Houses are affordable!

ManofLeisure_2

Councils failing to meet housing targets should be forced to release land for self-build - priority being given to first time buyers. I'm sure it would be a dream come true for many people.

Katapolt

capital0ne wrote: »

In 1957 the average wage was £7 10s - equates to £390 per year
The average house cost £2,000 - 5 times salary

Fast forward to now

The average wage is about £20,000 per year (starting point for a civil servant in their early 20's)
A quick search on Rightmove and you can find two bed terraced houses or similar for under £100,000 (not in London of course)

So where's the problem?

Apparently all of us oldies are now glorying in our 'cheap' houses we bought back in the day in our twenties. Well it was just as hard for us back then as it is now, so what's different?

The difference is that we had a bit of discipline, we wanted to get our own place, and we saved, we bought what we could afford and where we could afford, and we didn't look for our four bed detached forever home full of brand new furnishings.

We bought second hand and made do for the first few years.

Sadly youngsters today 'need' and iPhone X (£50/month), Netflix/Amazon Prime £100+/year), gym membership (£100+/yr), Costa coffee(£60/month), Takeaways (£100/month), new card (£199/month) plus others - this is all adding up to £5,000+/yr, which is your 5% deposit saved in one year.

It is doable - you just need to do it - get out of your parents house now and get on with your life while you know everything!:D

I find this really close minded. i'm 26, and the majority of my friendship group DO NOT earn £20,000. I cant even begin to express how hard it is to get a well paid job these days. My sister excelled at uni, got her degree......and couldn't get a job....shes now working a job totally unrelated to her degree because its all she could get, and shes having to pay back extortionate student debt fees!

I personally have 1 direct debit. £30 for my phone, and that is it. We dont all go out on the lash,
waste our money on iphones and costa, but its incredibly hard when youre stuck earning minimum wage, and will only get lent 3/4X income depending on who you can get to even look at you for a mortgage!

Please remember we arent all whiny brats, ive worked non stop since i was 15, but it doesnt make a blind bit of difference when Boss Man at the bank says you arent good enough, and the only houses near your family in your price bracket are derelict.

westernpromise

Katapolt wrote: »

shes now working a job totally unrelated to her degree because its all she could get, and shes having to pay back extortionate student debt fees!

She's only paying back anything if she's on more than £21k. Even including loan repayments she's still losing less to the taxman than I did in my first graduate job 30-odd years ago (higher personal alliance and lower starting tax rate).

aneary

Student loans are part of affordability on your mortgage.

Cakeguts

Life is all about the choices you make. If you choose to live in an expensive area where your salary in that area makes it impossible for you to afford to buy a house then that is your choice. Other people might put owning their home above their choice of where they would like to live. I did that. I couldn't afford to buy in the attractive place where I got my first job so I moved 50 miles to a much less attractive town where I got my 2nd job and bought a house there.

Some people think of living near family as being their choice some people like making new friends and will do that anywhere. In my personal family none of us live near where we were brought up and neither did our parents. The nearest one is 100 miles from where she was brought up and 120 miles from the nearest sibling. The furthest away one is in the US. Those are our choices. Some choices though have a compromise ours is that we don't see the one in US very often. For other people the choice might be that their salary in the area that they want to live in doesn't allow them to save for a deposit. If I wanted to live in Mayfair (the most expensive bit on the monopoly board) I would have to pay a very high rent. However if that was my choice I wouldn't be calling on the government or complaining that I couldn't afford to save for a deposit because the government and taxpayers in other parts of the country are not responsible for paying for my choices through their taxes. Someone who is smart enough to move to Manchester or Liverpool and take a cut in salary shouldn't have to pay to support my choice to live in Mayfair.

At the moment some people not all are making the choice to live in the areas of the South East where they actually can't afford to live. Their choice. If you do this you won't be able to afford to buy.

aneary

Cakeguts wrote: »

Life is all about the choices you make. If you choose to live in an expensive area where your salary in that area makes it impossible for you to afford to buy a house then that is your choice. Other people might put owning their home above their choice of where they would like to live. I did that. I couldn't afford to buy in the attractive place where I got my first job so I moved 50 miles to a much less attractive town where I got my 2nd job and bought a house there.

