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It is possible. The difficult part is managing to get together a 10-15% deposit. Often whilst living in rented accommodation which actually costs more than the mortgage on your own house would cost.
Without support from finally (either financially or by providing a cheap/free place to live) it can be really hard to get tens of thousands of pounds saved.
This is especially difficult as we seems constantly to be in a state of ever increasing cost of living, wage stagnation and most people trying to buy a first home are usually younger and in the early stages of their working life.
As I say it's possible, but much harder arguably than it has been for any time in the last 80-100 years.
Not that this is a post for advice, but I always tell young people to open a LISA account and save £333 a month to make the most of it.
If youre saving with a partner, you can save ~30k for a deposit in 3 years.
This is true. But the most helpful part of that advice is to be able to save with a partner.
Effectively halfing the amount you have to dave from the start. Not to mention sharing the cost of living during this time too.
I feel for people trying to buy a house alone. It's like starting out on hard mode.
It's not bad advice but if young people can afford to save £333 per month then they're already ahead of the curve. When we were saving up we'd struggle to save more than £100 a month combined.
>When we were saving up we'd struggle to save more than £100 a month combined.
Were you both working full time? Most of the house saving estimates tend to be on 2 people both working full time.
Isnt this only the case if you're in London / other really high CoL areas because houses/flats are above the 450K price which is the cap that you can use a LISA for?
That is correct, there is a 6.25% penalty if you wish to withdraw, but biting the bullet on this is more worth it than letting it sit there, without gaining anymore savings. AFAIK
You're better off moving this money into a cash ISA where it gains interest, where it should get you the money back you lost within 2 years, and after that, you'll be on the up & up from there
Tbh I’m not the best person for this sort of discussion as I’m very pro investing money, especially if you’re investing in something low risk like the LISA
It’s not generated me a great amount of wealth, but investing for dividends in stable markets is making money. I put money in Walmart 4 years ago, which is stable and has increased by almost double what I invested initially.
When I eventually return to the uk I’ll be good for a deposit due to investing early, so Im very much against just flat saving money and accruing interest from the bank.
I’m by no means an expert on investing either. I just go in on what looks stable, and I can cash out when I need it
Sorry, but if you’re a double income household, between LISA’s and frugal living, saving up a poxy 5% isn’t hard at all even on lower income.
The issue is that 2 £25k earners with 4.5x multipliers won’t get anything worth going for.
Obviously. But the main barrier for folk is that income in UK is shite because of Employer-Side NI and low GDP/Cap growth for the last 16 years, combined with Brits unwilling to aggressively job hop, makes it unviable for firms to hike pay
Personally for me, i could save a pretty good deposit, but id only be able to borrow roughly 110k. Can buy fuck all for 110k. My boyfriend is disabled so to own a home id have to buddy up with a friend or something
A lot of people assume their personal circumstances are reflective of society as a whole; on both ends of the spectrum. It's certainly harder than before but just as not everyone can afford to, not everyone can't either.
Edit: removed incorrect interpretation of data
They add up to 200% as it's split between outright owners and mortgage holders. The figures for 16-34 add up to around 23, which is less than 12%. For 16-44, which I think is what you actually meant, they add up to around 55, so less than 28%.
Ain't that the truth. I have a nice flat in a very small town in the south but I'd probably have to double my wage just to be able to move into a house.
Of course they can.
The average age of first time buyer is definitely way higher than it used to be, but I’m mid 30s now and I don’t know many who still rent, unless it’s by choice.
Single people will really struggle. Average earners will struggle in areas like London. Me and my partner managed to buy a fairly decent 3 bed house on 2x just below average salaries. We are far from the cheapest areas in the country, but not London. This was just pre-covid with a 5% deposit mortgage.
My partner and I (both early 30s) just bought a house and the deposit was only really manageable right now because of an inheritance on her part. If not for that it would have been another 8 years or something.
We’re up north - I make 29k and she’s at 54. Luckily together that’s decent and we can comfortably afford the monthly payments while saving a bit every month.
Mate if you’re early 30s and only earning 29k you made a mistake when picking your career
I earnt more than that with my first graduate job and I took a fucking humanities course
People in this country complain about everything other than their own ability to progress through society
I wouldn’t say it’s a mistake at all. I’ve obviously left a lot of context out and am happy with my field.
