How I bought a flat in London at age 25

Greymug

Newnoel said:

hazyjo said:

Not the best financial decision, a pocket living new build flat in Barking.

Nice to own your own place, but I'd not want to totally give up on having a life to get it. Especially in my early 20s.

Hmmm.. buying some place small is far better than chucking money away on rent though. 

Says who?

When you're on your death bed what are the memories that you're going to cherish more: when you went on holiday here and there and all the nights out with your friends or those months when you only ate ramen noodles because you had a big mortgage for a shoe box in London?

Newnoel

I quite like ramen.

StandingInTheSun

AdrianC said:

Greymug said:

AdrianC said:

Greymug said:

grumiofoundation said:

So saved ~30k in 3 years. Although not completely clear if a) living at home and b) if so was rent paid?

What absolute monster of a parent make their children pay for rent?

We're talking about working adults here...

Yes, and just like my parents would not let me pay rent if I lived at home with them, the same way I would not let my children pay rent if they lived at home with me.

I guess some people are just less generous than others.

They are your children... but they are not children - they are grown adults. There is a very important distinction.

Do you not think grown adults should stand on their own two feet, and pay their own way in life?

I'd lay odds that the person in the article is earning more than her parents. Does that change whether she should contribute to the costs of the household?

I think as a parent I would do whatever I could to help my children. If they wanted to live at home in order to save for a house of their own, I would be a terrible parent if I insisted on charging them market levels of rent instead of doing whatever I could to help them.

Again, this should be separated from paying contributions towards food, bills etc. But paying an actual market level of rent to your parents? Or as a parent saying to your child you can't live here unless you pay me £XXX a month because that's what a lodger costs? Absolute madness.

I've no doubt those who insist on charging their children rent will themselves be more than happy to pay their children to look after them in their old age. Care isn't free, is it?

TheScone

I find articles like that so bizarre! I’m 26 and in the process of buying my first house whilst renting. In the past year 4 of my friends the same age as me bought houses. It’s not as impossible as people make out to do it in your 20s, granted you are lucky enough to have a decently paying job and have been smarter with your outgoings. 

Everyone’s circumstances are different though, I know some people who can’t get well paid jobs or who have kids and just can’t save that quickly. Massive congratulations to the lady in the article but she definitely had privileged  circumstances and I think anyone on that kind of salary living at home with the parents should find saving to buy really easy. Not to rain on her parade I just think it’s unfair to people who aren’t in that privileged position to make it sound like she’s scraped and saved and done something unbelievable. 

boxer234

Good on her but agree it’s not really news and not everyone can do it.  The key here is a supportive family.  I bought at 30 but moved out of home at 18 and paid full rent and bills.  I probably could have saved up more but I did go out and travel in between because life is to short. 

hazyjo

Newnoel said:

hazyjo said:

Not the best financial decision, a pocket living new build flat in Barking.

Nice to own your own place, but I'd not want to totally give up on having a life to get it. Especially in my early 20s.

Hmmm.. buying some place small is far better than chucking money away on rent though. I came over from Ireland about 20 years ago, and bought a tiny one bed flat in a not so nice part of London. People told me I was mad - place has quadrupled in value since. 

As for Barking, it wouldnt be for me, but its less than half an hour from the West End on the train, and less than that to a job in the City. 

Was very different 20 years ago. Mostly prices increased as a result of the market or gentrification. There are plenty of London areas which weren't nice 20+ years ago which are now worth a bloody fortune. Barking isn't one of them - quite the opposite. I know it well enough. Plus there's loads more flats still to be built there.

Sometimes it's cheaper to rent if what you buy isn't likely to increase in value before you want to move move again. Not once you take into account mortgage interest, conveyancing/moving costs and price rises of other not-new properties.

pinkteapot

For those interested, brochure for one of the developers' other sites which has floor plans for the flats towards the end: 

https://www.pocketliving.com/bucket/pocket/developments/current/30_60f69515559c1.pdf

p.21 has the 417 sq ft flats like hers. 

Yes, small (I'd struggle in that bedroom!) but the living/kitchen room isn't *that* bad. I've definitely seen worse studio flats on Rightmove. 

Not excusing the world where that box costs £198k though! 

xmeenax

Good on you for getting a property in your 20's. It's something I would have dreamed off. You should be proud. However, as others have said, everyone's circumstances do differentiate.  When I think back to my 20's, I was working for £7.00 an hour, part time. It's only now, in my mid-30's have I reached a point where I can put down a sizable deposit. That was through moving up in my career and being able to save more efficiently. I wish I could have saved more but cirumstances  have meant my money going elsewhere - some of it out of neccessity and some of it out of indulgence. Getting a house in your 20's is a fantastic achievement  and takes alot of determination and effort but having to go through the process now, I think it's great at any age. It doesnt come easy.

On the debate about paying rent to parents.... I never did. Like another poster, my parents would not take rent off me because they wanted me to save. My parents had no real savings themselves so knew in the long run I would need the money to buy a house. That said I did/still do contribute in other ways like bringing in the shopping and buying things for the house we need. In that respect I have been fortunate. I understand how difficult it would be for anyone trying to save for a morgage while paying rent (whether that's to their parents on private landlords). 

Ally_E.

I bought a 3 bed house in London at age 30, should I brag about it on this forum too?

Mnoee

So basically I need parents who are happy for me to live rent free in their London house. That way I can earn a London wage, with tiny commuting costs and not class the £800 a month they're saving me on rent (in a house share) as a massive gift even though its the equivalent of someone dumping about £30k in my lap if I stay there for three years. If i can do all that, I can save up 15% of 198,400 for a deposit, which is... Oh, about £30k!

It's a shame my mother didn't love me enough to own property in London, or I'd be living in a tiny flat too.