Can’t afford to rent or buy - don’t know what to do

timehastoldme

Shared ownership looks like it'll give you the life you want now, which is the important bit. I'm a serial mover, about to move again to really remote, but I'm also an antisocial misanthrope moving with my OH and small dog so it's very different, it's not for everyone.

Sympathies on education not paying out, I quit a few years ago, not because of money, more because of frustration. It's a hard business.

elsien

My brother lives in Leeds. I’m not sure he’d recognise you cheap housing and no jobs assessment of his part of the city.
there are economically deprived parts of London. That doesn’t mean you don’t want to live there.
it seems to me that you are stuck in a particular mind set which is leading you to view every option as negative, in which case nothing is ever going to change.

[Deleted User]

elsien said:

My brother lives in Leeds. I’m not sure he’d recognise you cheap housing and no jobs assessment of his part of the city.
there are economically deprived parts of London. That doesn’t mean you don’t want to live there.
it seems to me that you are stuck in a particular mind set which is leading you to view every option as negative, in which case nothing is ever going to change.

I've never been to Leeds so I don't have a view on it. I know that train prices make it very hard to live in the north if your friends and family and work are all in the south. 

And it's true that I am in that mindset. I am mentally exhausted by years of renting and house shares and house prices rising much faster than I can save. I don't think it's a case of me viewing everything as negative. They are all bad options. 

Longwalker

I would say your assessment of other cities are the blinkered view of someone who's never been north of the gap, and believe me, I was the exact same when I was a south Londoner , I didnt need to know about up north, I thought it was grim

Ive now had my eyes opened because I have travelled and stayed in -  Liverpool loads of times, prefer it to London ( fantastic vibrant city with lots of work, money is being poured into it ) Newcastle, another fantastic city with opportunities , Edinburgh, Glasgow , York, Leeds , Dublin and Belfast , all vibrant cities with work and affordable housing 

As someone born and bred a south Londoner I honest to goodness thought London was the be all and end all, its not true. We left London, I was 42 and had never been the length of the country before that day. Now I travel the UK and never once have I felt the need to move back to London, even with family still there

Start looking for work in your field around the country, see whats on offer, then look at the area, house prices, take a weekend trip, see what its really like , do research online, go view some properties. But sitting in London bemoaning you are stuck is not going to change a single thing. 

Our son went to Australia on a years visa, he made friends there, he met a girl, he applied for residency and then citizenship. He worked his way up in his chosen path of hospitality , he flies around the world for his work, he has a  Sydney Harbourside apartment, we have just come back from his wedding in Italy where his friends travelled from all over the world to celebrate with him. He was 22 when he went, hes 35 now. He went with just £500 and a back pack , he had never been out of Northern Ireland in his life before then. People move all over the world, not just country for the opportunity they want 

[Deleted User]

Longwalker said:

I would say your assessment of other cities are the blinkered view of someone who's never been north of the gap, and believe me, I was the exact same when I was a south Londoner , I didnt need to know about up north, I thought it was grim

Ive now had my eyes opened because I have travelled and stayed in -  Liverpool loads of times, prefer it to London ( fantastic vibrant city with lots of work, money is being poured into it ) Newcastle, another fantastic city with opportunities , Edinburgh, Glasgow , York, Leeds , Dublin and Belfast , all vibrant cities with work and affordable housing 

As someone born and bred a south Londoner I honest to goodness thought London was the be all and end all, its not true. We left London, I was 42 and had never been the length of the country before that day. Now I travel the UK and never once have I felt the need to move back to London, even with family still there

Start looking for work in your field around the country, see whats on offer, then look at the area, house prices, take a weekend trip, see what its really like , do research online, go view some properties. But sitting in London bemoaning you are stuck is not going to change a single thing. 

Our son went to Australia on a years visa, he made friends there, he met a girl, he applied for residency and then citizenship. He worked his way up in his chosen path of hospitality , he flies around the world for his work, he has a  Sydney Harbourside apartment, we have just come back from his wedding in Italy where his friends travelled from all over the world to celebrate with him. He was 22 when he went, hes 35 now. He went with just £500 and a back pack , he had never been out of Northern Ireland in his life before then. People move all over the world, not just country for the opportunity they want 

People do move all over the world and I commend them. But usually there is a link. They have friends somewhere, they have family somewhere, a partner's family is somewhere. I can't spin a globe and put my finger down on a random location. I struggle to accept that there's no way to live like an adult within a reasonable distance of my job and family. It's not like i'm earning minimum wage. The system is broken. 

