How do any single buyers manage to afford houses when only able to borrow 4x income??

Andy_L

Autumn868 wrote: »

The ONS figures include the salaries of footballers, city bankers, CEOs, and property mogul millionaires/billionaires, all which severely skew the figure of average.

they use the median so the impact of the extremes in minimal and only look at PAYE earners so a lot of the super-rich are excluded anyway

Autumn868 wrote: »

9 people earning 18k, 1 bank CEO earning 5million p/a, average salary for those 10people is 509k each.

the mean is £509k, but the median is still £18k

Andy_L

chucknorris wrote: »

I've often wondered if there could be a new type of entry level purchase for places like London, something like an en-suite room, possibly with a very small kitchenette, but also access to a shared larger kitchen and dinning facilities, in a block of about 3 to 5 units? But I don't suppose it is that different to a studio flat.

Would anyone want to buy a place like that rather than rent it?

Rosemary7391

zagubov wrote: »

This thread is slowly working its way to the obvious question: who on earth ever suggested that single people should be able to buy a house?
That expectation has no foundation in reality

It's incredibly frustrating if you are single. We're people too you know! And we don't all want to flit from one place to another for our entire lives, or live on top of our neighbours. I even want a bit of a garden: pipe dream I know...

OP, I'm lucky enough to have been gifted a reasonable deposit, so I currently own a flat in Scotland. 400 miles from my loved ones (why oh why did they all decide to settle near London!?). My plan to get closer is to put my head in the sand and save every penny. If I can ever scrape together enough for a 2 bed I'll rent out the second room and go from there - hopefully that'll be close enough to my friends that they won't need to stay overnight to visit me. Maybe I'll manage the garden by retirement!

Doshwaster

Andy_L wrote: »

Would anyone want to buy a place like that rather than rent it?

As an investment? Property prices in London are unlikely to go down in the long term. Maybe as somewhere to crash during the week then head back to the sticks for the weekend.

In other words if such basic "affordable" accommodations were built they would be bought by investors or as a pied-a-terre rather than those on low incomes.

kinger101

There a number of lenders I'm aware of who'll go to 4.75X, so not sure where you got the 4X from.

chucknorris

Andy_L wrote: »

Would anyone want to buy a place like that rather than rent it?

Similar to buying a studio, it gets you on the housing ladder, so when prices rise and you reach a point in life when you need/want more space, you sell and use your equity to move up, maybe to a one bed flat. Owning not renting, which also allows you to retain it and rent it, rather than sell (so maybe move in with a partner, and boost your savings to buy something else).

bugslet

I live in runcorn, it's fine. Between 15- 20 mins from Chester, Warrington, Liverpool and 30 mins from Manchester. Terrace in good condition costs 75-80k. Quite easy really.

Windofchange

chucknorris wrote: »

I've often wondered if there could be a new type of entry level purchase for places like London, something like an en-suite room, possibly with a very small kitchenette, but also access to a shared larger kitchen and dinning facilities, in a block of about 3 to 5 units? But I don't suppose it is that different to a studio flat.

It's already happened, albeit in rental form:

https://www.thecollective.co.uk

Trouble is the only people who are going to live in a place like that are young single and noisey. You're unlikely to get granny in there for all the late night parties.

It is I fear however the next logical step once FTB's can't even afford a studio flat in London to swing their cats in. Pile em high...

Windofchange

Doshwaster wrote: »

I know some people enjoy them but motorbikes scare the life of me. I'd rather walk.

Take a reliable car then. 10 year old Audi for 3 grand, bit of insurance and petrol. Might not save you much time over the train but again, your own space, no pushing, no cancellations, no leaves the line, no strikes. I honestly don't know how people do public transport on any sort of regular basis. Even on a night out I'd rather Boris bike home than sit on a train.

Rosemary7391

Windofchange wrote: »

Take a reliable car then. 10 year old Audi for 3 grand, bit of insurance and petrol. Might not save you much time over the train but again, your own space, no pushing, no cancellations, no leaves the line, no strikes. I honestly don't know how people do public transport on any sort of regular basis. Even on a night out I'd rather Boris bike home than sit on a train.

I prefer trains! Can't sew, do crochet or read a book whilst driving. I do attempt to avoid busy rush hour trains though, they're no fun (but neither is sitting in a traffic jam). Honestly though, my preferred commuting method is walking.