Buying a flat as a singleton on average salary

boliston

goodwithsaving wrote: »

There's always one Daily Mail reading idiot.

this was in the guardian as well https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/may/15/australian-millionaire-millennials-avocado-toast-house

Shellsey84

I am in the same position. I earn less than £24000. I am 200 miles from home. I am having to do shared ownership, but I will be saving £400 each month compared to now as I’m 100% renting.
I am from the south east and am priced out of my hometown.

Moving home will allow you to save a decent amount.
Sorry I can’t be of much help but good luck l!

cjv

My current salary is around £23,000 and I have £10,000-£14000 as a deposit. I am also in the south east and am looking at new build apartments in the £200,000 range through shared ownership.

My mortgage broker has told me I will have no problem getting a mortgage on a top rate for the amount I need and I have recently passed the affordability assessment with the housing association for a minimum 40% share in a new build, I am hoping to buy 50% and either staircase or sell up and buy a new property in the future.

The scheme has its cons, but also its benefits.

Littlemisssiwantahouse

Thank you for all your thoughts! Definitely lots to think about - I will look more into shared ownership and buying a studio rather than a 1 bed. I think I will save like crazy for the next year and then re-evaluate things with my job and look again at what I can afford. I do have a cash LISA so planning on getting the full £4k in this tax year and then maxing out next years allowance and then that's an extra £2k for the deposit

SG27

goodwithsaving wrote: »

There's always one Daily Mail reading idiot.

Red-Squirrel wrote: »

I assumed that was sarcasm tbh.

£250k is a lot of avocados.

You are correct.

To buy a house on your own in the south east on that income with no parental help is virtually impossible.

sal1960

Shared ownership can be a good idea for single average salary earners in the expensive southeast
One of my younger relatives has done this and is in a nice 2 bed flat which they own 50% of and pay rent on the rest
They are paying extra off their mortgage rather than buying a greater share of the property so that the property will still be affordable for the next buyer at 50% share when they come to move in a few years and thus easier to sell on
They have also taken in a carefully researched lodger which works really well and helps to make ends meet
Excuse no punctuation but I think that strange virus kicks in if you punctuate a quick post
Good luck anyway
Sal:smiley

a_silver_lining

I bought a flat in the South East (near Brighton) with no parental help.

My salary was 22k and I was 27. I moved out of home and supported myself at 17.

Mini rant for those saying it's so hard for young people to save: Know what I did? I saved. So no it is not impossible for young people to buy, it's just harder. No holidays, no iPhone, no drink etc and it's done. I'm amazed by what people in my generation spend money on when saying they can't save

Other friends saved much smaller amounts and borrowed off parents and moved further out, Hastings way etc. It can be done, you just have to want it to happen and work for it. And be willing to compromise when you buy. OP I think you are being wise saying you're considering a studio flat now. If it enables you to be near work and still have a foot on the ladder it's great good luck!

Out,_Vile_Jelly

I bought in London on my own without parental help on an average salary, although not until my mid-thirties. I'm glad I went straight to a 2 bed house though, and didn't bother with a starter flat.

A year of living with parents and saving a grand a month nearly doubles your deposit.

Cakeguts

£25,000 for the South East is a low wage. Anything under £30,000 is a low wage. In the South East you need to earn a lot more than this to be able to afford housing costs.



People do move around the country after work. Some people move from the North of England to the South in order to get a higher paid job. However earning £25k in the Northwest is roughly the same as earning £70k in London so moving from the North to earn £32k instead of £25k means that you will actually be poorer in terms of living costs and housing costs than you would have been on the £25k.



If you want to continue in a job that only pays £25k you are not going to be able to buy a property in the most expensive part of the country. That has not changed it was the same in the 1960s. People on low salaries have never been able to buy in London and the South East they have always either rented privately or social housing or they have continued to live with parents.



There is another choice to be made. Some very enjoyable jobs do not pay well. So if you have one of those you need to understand that there is a downside to enjoying your job. (You don't get everything in life.) So you may have to choose between having a job you enjoy or a job that you don't like as much but which pays much better and allows you to buy your home. This is a choice you are unlikely to get both. Expecting to get a job you enjoy is a modern myth. Most people do not enjoy their jobs but they have to do them to feed their families and put a roof over their heads. Enjoying your job goes with only studying subjects at school that you enjoy and only studying degrees that you enjoy. This myth has only started in about the last 15 years. Before then people calculated what they needed to study to get what they wanted in the way of a job.



If you chose to move to a different part of the country what you would need to do is to get a different job that pays the same as you have now or more. Of course that would be one of those calculated jobs not one of the mythical ones that you are supposed to enjoy.


Life is all about choices. However you can't have everything you want. You can't earn a low wage and buy a property in the most expensive part of the UK

SG27

Cakeguts wrote: »

£25,000 for the South East is a low wage. Anything under £30,000 is a low wage. In the South East you need to earn a lot more than this to be able to afford housing costs.

£25k for the south east is not a low wage, its almost spot on average. According to office of national statistics the average for Essex is £26k.