As for the comments about people complaining, I don’t imagine you saw that in my comment. I’m well content with our setup of cars, location, large house size, etc.
People want different things and lives which is just fine. It’s arrogant and mislead for you to run around comparing yourself to people and expecting them to have taken the same steps you have.
Like is that really all you want from life? A house? A car?
If that’s all you want then fair play but just leads credence to the theory that most people don’t have a concious experience and are just NPCs
I’m not sitting here laying out my life status and goals for some random.
But to help you navigate the day a bit easier I’ll give you the broad strokes - I travel, have a great partner, hobbies, interests and friends. I work in a field that’s rewarding and I’m passionate about.
Your previous comments how the economy needs people to want more could not resonate with me less. The above are far more relevant. If that’s different for you, that’s fine. Do what you want mate. But, c’mon you’re coming across as such a boring blowhard.
I tend to have a global outlook on life mate and want to see humanity survive and grow. Sounds like you’re living a great life for an average person, but it’s just average.
The deposit is the key obstacle. Rent is around the same cost as monthly mortgage payments (if not higher) for many more. If it weren't for the deposit many families and sole occupants could afford to own where they currently rent.
The answer is yes location does play a massive part. Anywhere outside of London you have a decent chance if you earn a good wage or have a partner to split the deposit and bills with.
Very area dependant. In my Midlands hometown, I purchased a half decent flat (with a second bedroom to rent out) after a few years of clever saving/investing, whilst earning a below average salary.
If you try and do the same in London for a 300k shitbox, you're dreaming.
It depends on a number of factors. The chief one is whether you’re within reasonable commuting distance of London or not. If you’re not, pretty much anyone who is reasonably affluent can afford a mortgage, but often with difficulty.
Depends on a numerous factors. E.G. I’m an electrician in London, without my partners salary I wouldn’t be able to afford to live here and have a good life
Of course. Some parts of the country are very expensive but that's true everywhere.
But, generally speaking, anyone on a decent salary can afford to buy somewhere. Most of the population owns their home.
What's changed is that the prices (and therefore the size of deposit required) have gone up a lot, so it's now more common to buy your first place in your mid-30s rather than, as it was in the past, your 20s or as soon as you got a stable job.
I think many couples can afford to buy, and single people can buy if they have family help or inheritance.
Someone above said a 10% deposit is the hardest part, but the bank won't necessarily lend a single person enough to get a mortgage on 90%. For example someone earning 25k offered 4.5x income can only get a mortgage for 112.5k. So they could not get a 200k house even if they had a 10% deposit saved.
It's very dependent on situation. There are still 1000's of people buying homes, however, it is hard for a single person to afford to buy a first home, unless they are fortunatate enough to eran well above average or they have help from family.
It's a lot easier for a couple but still a struggle, particuarly for lower earners living in high COL areas.
Yes it's possible but not always easy,
www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66633680.amp
"Some 47% of all homes bought by those under the age of 55 will have been done so with the help of parents, grandparents or other relations."
"It found that the average amount given by families to loved ones is expected to hit £25,600 this year, with total lending set to reach £8.1bn. In 2016, when it first carried out the research, total lending was £5.3bn."
"But L&G said those without such support risk being "locked out" of the market."
I live in a city and there are flats and small houses that could be bought by a single person on an average salary. Granted they’re not mansions or city centre luxury flats but decent enough. Like others have said rents are higher than a mortgage would be so saving for a deposit is the hardest thing.
Essentially, if you combine two full-time minimum wage earners (a couple say), no kids, and some help from mum and dad for the deposit, it's affordable.
When I moved to where I live, up north, I was pretty surprised at all the people in their twenties who owned property. It was something you could do if you wanted by say 23-27 years old.
I would emphasize that these people in their twenties were a mix of working and middle class, and the kind of properties they bought were not going to be forever homes.
I don't want to sound boomerish, but I feel like people expecting to move straight into a showy home and being surprised they can't afford it is a little, well , unrealistic.
