I am depressed

Harrybrown100121

I live near London and want to buy a property. I am 33 and single. I was looking to buy where I live but realised I can't buy where I live but looking further afield, it is a bit cheaper but the cost of commuting into London is around £500 a month which with a mortgage will be hard to manage.

dimbo61

What kind of job do you do ?
Could you move elsewhere in the country to a cheaper place to live ?
What keeps you on London ?
When was the last time you went to the V and A, the opera, the tower of London ,  Harrods ?
Lots of Towns and Cities up North with cheaper housing.

steve866

How much do you spend on travel at the moment?

JJC1956

As per your other post, you work for the Civil Service, you don’t say what you do but the Civil Service have a workforce of over 500,000 nationwide, maybe you should consider applying for a transfer to somewhere more affordable

youth_leader

My husband and I had that situation too.  I worked at the BBC in White City and we couldn't afford to buy in London, eventually we bought our first house in 'Whitton borders' - which is really Hounslow.  As the mortgage was lower I had the money for the underground fares. 

propertyhunter

It's a tough call. We decided to move from Zone 3 to Zone 6 because we couldn't get what we wanted in the location we wanted. I'm sad to move out in some ways, but we had to make a compromise to find somewhere with space and in our budget. 

KeepOnKnitting

If you think you are depressed, see your GP.

If you are fed-up, which sounds more likely, maybe decide what is your highest priority. A particular area, a particular type of home, buying a home, the job you are in, your current standard of living, saving for a rainy day, living by yourself?

I wasn't willing to climb a career ladder to earn more, wanted a particular standard of living and to save for the future. I live in the North East, have a lodger, don't eat out very often, own my home, enjoy holidays and travel, and drive a cheap old car. 

Marcon

Harrybrown100121 said:

I live near London and want to buy a property. I am 33 and single. I was looking to buy where I live but realised I can't buy where I live but looking further afield, it is a bit cheaper but the cost of commuting into London is around £500 a month which with a mortgage will be hard to manage.

If you've explored all the options in terms of how you might buy, but still can't afford it, then you need to think about other options. Relocation is an obvious one, however unattractive it might seem - but if you are anxious to buy, is there a realistic alternative? 

hazyjo

Can you wfh any days a week?

I'm all the way out in Leigh-on-Sea and with a yearly travel card into the City it works out at £320pm. Wfh would make that cheaper with flexibility fares.

What's your max budget? Buying alone will always be harder unfortunately.

[Deleted User]

The only way I could do it was to buy a box. 

There is always help to buy or shared ownership but I would consider those as only an absolute last resort. 

Your best bet would be continue to save and try and get a promotion, if this fails, look further out and see if you can WFH a lot of the time or wait until you find a partner and want to settle down. Sorry to mention finding a partner, I have yet to find one and it doesn't help accepting the reality of life but you have to try and focus on the small things in life, that is what leads to happiness more than sadness.

Mimi123456

It’s not worth being depressed about. Really. It’s just the usual life burdens and injustices of being the squeezed middle class 😅 and single 😅
I will second the views above that you need to think about it holistically. What do you want your life to be like. What are your priorities.
As a single professional perhaps at this point it could be more important for you to live closer to social life. Maybe continuing to rent is the right thing at the moment. Don’t get dragged into the obsession to own at any cost. Yes, ultimately it’s an investment in your future but you can afford to wait a couple of years. You might as well meet someone and you will then buy together down the line. 
Good luck! 💪🏻