Unaffordable housing

Thrugelmir

When I bought my first property ( a few decades ago). I ended up living 15 miles from work. Rather having a 20 minute walk from my Mum's. Surrey was unaffordable at the time to the vast majority of FTB's even then. Though not on the scale it is now.

hazyjo

Isn't it like me saying I work in Shoreditch and earn under £50k so how am I supposed to afford to buy there? As others have said, you don't! You live elsewhere, or earn more money.

There must be cheaper commutable areas nearby. Oxfordshire is always going to be expensive!

Davy_Jones_II

I wanted to live in Oxford when I started work, but because of my wage I had to live in Reading instead.

It never occurred to me that I was missing a trick, I just had to match my housing to my budget.

I bought a motorbike for the commute, which was pretty miserable in the depths of winter, but that’s how it works when starting out.

Kad_Williams

I'm gonna choose to be more positive because I am a resident of inner London since birth who has no desire to leave despite the obvious availability of cheaper rent/purchase prices elsewhere. It is incredibly fortunate then that I have come into money in my young age and that I'm under the age of 30 (I can get 30 year mortgage term). My savings total over 200 grand, and I can borrow a decent amount too plus I have a healthy income. But the reality is that even with that amount of capital buying a nice place here is not easy.
There comes a point when, if you are determined to live in an area and you're not horribly poor then determination is basically all you've got. Ridiculous nature of my circumstances (i.e. loads of money and no where I want to live in) basically encouraged me not to be beaten. If you are disheartened don't be.

If you think you can make something work and there isn't some other huge financial implication that would stop you, then with some compromise and patience, you may well be able to purchase (eventually). My biggest tip is to just keep looking and looking. Scout property websites...every day if you can. As I continued to do this, my mind opened up to all the different ways I could live, the different types of property I would be open to living in and the areas I'd be happy to move to. In a way the more meticulous I was about scouting, the more I saw properties I didn't know I would like. Properties that eluded my attention before all of a sudden became attractive. I never missed a potential goer and I was able to see when certain properties were struggling to get sold (i.e. they were being reduced in price over time and/or were likely reduce upon further negotiation). And also if you're looking every day(ish) you won't miss things before they get snapped up.

Sometimes things that seem unlikely are just that: unlikely...not impossible.

panterka

I moved across the county border to Gloucestershire for that very reason.
Whatever I was spending on rent of a shoddy 1-bedroom flat not far from Oxford Parkway, now goes towards my own 2-bedroom home in a quiet area, with lots of surrounding greenery and own garden.

Yalpsmol

Im from Bristol/South Glos where its pretty expensive. I also moved to Gloucestershire for a house I could afford. For the price of a 2 bed flat I have a 2 bed semi on a canal front (and an easy commute to Bristol, Cheltenham and Gloucester). Its not even too bad to get to Oxford although I wouldnt do it personally as it doesnt sound worthwhile for your income- better off getting work closer to new area.
Depending on what part of Oxford you live in there are plenty of cheaper places you could live within an hours commute.

Swindon must be pretty affordable?

Easiest thing to do would be find a new area you like which isnt too far for visiting friends and family, and find work and a house there.

ciderboy2009

babyblade41 wrote: »

My youngest and her partner have managed to get a house in SE Oxfordshire but they have sacrificed pretty much everything to do so including children

Flip - I didn't realise that child sacrfices still went on in this country! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

babyblade41

ciderboy2009 wrote: »

Flip - I didn't realise that child sacrfices still went on in this country! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Here in rural SE Oxfordshire strange things can and do happen ... be aware :eek:

PasturesNew

As FTBs you won't be buying "the average house". The average house is more like an established family home.

You need to find out how much you can afford (say ~4x£50k, plus your deposit) and then see what you can afford for about £250k... and choose the best you can at that budget.

I have just sold a house in an area where the average house is allegedly £400k.... I sold mine for £250k and there were plenty of houses in that price bracket.

Right now, on RM, excluding flats, there are 14 for sale up to £250k. My experience of growing up in an expensive University town (the other one!) is that "no real people live IN the town, that's for the wealthy; normal people live in the villages up to 10-15 miles away and commute in"

Even now, if I go back to where I grew up I'd have to set the RM radius to about 20 miles.

Oxford + 5 miles = 58 results.

30 years ago 1/4 of the people I worked with were travelling 20-30 miles into work each morning by car, even couples with two incomes.

Bossypants

PasturesNew wrote: »

As FTBs you won't be buying "the average house". The average house is more like an established family home.

This is an extremely important point. OP, you're FTBs and at least one of you is on less than the average income for the area, so no, you are unlikely to be able to afford the 'average' house price. However, that doesn't mean you can't afford to own your own home, either in Oxford or possibly somewhere within commuting distance. Save your deposit, then, when you are ready to make a move, start to look at your real options. You can even post your budget and area requirements on here at that point, and people will be able to make sensible suggestions. Until then, there's really not much point in worrying about it. Just put your money away as best you can, and leave the rest till later.