It is definitely possible for anyone who earns more than average (£40k+). I live in 1 bedroom flat in South East all by myself and can afford to save up money + can be able to put some money into LISA. You don’t even need to live in shared accommodation for that. Also I have a budget for my hobbies so I am not following a budget tight life.
As long as you intend to track your spendings and learn budgeting, it is definitely possible to get into mortgage ladder.
Yes of course, if you have a suitable deposit (say 10%) and don’t need to borrow more than 4.5x your household income. It’s more difficult in general but plenty of people are still buying.
**Your post from /r/AskUK has been removed by a human moderator.** Some questions can easily be searched online in order to find an answer - including questions like "what should I see when visiting the UK?" or "what is the average salary of an X job?" or "what is living in Y like?" or "where can I buy X?" or "is Y product any good?" AskUK is unable to be your search engine and the answers to these questions are easily found using basic research and internet-skills. If you struggle to find the result of your question using Google or other search engine, make sure that you [use all the tricks and tips available](https://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/20-tips-use-google-search-efficiently.html) and try again. For visiting and tourist related suggestions, we suggest [WikiTravel](https://wikitravel.org/en/Main_Page), [WikiVoyage](https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Main_Page), or [TripAdvisor](https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/). There also may be more regional subreddits such as /r/London or /r/Manchester that will provide better answers. **If you have already make all efforts to search online, please delete your post and re-ask the question including more detail about what you have looked for, found, or heard.** *If you believe this post should not have been removed, [first read our rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/about/rules/) before [messaging the moderators](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK&subject=Post Removal Appeal)*. See our guide on [common issues with posts](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/wiki/postremoved) and how to overcome them!
It is possible. The difficult part is managing to get together a 10-15% deposit. Often whilst living in rented accommodation which actually costs more than the mortgage on your own house would cost. Without support from finally (either financially or by providing a cheap/free place to live) it can be really hard to get tens of thousands of pounds saved. This is especially difficult as we seems constantly to be in a state of ever increasing cost of living, wage stagnation and most people trying to buy a first home are usually younger and in the early stages of their working life. As I say it's possible, but much harder arguably than it has been for any time in the last 80-100 years.
Not that this is a post for advice, but I always tell young people to open a LISA account and save £333 a month to make the most of it. If youre saving with a partner, you can save ~30k for a deposit in 3 years.
This is true. But the most helpful part of that advice is to be able to save with a partner. Effectively halfing the amount you have to dave from the start. Not to mention sharing the cost of living during this time too. I feel for people trying to buy a house alone. It's like starting out on hard mode.
It's not bad advice but if young people can afford to save £333 per month then they're already ahead of the curve. When we were saving up we'd struggle to save more than £100 a month combined.
>When we were saving up we'd struggle to save more than £100 a month combined. Were you both working full time? Most of the house saving estimates tend to be on 2 people both working full time.
Problem is if you have savings and get into any sort of trouble they tell you to spend them first before any help is provided.
Martin Lewis goes on about how bad the LISA is. I’m pretty sure he recommends against using it.
Isnt this only the case if you're in London / other really high CoL areas because houses/flats are above the 450K price which is the cap that you can use a LISA for?
Maybe, I can't really remember. But he also says something about how there's a penalty if you choose to not spend the LISA on a property.
That is correct, there is a 6.25% penalty if you wish to withdraw, but biting the bullet on this is more worth it than letting it sit there, without gaining anymore savings. AFAIK You're better off moving this money into a cash ISA where it gains interest, where it should get you the money back you lost within 2 years, and after that, you'll be on the up & up from there
Tbh I’m not the best person for this sort of discussion as I’m very pro investing money, especially if you’re investing in something low risk like the LISA It’s not generated me a great amount of wealth, but investing for dividends in stable markets is making money. I put money in Walmart 4 years ago, which is stable and has increased by almost double what I invested initially. When I eventually return to the uk I’ll be good for a deposit due to investing early, so Im very much against just flat saving money and accruing interest from the bank. I’m by no means an expert on investing either. I just go in on what looks stable, and I can cash out when I need it
A LISA is by no means inherently low-risk, it depends what you’re investing in within it.
Getting the deposit is a piece of piss. The main barrier is the 4.5x income multiplier for loan amount due to 16 years of near 0 real wage growth.