Thanks for your advice in any case. 

RHemmings

wildbilljones said:
 

People do move all over the world and I commend them. But usually there is a link. They have friends somewhere, they have family somewhere, a partner's family is somewhere. I can't spin a globe and put my finger down on a random location. I struggle to accept that there's no way to live like an adult within a reasonable distance of my job and family. It's not like i'm earning minimum wage. The system is broken. 

Thanks for your advice in any case. 

I've moved to live in several countries around the world and to cities within the UK. Including moving from London to somewhere smaller. In all cases, I made myself a new life where I ended up. 

I'd agree that the system is broken, but you need to work with the world we have because changing it in the long term takes too long. I'm not saying that people shouldn't work to change the system too, but also look out for yourself. 

Where I am: if I want to visit London I can. And, if I book far enough ahead I can do it for £10-20 return on the coach rather than taking the faster but more expensive train. 

If shared ownership in London works for you, then you can stay there. But, the costs of staying in London are in themselves going to seriously affect your future life. It's your choice. 

Is there someone you know and trust well enough who is in a situation that you can buy a flat together. Combining two incomes is going to make a huge difference to affordability, and you will be able to pay the mortgage off quicker. Then you'd both have shared ownership of half a flat each, and one can buy out the other and the other has a 50% deposit for something similar. Long time strategy, of course. 

EDIT: This got me thinking, and I just booked tickets on the coach to London return on the 25th of November. Cost me £15. It looks like the days of £10 return trips to London may be gone. 

snooksnj1

wildbilljones said:

Hi there,

I am a 35yo male from the UK. I’ve lived in houseshares in London for most of my adult life. I recently moved home because I became tired of living out of a bedroom in a rental home and rent prices kept increasing. 

I feel far too old to be at home but I don’t know where else to turn. I earn £40k a year and have £30k savings. I don’t earn enough to buy a property and I don’t earn enough to rent a one bed property. I feel lost and don’t know where to turn. My family say “just wait and something will come along”. I know it won’t, as things only get harder in this country. 

My life is on hold because I feel unable to start new relationships while living with my parents. It keeps me in a state of depression and disenchantment. 

What am I supposed to do? I’m genuinely at the end of my tether. I feel there’s no options at all for me to live like a professional adult. 

Just because  living in a penthouse along the Thames is out of your price range doesn't mean you don't have options. 

[Deleted User]

snooksnj1 said:

wildbilljones said:

Hi there,

I am a 35yo male from the UK. I’ve lived in houseshares in London for most of my adult life. I recently moved home because I became tired of living out of a bedroom in a rental home and rent prices kept increasing. 

I feel far too old to be at home but I don’t know where else to turn. I earn £40k a year and have £30k savings. I don’t earn enough to buy a property and I don’t earn enough to rent a one bed property. I feel lost and don’t know where to turn. My family say “just wait and something will come along”. I know it won’t, as things only get harder in this country. 

My life is on hold because I feel unable to start new relationships while living with my parents. It keeps me in a state of depression and disenchantment. 

What am I supposed to do? I’m genuinely at the end of my tether. I feel there’s no options at all for me to live like a professional adult. 

Just because  living in a penthouse along the Thames is out of your price range doesn't mean you don't have options. 

I don’t want a penthouse along the Thames. I want to not rent a box room with a microwave in it for £1400pcm plus bills. 

snooksnj1

wildbilljones said:

snooksnj1 said:

wildbilljones said:

Hi there,

I am a 35yo male from the UK. I’ve lived in houseshares in London for most of my adult life. I recently moved home because I became tired of living out of a bedroom in a rental home and rent prices kept increasing. 

I feel far too old to be at home but I don’t know where else to turn. I earn £40k a year and have £30k savings. I don’t earn enough to buy a property and I don’t earn enough to rent a one bed property. I feel lost and don’t know where to turn. My family say “just wait and something will come along”. I know it won’t, as things only get harder in this country. 

My life is on hold because I feel unable to start new relationships while living with my parents. It keeps me in a state of depression and disenchantment. 

What am I supposed to do? I’m genuinely at the end of my tether. I feel there’s no options at all for me to live like a professional adult. 

Just because  living in a penthouse along the Thames is out of your price range doesn't mean you don't have options. 

I don’t want a penthouse along the Thames. I want to not rent a box room with a microwave in it for £1400pcm plus bills. 

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/141387056#/floorplan?activePlan=1&id=media7&channel=RES_LET

fryedslyce

You could easily afford somewhere like this: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/141314831#/?channel=RES_BUY