, everything. Then only a couple of months after i moved in i was made redundant from work.
I went into see my boss, who i thought of as a friend, on the bounce. It wasn't the redundancy i was so upset over but only months earlier he'd signed a certificate to confirm i could afford this mortgage, and he already knew what was coming.
Well, two fingers to you Jeff, i took them to Court for unfair dismissal and won.

ognum

Lala2015 wrote: »

Comments like this really upset me.

I'm 26 (nearly 27) and I have been working full-time since I was 17 and saving every penny I can since I was 17 whilst all my friends have partied and spent their money like water.

I now rent alone due to a relationship breakdown (I am unable to live at home). I have a average salary (29k) but regardless of the amount in the bank, I am unable to afford a home - Due to being a sole applicant / my 'affordability / Loan to value rate.
I live and work in the SE.

Not all young people that can't afford a home have brought it upon themselves.
Some of us save and save and save and can't get on the ladder because we are single, but people are still happy to take 900+ a month rent ALONE off us every month.

Not everyone is lucky enough to be able to live at home with mum & dad rent free.

I agree housing in the south east for young people especially single ones is unaffordable but it has always been difficult, maybe not as difficult but I was once in your position many years ago and I too could not for a house in the area I wanted to be in.

There is saving and there is saving though. Do you live in a shared house to reduce your costs or rent a flat alone? Living in a shared house will save a few hundred a month.

In the end I moved to a cheaper area away from friends and started again!

Do you own a car or use public transport. Do you own the latest gadgets and gizmos, iPhone rather than android phone etc etc. I used to have an iPhone and it needed up grading, I bought an android which in my opinion is just as good for a quarter of the price.

We all cut our finances as we wish but sometimes there are other things you could do

Good luck with your house buying, with your determination you will get there.

katejo

In my view yes. It's perhaps true that some buyers are being unrealistic in that they won't consider cheaper areas or cut spending in certain areas but that is nowhere near the whole problem. I bought my first flat in 1993 (41K with a salary of 14K so perfectly doable). If i had waited until now, I couldn't do it. My current salary of just over 30K would get me nowhere. It wouldn't be possible to save the deposit while paying current rents. My current house was bought in 2006 and has more than doubled in price since. A similar house would cost me around £500K now

Waterlily24

We bought our first house in 1968 in the south east (West Wickham) it cost 5900 sorry can't do pound signs on this computer lol. Only the mens wages were taken into account in those days. He earned 40 pounds a week and we got a mortgage for 5300. In those day your monthly mortgage repayment couldn't be more than the hubby/partner earned in a week.


I think it must be much more difficult today even with all wages taken into account.


We moved away from the area and have bigger detached property but couldn't afford the house we had first now.

Dan83

I bought my house in Aug 11, £68k. my partner was pregnant and was giving up work, we couldn't afford £600+ p/m rent in the long term on 1 average wage. We looked into buying and found it a lot cheaper. My friends call me posh because I'm buying and not renting, I think they they are a fool for sending more then double every month in rent then what I pay mortgage.

So are house's in-affordable?

For some people in some area's, yes. You can't always just move to a cheaper area, the cheaper area might be 2-3hours away.

I think for most, they think they can't afford it and never look into it, or don't want the responsibility of home ownership and use “I can't afford it” as an excuse

ukcarper

I bought my first house in 1972 it was a 3 bed terrace and was £8000, I was earning £1500 a year so about 5.3x earnings. Someone doing same job now would be earning £35k a similar house sold for £273k last year 7.8x. Saying that 6 months later than I bought similar properties were selling for £10k but 6 months earlier they were £5.5k.

Lala2015

ognum wrote: »

I agree housing in the south east for young people especially single ones is unaffordable but it has always been difficult, maybe not as difficult but I was once in your position many years ago and I too could not for a house in the area I wanted to be in.

There is saving and there is saving though. Do you live in a shared house to reduce your costs or rent a flat alone? Living in a shared house will save a few hundred a month.

In the end I moved to a cheaper area away from friends and started again!

Do you own a car or use public transport. Do you own the latest gadgets and gizmos, iPhone rather than android phone etc etc. I used to have an iPhone and it needed up grading, I bought an android which in my opinion is just as good for a quarter of the price.

We all cut our finances as we wish but sometimes there are other things you could do

Good luck with your house buying, with your determination you will get there.

Hi Ognum,

I rent alone, but that's due to the situation I'm in.. I acquired the pet from the prior relationship, and I haven't managed to find a flat-share within a commutable distance to work that accommodates pets.

I have my own car that I've worked hard to fully pay off and it's relatively cheap - less than £60 for a full months petrol.

I recently got a better paying job in a very well-known company that is once-in-a-lifetime, so starting again and moving away is out of the question.

I save every penny I can & do anything else i can think off - freelance work on the side, selling on ebay, survey sites, even an occasional second evening job.

The amount of people who tell me to get rid of my long-term pet, up sticks and 'move to a cheaper area' must have no connections whatsoever - :mad:
I'm single - so moving even further away from work would only up the petrol costs!

WHEN - not if! - I get there, I will have the happiness knowing that I truly got there entirely on my own.

Some people have a good job, family and friends to think about - it's not as simple as people who have had the luxury of the bank of mum/dad/granny etc make out.