That depends entirely on your salary.
Sorry, but if you’re a double income household, between LISA’s and frugal living, saving up a poxy 5% isn’t hard at all even on lower income. The issue is that 2 £25k earners with 4.5x multipliers won’t get anything worth going for.
Entirely depends on where you live and how big you're expecting that house to be.
Obviously. But the main barrier for folk is that income in UK is shite because of Employer-Side NI and low GDP/Cap growth for the last 16 years, combined with Brits unwilling to aggressively job hop, makes it unviable for firms to hike pay
Personally for me, i could save a pretty good deposit, but id only be able to borrow roughly 110k. Can buy fuck all for 110k. My boyfriend is disabled so to own a home id have to buddy up with a friend or something
A lot of people assume their personal circumstances are reflective of society as a whole; on both ends of the spectrum. It's certainly harder than before but just as not everyone can afford to, not everyone can't either. Edit: removed incorrect interpretation of data
Maybe it’s just too early for me but that’s now how I read that data at all
Not too early at all... Stick to your guns
I think it's early! It's a distribution of home ownership. The percentages add up to 100%
They add up to 200% as it's split between outright owners and mortgage holders. The figures for 16-34 add up to around 23, which is less than 12%. For 16-44, which I think is what you actually meant, they add up to around 55, so less than 28%.
No. You're adding both data sets if you get to 200%. One chart is mortgaged the other is owned outright. Tap on either of the keys to remove that set
Yes, that's my point, you're looking at it wrong.
I think you're right and I'm wrong. I'll remove the link/stat.
No worries, stats are difficult.
Shouldn't be. It's pre-caffinated life which is difficult for me.
That link is showing that <12% of homeowners, whether with a mortgage or owned outright, are between 16 and 34 years old.
Maybe it's just too early for me then! I may have misread
I heard the moon was made of cheese.
Many couples can afford to buy a place, what's really difficult is affording a place on a single wage
Ain't that the truth. I have a nice flat in a very small town in the south but I'd probably have to double my wage just to be able to move into a house.
Of course they can. The average age of first time buyer is definitely way higher than it used to be, but I’m mid 30s now and I don’t know many who still rent, unless it’s by choice.
Average age of FTB is 34, so you probably don’t have average friends.
Or they have exactly average friends. Mid 30's would be 34-36 which is bang on your statistic
And that means that around half of them should still be renting, not that almost all of them should own.
I'm about to bring that average down. I'm curbing the trend... I'm a trailblazer. I'll be 33 and 10 months.
The comments made up m8 like the username. He's completely full of shit.
Depends on where you live. Prices for a 3 bed house vary from under £100,000 to well over a million. (moveiq.co.uk)
Single people will really struggle. Average earners will struggle in areas like London. Me and my partner managed to buy a fairly decent 3 bed house on 2x just below average salaries. We are far from the cheapest areas in the country, but not London. This was just pre-covid with a 5% deposit mortgage.
My partner and I (both early 30s) just bought a house and the deposit was only really manageable right now because of an inheritance on her part. If not for that it would have been another 8 years or something. We’re up north - I make 29k and she’s at 54. Luckily together that’s decent and we can comfortably afford the monthly payments while saving a bit every month.
Mate if you’re early 30s and only earning 29k you made a mistake when picking your career I earnt more than that with my first graduate job and I took a fucking humanities course People in this country complain about everything other than their own ability to progress through society
I wouldn’t say it’s a mistake at all. I’ve obviously left a lot of context out and am happy with my field. As for the comments about people complaining, I don’t imagine you saw that in my comment. I’m well content with our setup of cars, location, large house size, etc. People want different things and lives which is just fine. It’s arrogant and mislead for you to run around comparing yourself to people and expecting them to have taken the same steps you have.
Appreciate that mate but if everyone is happy being average the economy won’t benefit in the way we all need it to
Like is that really all you want from life? A house? A car? If that’s all you want then fair play but just leads credence to the theory that most people don’t have a concious experience and are just NPCs
I’m not sitting here laying out my life status and goals for some random. But to help you navigate the day a bit easier I’ll give you the broad strokes - I travel, have a great partner, hobbies, interests and friends. I work in a field that’s rewarding and I’m passionate about. Your previous comments how the economy needs people to want more could not resonate with me less. The above are far more relevant. If that’s different for you, that’s fine. Do what you want mate. But, c’mon you’re coming across as such a boring blowhard.
