Buying a £180k house alone on £55k income pre-tax, is this comfortable?

maton91

Hello all,

I am looking to buy a house soon by myself. My current job is secure and I earn £55k pre-tax. I have SLR and currently pay 9% salary into a company pension (they match 6%). I take home about £2900 a month

I have £27k saved for a deposit so would look to be borrowing £153k as a mortgage.

I'm not looking for chapter and verse but to the average homeowner/couple/family is this pretty comfortable considering mortgage, tax, bills, shopping, savings (£200pm + round ups to a S&S ISA) and other things? It looks good to me but would rather hear those with more experience!

Thanks in advance!

Sunsaru

I'm not going into details but your situation sounds very close to mine. I bought in March and you'll be fine with those figures.

GoogleMeNow

Yes, perfectly doable.

Bluebell1000

Yes, we managed with similar but as a family of 4.

[Deleted User]

Very comfortable. It would be quite manageable even on 35k. Interest rates wont be this low forever. 5 yr fix.

Owleyes00

I just bought a £260,000 house on a £45k salary (mortgage £187,000) so I jolly well hope so!

london21

Less than x3 income you are looking to borrow. Would be a straightforward application. 

maton91

Thanks for all your help guys!

Couple more follow ups:

1. Should I look to increase my budget to say a £200k + house whilst also considering I may need funds for improvements, trips away, possibly a car on finance? I feel £180k would give me those without worrying too much

2. Thoughts on fixed rate or variable rate mortgage? Also how long considering in a couple of years time I may move and buy a house with someone else and don't want to risk paying any fees etc unless I can port it over (one suggestion above is a 5 year fixed rate)

london21

maton91 said:

Thanks for all your help guys!

Couple more follow ups:

1. Should I look to increase my budget to say a £200k + house whilst also considering I may need funds for improvements, trips away, possibly a car on finance? I feel £180k would give me those without worrying too much

2. Thoughts on fixed rate or variable rate mortgage? Also how long considering in a couple of years time I may move and buy a house with someone else and don't want to risk paying any fees etc unless I can port it over (one suggestion above is a 5 year fixed rate)

Depends on the house but based on your income should be able to get a mortgage of up to £247,500.

Personally prefer fixed rate to variable for the certainty.

Depends when you think your circumstance will change, if long-term then 5 years but short-term 2 years will be better.
Rates are likely going up in the near future but depends on your circumstance to prevent having to pay ERC if changes are likely to occur.

3 years also an option.

Sunsaru

1. I can only go on my situation so I would suggest sticking with £180k and you'll always have money in the bank at the end of the month.

2. Others are more qualified to answer but rates will def go up in the next few years so a 5 year fixed sounds like a good option to me.

rexmedorum

Depends in your situation and lifestyle.
Put in the details in a comparisson website to get an idea of how much your mortgage will be, do a budget and see how much you can afford, and check that mortgage < available budget.

Sounds comofortable, but for all we know you could have some very expensive hobby