Some people think of living near family as being their choice some people like making new friends and will do that anywhere. In my personal family none of us live near where we were brought up and neither did our parents. The nearest one is 100 miles from where she was brought up and 120 miles from the nearest sibling. The furthest away one is in the US. Those are our choices. Some choices though have a compromise ours is that we don't see the one in US very often. For other people the choice might be that their salary in the area that they want to live in doesn't allow them to save for a deposit. If I wanted to live in Mayfair (the most expensive bit on the monopoly board) I would have to pay a very high rent. However if that was my choice I wouldn't be calling on the government or complaining that I couldn't afford to save for a deposit because the government and taxpayers in other parts of the country are not responsible for paying for my choices through their taxes. Someone who is smart enough to move to Manchester or Liverpool and take a cut in salary shouldn't have to pay to support my choice to live in Mayfair.

At the moment some people not all are making the choice to live in the areas of the South East where they actually can't afford to live. Their choice. If you do this you won't be able to afford to buy.

Sorry but I disagree. When I was made redundant I picked areas I would live, an hour away from the following towns (I knew someone in each)
Leeds
Leciester
Newcastle
Manchester
London
Guildford
Bristol

That is a pretty broad search area.

I got a Job in Portsmouth there wasn't a job in the other areas. Yes I have a niche job but if I took I less niche job I would earn a whole lot less and still wouldn't be able to afford a house in the other areas.

Some people do not have the funds to move away from where they live, some people can't move away from where they live (family commitments) in these cases it isn't a choice!

Just because you had the choice doesn't mean that every one else does.

No one is taking about living in Mayfair, no one is even talking about living in London.

So your comments are pretty pointless

Cakeguts

Katapolt wrote: »

I find this really close minded. i'm 26, and the majority of my friendship group DO NOT earn £20,000. I cant even begin to express how hard it is to get a well paid job these days. My sister excelled at uni, got her degree......and couldn't get a job....shes now working a job totally unrelated to her degree because its all she could get, and shes having to pay back extortionate student debt fees!

I personally have 1 direct debit. £30 for my phone, and that is it. We dont all go out on the lash,
waste our money on iphones and costa, but its incredibly hard when youre stuck earning minimum wage, and will only get lent 3/4X income depending on who you can get to even look at you for a mortgage!

Please remember we arent all whiny brats, ive worked non stop since i was 15, but it doesnt make a blind bit of difference when Boss Man at the bank says you arent good enough, and the only houses near your family in your price bracket are derelict.

In my age bracket amongst my friends we would consider £30 for a phone very expensive. Mine costs £7.50 someone on here had one for less than that. The fact that you think that £30 is cheap will be one of the reasons why you are having a problem. The difference between well off people and not so well off is how much they spend not what they earn. If you had a £7.50 phone you would save over £20 a month. To me £20 a month is worth having and not worth wasting on nothing. To you £30 is cheap. £30 is not cheap to me. Have at think about lowering your idea of what is cheap and start from there.

Your sister who went to university probably followed the crowd and went to university rather than considering other options. Most of the university courses run in the UK are in subjects that the UK economy doesn't need. Unless you study a subject that the UK economy does need there won't be a graduate level job for you regardless of how well you do in your degree.

Now have a think about this. The minimum wage is the national minimum wage so in some parts of the country a couple on minimum wage can buy a house and in other parts of the country you can't even rent a garage.

Katapolt

Cakeguts wrote: »

In my age bracket amongst my friends we would consider £30 for a phone very expensive. Mine costs £7.50 someone on here had one for less than that. The fact that you think that £30 is cheap will be one of the reasons why you are having a problem. The difference between well off people and not so well off is how much they spend not what they earn. If you had a £7.50 phone you would save over £20 a month. To me £20 a month is worth having and not worth wasting on nothing. To you £30 is cheap. £30 is not cheap to me. Have at think about lowering your idea of what is cheap and start from there.

