Harder now for 1st time buyers?

littlegreenfrog_2

looknohands wrote: »

It is easier to progress in careers within the private sector in London in general, staff movement is higher so opportunities / pay rises open up more often. There's so much work that contracting will earn you a lot more money. I remotely contract for clients in London so don't even need to live there but get paid around 4 times more than I would if I did similar job in-house in my home city. There is plenty of money to earn in / from London is the point I think?

That depends on what you do. Are we really saying that just because investment bankers and contractors can afford to buy expensive homes, the system is fine, and if someone can't afford to buy their own home because they were daft enough to become a doctor or a teacher, that's their own stupid fault? Just think about what that means for society, for a minute.

ukcarper

littlegreenfrog wrote: »

It also shows a sharp drop in 2007 and that in 2013 the number of FTBs had still not got back to the level it was at in 1980.

And that's when prices were falling it looks like the numbers were at thier lowest when prices were cheapest.

littlegreenfrog_2

ukcarper wrote: »

And that's when prices were falling it looks like the numbers were at thier lowest when prices were cheapest.

Wasn't that also when banks started asking for minimum 20% deposit? So prices fell but existing homeowners and people with lots of cash got all the benefit.

looknohands

littlegreenfrog wrote: »

That depends on what you do. Are we really saying that just because investment bankers and contractors can afford to buy expensive homes, the system is fine, and if someone can't afford to buy their own home because they were daft enough to become a doctor or a teacher, that's their own stupid fault? Just think about what that means for society, for a minute.

Private sector doesn't just mean banking, all commercial business does well in London and London generates more work that's a fact.

Most people from my city that moved to London progress quite quickly in roles at charities, media companies, fashion houses even in waste management. They are earning more and opening up more opportunities than if they'd stayed closer to their home towns.

I agree doctors etc should be paid more much like London Underground Drivers should be paid more, 50k is not enough to buy a house in London, so it doesn't seem fair when their job is essential to the function of the city (like a doctor, teacher etc)

littlegreenfrog_2

looknohands wrote: »

Private sector doesn't just mean banking, all commercial business does well in London and London generates more work that's a fact.

Most people from my city that moved to London progress quite quickly in roles at charities, media companies, fashion houses even in waste management. They are earning more and opening up more opportunities than if they'd stayed closer to their home towns.

I agree doctors etc should be paid more much like London Underground Drivers should be paid more, 50k is not enough to buy a house in London, so it doesn't seem fair when their job is essential to the function of the city (like a doctor, teacher etc)

Public sector workers get a London weighting but it can't keep pace with the increased cost of living. The government can't keep giving doctors and teachers in London massive pay rises to keep pace with house prices. (In fact, anyone who has been following the junior doctor strikes will be well aware that a pay rise is not on the cards any time soon.)

ukcarper

littlegreenfrog wrote: »

Wasn't that also when banks started asking for minimum 20% deposit? So prices fell but existing homeowners and people with lots of cash got all the benefit.

To be honest I think the the numbers of all types of buyers fell.

always_sunny

littlegreenfrog wrote: »

1. You don't know my personal circumstances. Don't presume to. We are not all as mobile as you would like to suggest and many of us are influenced by other factors such as the location of our families. And as you rightly point out, the south east is a big place, and London is a big place, and not all places within X miles of London are realistically commutable to my job, which is in a particular part of London.


2. You are continuing to miss the point of this thread. And in doing so, you are pretty much proving my point. The question asked by the OP is, "is it harder for first time buyers now than it used to be?" And the answer is clearly a resounding yes. Because my parents' generation were not in this position. And no one was telling my dad that if he couldn't afford to live in Surrey he should move to Essex and commute to his job in West London.

I don't presume to know - though either we generalise or we talk in details, I only know you as 'littlegreenfrog'.

The thread is/was about 'is it harder for FTB to buy in London...' though now it is about buying a property (min 2 bed house) in Surrey (I think that's where you're concentrating) and commuting to West London where you work.

I am a FTB, I work communing to central London too (Cannon St/Liverpool St/Moorgate areas) and I did not find it hard at all, I found the process a bit odd (that's a different issue) but otherwise fairly ok, TBH (and really am) I find properties within commute to London much cheaper than what you'd get in large European cities.
Even getting a mortgage is much easier, maybe cause after reading these threads I was preparing for a far worse experience.

What I am trying to say is that I do believe it is more difficult for you and I sympathise with you but we cannot say it is more difficult for everybody.

And I am fully aware that I am more likely going to get another backlash like yesterday, even more so as non English buying properties (the competition someone mentioned yesterday!).

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

always_sunny wrote: »

I don't presume to know - though either we generalise or we talk in details, I only know you as 'littlegreenfrog'.

The thread is/was about 'is it harder for FTB to buy in London...' though now it is about buying a property (min 2 bed house) in Surrey (I think that's where you're concentrating) and commuting to West London where you work.

You are completely confused as to what the thread is actually about.

The thread is about whether it is harder for a FTB to buy now THAN IN THE PAST, especially in London.

always_sunny wrote: »

I am a FTB, I work communing to central London too (Cannon St/Liverpool St/Moorgate areas) and I did not find it hard at all, I found the process a bit odd (that's a different issue) but otherwise fairly ok, TBH (and really am) I find properties within commute to London much cheaper than what you'd get in large European cities.
Even getting a mortgage is much easier, maybe cause after reading these threads I was preparing for a far worse experience.

What I am trying to say is that I do believe it is more difficult for you and I sympathise with you but we cannot say it is more difficult for everybody.

If you are not comparing your experiences to previous experiences in the past, your experiences are utterly irrelevant. Whether it was hard or easy for you to buy a house is not the point, by your own admission you have no idea whether it would have been harder or easier for you in the past so you cannot usefully contribute.

always_sunny wrote: »

And I am fully aware that I am more likely going to get another backlash like yesterday, even more so as non English buying properties (the competition someone mentioned yesterday!).

What on earth does this mean?

looknohands

My parents rented their house when they were 30 in 1987, just after I was born. I'm now 30 in 2016 and just bought a house.

Not that I think it's easier... They just didn't care about owning a house, but that typifies the difference here, in the 80s it wasn't a big deal to buy a house, there wasn't a forum dedicated to people buying houses, the market wasn't Over-hyped. The reason it's harder is expectation to buy makes you want to buy ASAP, creating questions like this.

Just be patient save your money, progress your career instead of believing you will be eternally locked out of the market if you don't buy tomorrow.

Person_one

littlegreenfrog wrote: »

Get real. Not everyone can be an investment banker. What would London do without doctors and teachers?

...or retail workers, or care assistants, or cleaners, and many many other people who can never dream of reaching the same kind of salary as a teacher or a doctor.

I'm a nurse, my salary is well below the national average, and will probably never get very far above it. I have absolutely no idea how people like me can afford to exist at all in London and the SE, never mind buy a house!

Here in the NW, I can afford a good sized semi with a big garden and a drive in a nice area and my mortgage is easily manageable. If I wanted to work at a central London hospital I can only assume I'd have to share with several others in one of those illegal 'beds in sheds' you see on the news...