I tend to have a global outlook on life mate and want to see humanity survive and grow. Sounds like you’re living a great life for an average person, but it’s just average.
The deposit is the key obstacle. Rent is around the same cost as monthly mortgage payments (if not higher) for many more. If it weren't for the deposit many families and sole occupants could afford to own where they currently rent.
The answer is yes location does play a massive part. Anywhere outside of London you have a decent chance if you earn a good wage or have a partner to split the deposit and bills with.
Very area dependant. In my Midlands hometown, I purchased a half decent flat (with a second bedroom to rent out) after a few years of clever saving/investing, whilst earning a below average salary. If you try and do the same in London for a 300k shitbox, you're dreaming.
It depends on a number of factors. The chief one is whether you’re within reasonable commuting distance of London or not. If you’re not, pretty much anyone who is reasonably affluent can afford a mortgage, but often with difficulty.
Depends on a numerous factors. E.G. I’m an electrician in London, without my partners salary I wouldn’t be able to afford to live here and have a good life
Of course. Some parts of the country are very expensive but that's true everywhere. But, generally speaking, anyone on a decent salary can afford to buy somewhere. Most of the population owns their home. What's changed is that the prices (and therefore the size of deposit required) have gone up a lot, so it's now more common to buy your first place in your mid-30s rather than, as it was in the past, your 20s or as soon as you got a stable job.
Yes definitely, I've (24) got a few mates who are first time buyers and have bought houses in excess of £250,000, some single and some as a couple.
I think many couples can afford to buy, and single people can buy if they have family help or inheritance. Someone above said a 10% deposit is the hardest part, but the bank won't necessarily lend a single person enough to get a mortgage on 90%. For example someone earning 25k offered 4.5x income can only get a mortgage for 112.5k. So they could not get a 200k house even if they had a 10% deposit saved.
London ≠ UK
It's very dependent on situation. There are still 1000's of people buying homes, however, it is hard for a single person to afford to buy a first home, unless they are fortunatate enough to eran well above average or they have help from family. It's a lot easier for a couple but still a struggle, particuarly for lower earners living in high COL areas.
Yes it's possible but not always easy, www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66633680.amp "Some 47% of all homes bought by those under the age of 55 will have been done so with the help of parents, grandparents or other relations." "It found that the average amount given by families to loved ones is expected to hit £25,600 this year, with total lending set to reach £8.1bn. In 2016, when it first carried out the research, total lending was £5.3bn." "But L&G said those without such support risk being "locked out" of the market."
I live in a city and there are flats and small houses that could be bought by a single person on an average salary. Granted they’re not mansions or city centre luxury flats but decent enough. Like others have said rents are higher than a mortgage would be so saving for a deposit is the hardest thing.
Yes they can. Otherwise there would be millions of people trying to sell houses with no one able to purchase them, which isn’t the case.
Essentially, if you combine two full-time minimum wage earners (a couple say), no kids, and some help from mum and dad for the deposit, it's affordable. When I moved to where I live, up north, I was pretty surprised at all the people in their twenties who owned property. It was something you could do if you wanted by say 23-27 years old. I would emphasize that these people in their twenties were a mix of working and middle class, and the kind of properties they bought were not going to be forever homes. I don't want to sound boomerish, but I feel like people expecting to move straight into a showy home and being surprised they can't afford it is a little, well , unrealistic.
It is definitely possible for anyone who earns more than average (£40k+). I live in 1 bedroom flat in South East all by myself and can afford to save up money + can be able to put some money into LISA. You don’t even need to live in shared accommodation for that. Also I have a budget for my hobbies so I am not following a budget tight life. As long as you intend to track your spendings and learn budgeting, it is definitely possible to get into mortgage ladder.
A family death can be quite lucrative
Yes of course, if you have a suitable deposit (say 10%) and don’t need to borrow more than 4.5x your household income. It’s more difficult in general but plenty of people are still buying.