Long-time renter and sick of it - but what do we do?

Cakeguts

DazedAndConfused1980 wrote: »

Thanks for the response. Unfortunately this isn't an option; I have to move for the work and this is where the work is. The only other option was London, and that would've been even worse.



I think, when people say "always" for this... Well, suffice to say my parents didn't have it anywhere near as difficult in the 90s because the delta between their wages and house prices was much narrower. Similarly, though, they were taught to buy property because it would go up in value, and that's now seen as a guaranteed thing. I mean can you imagine a £300k house going down to £150k by 2030? Homeowners would riot.



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Did your parents have exactly the same jobs as you and your partner and were they the same age as you are now? If not then this is not a useful comparison. Years ago some people had to pay 17% mortgage interest rate did you know that?

It is not realistic to think that you can buy a home and not make sacrifices. You can't have everything you have to learn to budget and you have got to be very good at saving. A mortgage has got to be paid even if you don't have a job. So when you buy somewhere you have to save all the time so that if you are made redundant you can still pay the mortgage. This might mean having 6 months mortgage repayments in savings. Buying is not like renting. If you rent and lose your job you only have until the end of the contract to worry about. If you own a property you have 25 years of payments to worry about and you can't just stop paying because you are short of money.

It seems from your answer about your parents that you are not taking in the facts of what you have to do now if you want to buy somewhere. If you want to buy somewhere and then not be repossessed you have got to start to learn to budget. If you want to carry on having new cars, expensive mobile phone contracts, broadband, all the latest gadgets and meals out then you really aren't going to like the responsibility of owning a property.

marksoton

DazedAndConfused1980 wrote: »

I'm not saying I have to live in Brighton; I'm saying I have to work there.

If living further afield is a possibility, then I'll look into it. Just having lived in urban locations, I've always tried to use public transport to get to-and-fro from work and tried to keep commute times down (as a quality-of-life matter). I'm just concerned about what another 5 years will do to fuel prices, and whether petrol will spike and make things even worse than trying to live closer by.

You haven't answered the pertinent question. My designers rarely attend in an office. There's no need.

It would be cost to them ( as per you ) and the business.

DazedAndConfused1980

angela110660 wrote: »

I just clicked it and chose Sussex Brighton and Hove and 2 beds as you said you wanted 2 beds and there were several schemes that popped up but whether they are what you waould like - who knows? Good luck though. Could you move along the coast to somewhere cheaperish and commute a bit further?

Thanks by the way - it seems this didn't work in the version of Firefox I use (it does honestly say "no results") but for some reason it does work in Internet Explorer.

greenbee

If you're thinking of buying, then what you consider to be a decent commute now might not be when you get your next job. Once you buy, it's harder to move with each job. When I bought last time it was a 15 minute commute ... which became a 40 minute commute... which became an hour. And that was just to my 'home' office. A short commute might be your preference for quality of life, but surely your quality of life is suffering as a result of you not being able to save to buy?

You're not going to be able to keep on moving, but if there is an area where there are a lot of businesses with the kind of job you are likely to be suitable for, you'll need to find a location that will be manageable, ideally within reach of a station in case you find yourself needing to go farther afield.

For the moment, as others have said, it's about minimising outgoings and maximising income. So go through everything carefully and see what you can do to improve the situation.

marksoton

DazedAndConfused1980 wrote: »

EDIT: Are you seriously saying that you travel 300 miles each day? You spend 2.5hrs driving twice a day? How much do you spend in fuel/transport costs?

Yep for 9 years.

The mileage varied but that wasn't unusual.

I didn't pay as such, it was claimable from my employer ( company car and fuel card ).

I then did a minimum 9 hour site day with emails answered in the evening.

DazedAndConfused1980

Cakeguts wrote: »

If you want to carry on having new cars, expensive mobile phone contracts, broadband, all the latest gadgets and meals out

It sounds like you are making some very unhelpful assumptions about our lifestyle. We have one car, a ten year old Micra (fuel efficient). We have broadband, yes, but we don't have SKY or anything like that. We don't have the latest gadgets and we don't eat out much.

marksoton wrote: »

You haven't answered the pertinent question. My designers rarely attend in an office. There's no need.

It isn't pertinent info. Forget I even said designer; suffice to say I have an office job with long hours that requires I am on-site every weekday.

Miss_Samantha

How much are your student loans repayments?

If you are both working with an overall income quite above national average, £7k in savings sounds very little.

DazedAndConfused1980

Miss_Samantha wrote: »

How much are your student loans repayments?

If you are both working with an overall income quite above national average, £7k in savings sounds very little.

To clarify, I'm over the average now but that's only due to successive payrises. I started my career earning about 18k at 24, and it's increased steadily until it's in the mid-30s now. Nearly all of that 7k has been saved since my last payrise, which was a significant jump - so I just plonked it all in a standing order to a savings account. Prior to that I was struggling to save more than £50 or so a month, and something always came up to demolish that paltry amount (car MOT, or something).

My partner earns significantly less than I do, though hopefully now she's qualified the difference won't be so severe.

marksoton

DazedAndConfused1980 wrote: »

It isn't pertinent info. Forget I even said designer; suffice to say I have an office job with long hours that requires I am on-site every weekday.

OK let's start again.

You need to start looking E,W and N. That should give you some options.

If your workplace is either Falmer or Henfield you have options.

DRP

I get the impression you have nearly reached the end of your tether with renting. The only way for things to happen quickly (i.e.e not saving for years) is for you to think outside of the South-East.

I don't earn much more than average, but money goes further (a little) in the South-West, and much, much further if you are prepared to head North.