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

pioneer22

p00hsticks wrote: »

Sssshhhh ! Please don't encourage them ;-)

Ha!

If you have a job with good mobility i.e you can work anywhere or in any industry then I can't why more people wouldn't move.

I'm just biased as I love living up here after moving from Essex.

sann420

In London its very common for professionals like lawyers and accountants etc in their mid 30's upto even mid 40's(more rare) to live in house shares. I have no idea how they do that long term.

In my 20's I did it as well and saved up quite a bit to buy my first flat but mid 30's onwards this sort of life style I would seriously consider leaving London for some where more affordable.

Enuf is Enuf init!

chucknorris

sann420 wrote: »

In London its very common for professionals like lawyers and accountants etc in their mid 30's upto even mid 40's(more rare) to live in house shares. I have no idea how they do that long term.

I'm very surprised by this, and I can't easily believe that it is true, can you provide a link? Not only am I chartered surveyor who has never known any of my colleagues at that age renting, but also we own 8 London investment properties that we rent out primarily to the sharing professionals market, and despite owning investment properties for over 25 years, none of my tenants have been of that age range and career equivalent. So I cannot accept that it is common.

boliston

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.

I think the concept of "microflats" sounds quite good as if I lived alone I would rather pay for location than size. I would not want a shared kitchen like being in a student block though!

zippygeorgeandben

pioneer22 wrote: »

Ha!

If you have a job with good mobility i.e you can work anywhere or in any industry then I can't why more people wouldn't move.

I'm just biased as I love living up here after moving from Essex.

I really really ought to move out of this leafy part of East London. Working teacher on ok salary. I think, think, I can afford the shed at the bottom of the garden...

Not sure though..

GreatApe

chucknorris wrote: »

I'm very surprised by this, and I can't easily believe that it is true, can you provide a link? Not only am I chartered surveyor who has never known any of my colleagues at that age renting, but also we own 8 London investment properties that we rent out primarily to the sharing professionals market, and despite owning investment properties for over 25 years, none of my tenants have been of that age range and career equivalent. So I cannot accept that it is common.

It is not too uncommon but not necessarily due to high prices.

I know of one HMO in the Midlands which had 3 actuaries and 3 accountants from their early 20s to the oldest in his late 30s

However that was one of the cheapest towns in England where a 3 bed terrace costs £90-110k now and was easily less than 3x single income of those sharers yet they would often share like that for 4+ years before moving on.

Maybe peoples thinking has changed I recall in my generation people in those sort of situations would buy and often live alone. The people described above could buy and live alone they have the income for it yet they seemed content for years in a 6 bed 6 bathroom HMO.

Was the renting stock a lot worse a generation ago? Are the higher quality HMOs keeping people happy enough to rent long term now?

Its certainly not a London only observation

Boredatwrork

The single people I know who have brought have done it from shared ownership, many of them brought 2 bed homes.

Also the X part varies, I just looked on Santander mortgage calculator a 25K and 5k deposit for 1 single buyer gives: £111,250

always_sunny

davomcdave wrote: »

Possibly mortgage problems buying a place that has no kitchen...?

Maybe the solution is to build more houses and improve public transport access to London.

Mortgage rules should be relaxed in terms of the type of property one decides to buy... for many the kitchen is not often used beyond the use of a kettle and microwave.
Even the fact that once you have a mortgage you need to get a consent to let, convert to a BTL, etc it's only a British thing, pretty much everywhere else no one cares as long as you up to date with your payments.

Doshwaster

zippygeorgeandben wrote: »

I really really ought to move out of this leafy part of East London. Working teacher on ok salary. I think, think, I can afford the shed at the bottom of the garden...

Not sure though..

If I was in a job which has a national pay scale (teacher, police, NHS etc) then I'd certainly be looking to move to a cheaper part of the country. You could have a really good standard of living in some areas on a teacher's salary

zippygeorgeandben

Doshwasher you are absolutely correct. I really enjoy visiting Harrogate and is quite similar to where I live now. It's also a bit closer to my family who all live in Manchester. It is amazing going on rightmove and seeing what is out there for similar money to what we pay in rent at the moment. I'm definitely getting a handle on finances though which I'm pleased about. September I was nearly £20k in debt, today this figure i just over £15k