At what age were you when you first bought your first home?

steampowered

robatwork said:

TheProfessional said:

steampowered said:

London, age 26, a few years ago, £100k deposit. 

A £100k deposit is the average for first time buyers in London these days. 

How does anyone go about building a 100k deposit. Even with parents gifting that seems like such an insurmountable amount. 

Not terribly unusual for a good London computer developer to earn £50k even at age 22.  So if he's living at home fully expensed by parents, with £5k travel expenses a year, living frugally you can easily save £2000 per month. 50 months later - £100k, at age 26.

There is a major problem with the housing market when the average FTB deposit in London is £100k! I was able to afford that due to being an incredibly high earner. Others are not so fortunate. For most people it is not feasible to live at home until age 26 with parents covering all costs. 

Frugal_Saver

I was 32, 2019 in Scotland. No money from family but I used the government help to buy scheme for a new build. I’m originally from South East England and would never got on the property ladder had I still lived down there 

od244051

I was 24 when I bought my first property with former partner In Yorkshire. With thanks to grandmother's inheritance. Under three years later, we split up and I moved back to my parents. Bought my current property on my own aged 29 in East Midlands on shared ownership. My parents and myself have paid off the other half together - my parents downsized 3 years after I moved out and sale of home paid for my renting share. 

GBNI

7 years ago, I was 28. Bought the property with my partner, saved deposit ourselves. This in in Northern Ireland. 

LandyAndy

Manchester in 1980. I was 23 and my wife 22.

whatsthenews

NE- 26.
Mortgage free at 46.

AlexMac

28.

But only possible with help from a 100% mortgage from the Bolsheviks in the then regional "Greater London Authority" and a grant towards essentials like a roof, heating and toilets from the Troskyites in the Local Council. 

Both of whom believed that helping kids from Council estates to buy and restore slum Victorian properties was good social engineering.

But Thatcher abolished the GLC, clamped down on Council budgets and stopped all that... replacing it with the Tories' own version of social engineering by flogging off all the decent Council properties under "Right to buy" . 

Anyone surprised that social mobility has got progessively more problematic?

My grand daughter will never be able to afford her own home in London unless we snuff it.

XoCAlop

IAMIAM said:

Or are you still renting, particularly if you are in the south and are not relying on bank of mum and dad

Had a house (mortgage ) 1990 to 2019 , 
then sold so I can rent and have easy life 

why? 

Jonathan_Powell

26, London, in 2015 and no help from family at all. I saved over £20,000 from working in retail jobs and used that for a deposit. Think a lot of young people who complain about housing being too expensive (which it is in some parts to be fair) could find themselves easily on the property ladder if they just thought more than a year ahead of time. I purchased with my partner and borrowed significantly less than what the banks would give based on our salaries at the time.

Only issue I'm facing now is we have two children and two bedrooms so contemplating whether to buy a new house or going into the loft. Both options are financially out of reach for the next 3/4 years at least but so far we are coping. 

greensalad

Jonathan_Powell said:

26, London, in 2015 and no help from family at all. I saved over £20,000 from working in retail jobs and used that for a deposit. Think a lot of young people who complain about housing being too expensive (which it is in some parts to be fair) could find themselves easily on the property ladder if they just thought more than a year ahead of time. I purchased with my partner and borrowed significantly less than what the banks would give based on our salaries at the time.

Only issue I'm facing now is we have two children and two bedrooms so contemplating whether to buy a new house or going into the loft. Both options are financially out of reach for the next 3/4 years at least but so far we are coping. 

I'm curious on the numbers for this. If you're working retail jobs, how can you afford to meet the x4 salary requirements to get a 2 bedroom house in London? Minimum wage working full time couple would give you a household income of around £32k and I can't understand where you'd be able to buy in the South East for that little.