Single buyer

OW95

I'm looking for some advice on buying for the first time. I’m a single first time buyer, I earn £25,500 a year and it almost seems impossible to get a mortgage my outgoings aren’t much and a good credit rating - I have a decent amount saved for a deposit as well.

Does anyone have any tips/advice on what I can do to help me get on the property ladder? ( I have looked at shared ownership, however after doing research this isn’t something I want to get into). 

PlumLuck

Why do you say it's hard for you to get a mortgage?

OW95

When I do the mortgage calculators online to see what value I could buy a property for, it’s nowhere near enough not even for a 1 bed flat. There doesn’t seem to be any schemes or anything that can help single people get on the property ladder 

Belleofthebooks

Mortgage lenders only typically lend up to 4.5x your salary so the most you could borrow on yours is around £114,750.
How much deposit do you have and what kind of price are the properties you are looking to buy?

Unfortunately if you live in an area with high property prices then it will be difficult. 

There is the help to buy scheme for new builds but it's not right for everyone and you will need to either pay if off in full after 5 years or make monthly payments with interest. For some people it's worth it because you are able to get a bigger home and a better deal on your mortgage and even with the repayments it's cheaper than renting would be.

Brie

do you have credit available that you are not using??  i.e. a credit card that you use for £200 and pay off each month but has available credit of £10k?  That will count against you in your application.  Also - are you on the electoral role?

You may need to look at alternative properties or locations.  Not such a good neighbourhood or buy at auction.  Get a horrid looking place that needs a lot of work and plug away at it for the next 10 years.  

when you say you don't want shared ownership are you talking about the sort with a housing society?  or with a friend??  Obviously one way to double your mortgage possibilities is to find the love of your life who has a good paying job.  Might be easier to find a run down place needing extensive reno!!

AdrianC

OW95 said:

When I do the mortgage calculators online to see what value I could buy a property for, it’s nowhere near enough not even for a 1 bed flat. There doesn’t seem to be any schemes or anything that can help single people get on the property ladder 

Where in the country do you live, and what are prices like in your area.
Would you consider relocating?

Remember that £25.5k is really not that well-paid - it's about £4k below the national average full-time salary, even before you consider your household only having a single income.

How old are you? Do you see career progression ahead of you?
Could you gain qualifications, maybe have a career change?

mattyprice4004

I've just bought a 3 bedroom semi-detached house for £106,500 - sometimes you need to consider a move in area if you're somewhere that's quite highly-priced. 

grumiofoundation

OW95 said:

I'm looking for some advice on buying for the first time. I’m a single first time buyer, I earn £25,500 a year and it almost seems impossible to get a mortgage my outgoings aren’t much and a good credit rating - I have a decent amount saved for a deposit as well.

Does anyone have any tips/advice on what I can do to help me get on the property ladder? ( I have looked at shared ownership, however after doing research this isn’t something I want to get into). 

OW95 said:

When I do the mortgage calculators online to see what value I could buy a property for, it’s nowhere near enough not even for a 1 bed flat. There doesn’t seem to be any schemes or anything that can help single people get on the property ladder 

Lifetime ISA? 
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/lifetime-isas/

Help to buy equity loan scheme? (as above new-builds only)

Neither are schemes designed solely for single people, but single people are not ineligible. 


When you say it is impossible to get a mortgage do you mean at all or do you mean for the amount you want?

With a salary of 25.5k you should (assuming to massive credit issues) be able to get a mortgage of ~115k (4.5 x salary).

Possibly higher (up to 5 x) with particular lenders.

How much do you need to borrow?
How much deposit do you have/need?

Belleofthebooks

AdrianC said:

OW95 said:

When I do the mortgage calculators online to see what value I could buy a property for, it’s nowhere near enough not even for a 1 bed flat. There doesn’t seem to be any schemes or anything that can help single people get on the property ladder 

Where in the country do you live, and what are prices like in your area.
Would you consider relocating?

Remember that £25.5k is really not that well-paid - it's about £4k below the national average full-time salary, even before you consider your household only having a single income.

How old are you? Do you see career progression ahead of you?
Could you gain qualifications, maybe have a career change?

Not really sure this comment is helpful. I'm sure the OP knows full well he is "not well paid". The answer shouldn't be 'well get a better paid job then' as in an ideal world we would all have high paid jobs but in reality that is not going to happen. 

AdrianC

Thank you for taking just one part of that post out of context, and ignoring the rest so comprehensively.

If somebody is being paid less than is required to purchase the things they want to own, then they have two choices - lower their sights or increase their income. This is a basic truism of life in a capitalist economy.

We do not know from the OP's post whether they are looking in a high or low-price area, hence me asking.

We do not know if increasing their income is likely to be reasonably straightforward for them or not, hence me asking.

andy444

AdrianC said:

Remember that £25.5k is really not that well-paid

Loads of people would be happy to earn £25.5k a year.