Your sister who went to university probably followed the crowd and went to university rather than considering other options. Most of the university courses run in the UK are in subjects that the UK economy doesn't need. Unless you study a subject that the UK economy does need there won't be a graduate level job for you regardless of how well you do in your degree.

Now have a think about this. The minimum wage is the national minimum wage so in some parts of the country a couple on minimum wage can buy a house and in other parts of the country you can't even rent a garage.

I NEVER said £30 was cheap, i simply said it was all i had. I'm stuck in a contract i got when i was younger and less "house saving" minded, i think we can all say we've made mistakes or are you perfect?

sorry but i will never ever ever condone studying a subject the UK "needs" and living my life so bored because i didnt do something that meant something to me.

We cant all just up and move sticks to a cheaper part of the UK. My mums incredibly ill, if i'm not there to help support and look after her, i can promise the bloody government wont.

i know where youre coming from, but you need to understand it isnt as simple as " buy less stuff and move away" for everyone.

Lurkingtoposting17

Ok so my two cents worth. I am 31, I live at home with my parents and have done for the last four years to save to buy a house whilst being able to balance a moderate life style. I have previoulsy owned a flat which I sold to be able to save a substantial sum to buy a property.

I earn just under double the average UK salary between basic income, bonus and second business income. However, as I am single, even though I have had a property previously, I cannot get 5 x salary with a 10% deposit.

Lending criteria has tightened in the last 6 months and most lenders (having spoken to numerous mortgage advisors) will not lend more than 4.5x salary to me, unless I have a 20% deposit. Which means, effectively, I need to save a minimum of £20,000 more than I currently have in order to get the same value of house I had an AIP for in April.

I was only eligible as a single buyer for a 5 x salary mortgage as well, on a 10% deposit, as I had previously had a mortgage - which rules out most first time buyers. I also cannot get a help to buy ISA. By the time you save for stamp duty and solicitor fees too, this means I am looking at around another 1 year to 18 months of sacrifice to achieve home ownership unless I downgrade my property requirements.

I live with my parents, and pay their gas & electricity. I go out minimally - mostly on work funded socials and 2/3 times per month with friends. I don't drink. I have a car as I live in a rural village and require it to get around. I commute via train to work and it takes an hour. I save a minimum of 50% of my post tax income every month, sometimes as high as 70% depending on the month. I have no debts, no loans and no student debts. My only bill is my mobile phone and is £18 per month and the handset is two years old. I do admit to being partial to avocado (haha!) but I brew my own coffee at home with a v60 filter, and never do takeaway coffee.

The 5 x salary for mortgage is just not something many people are offered any more, and someone like me who has a well paying job and a large deposit - can still struggle (and yes, I am in the south east, but prices in the town I live are not "ridiculous" compared to other commuter belt areas!)

I now look like I will be moving overseas for work for a period, which means its a good thing my house purchase fell through and should enable me to save a lump sum to set myself up when I return. However, I am lucky to have my parents for support and a well paying job. The truth is, it would be far easier for me to get a mortgage if I wasn't single, but I don't feel like that life choice should hold me back. I don't want to be dependent on a man to own my own property!

Also - my parents purchased their first property with ease at 18, by selling my dads car to get a deposit. They admit with 18% interest rates, they STRUGGLED to make ends meet and my dad whilst wanting me to have a house, also admits he never wants me to struggle like they did to pay the bills and mortgage. He has only started enjoying his life again, since he paid off his mortgage in full 10 years. I think GETTING a home was easier for them, but it doesn't mean it was more affordable - as they didn't have such stringent lending criteria assessing affordability.

BucksLady

It's government policy to blame for this situation and people of my generation (30's) should stop pointing the finger at 'baby boomers'. Every problem has a solution - finding it may be difficult - but not impossible.