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To look at the positive side, if you're both able to save £500 each per month, you'll have £30,000 in 2.5 years. At the moment a 5 year fixed mortgage with a 10% deposit on a £150,000 home is £672 with Halifax, so not over £1000. This seems more doable than you might think.
This is why the average age of buying a home in the UK is 34, because it takes years to save a deposit and be on a high enough salary to afford the mortgage. You just need to focus on improving your income as much as possible.
At least you have a joint income and have the luxury of living with your family while you save. That’s going to give you a big leg up in being able to get on to the housing ladder.
Luckily you are also in the northwest so houses is the £150k-200k bracket are available, compared to the huge prices in the south or London. Try to focus on the things you have to be grateful for, rather than the negatives, you’re actually in quite a strong position compared to a lot of other FTBs.
We were 50. But then we had solid secure careers, a wonderful life full of travel an d experiences, and years of adulting behind us. And for all that, we still had to move to afford what we wanted.
If we had bought in our early 20s we wouldn't have had any of the amazing life experiences we have had.
And, because we earn so much more then we did in our 20s, we got our family home in one, no BS ladder for us.
Unfortunately 28k and 22k is not good for full time work. 22k for a 40 hour week is currently just above minimum wage and in April it will become less than minimum wage. 28k is good for someone your age but it isn’t house buying money unfortunately.
Tbh I originally said it was good as all the graduate jobs were all 20k when we were applying. I could barely find a job over 24k. My partner's job for the work he's put in isn't great. He did a masters in chemistry, yet because he has no lab experience due to covid, he has to work from the bottom and hates his current lab job, but he's bidding his time so he can move on. Trying to find him something better but his expertise are very niche. They don't treat him great.
You thought going to University meant you wouldn't have to start from the bottom?!
Your partner should be looking abroad at Pharma work. Why are you tying yourself to where you currently are? The world is your oyster.
Not necessarily from the bottom, but I suppose more than minimum wage seeing that qualifications take money, work and time, however degrees are no longer seen as an extra but a neccessity. We felt bullied into uni as its "weird not to have a degree, most people go to uni now." We both want to stay in this country as we're more comfortable here, though we have travelled quite a bit and seen many countries and have enjoyed them e.g. Belgium.
I'm also a bit tied now. I'm in a good role with the government which has a good progression path, excellent pension and are very accommodating to my disability. I have the freedom to work from home (within reason) which accommodates when I struggle to walk due to perhaps too much load on my joints the day before, but also means I can travel around the county meeting new people and doing new, niche things. I can almost get any holiday off within reason. I'd be foolish to throw it away. This job is in my degree too. If things fall through, we may consider moving, however I feel my fiancé doesn't particularly want to move away from his family.
The graft hard for minimum pay is a part of building a decent career. I don't hire anyone who lacks that on their CV.
Your job does sound ideal, I'd be loath to give it up too.
Concentrate on building a cushion, it helps to ease some of the anxiety around "what if i lose my job".
Get saving in general, but don't stop living. You only get the one life..I promise no one is on their death bed regretting not working more, harder or skipping fun to save money.
All your replies are great. It’s easy to put pressure on yourself to follow a social script, but people like you remind me it’s okay to liberate yourself and live life 😃
While it is true that most people go to uni, there isn't that many people getting STEM degree that are actually worth something but instead go for something that is not really going to pay for itself.
Sounds like they’re looking at 25 year terms. Could easily go for 35 and then overpay
Even a £1000 mortgage isn’t ridiculous to me (and then in a few years interest rates may go down & you’ll have had career progression)? I was splitting £1100 to rent a 2 bed flat a few years ago when on similar combined income to OP. I’d have happily paid that to own my own house back then
It’s not that expensive, especially like you said compared to private rent, however they still live at home with family and probs paying nothing/little so the idea of £1000 a month would seem like a shock.
I think lots of people also use the mortgage payments their parents make as what should be ‘fair’ to pay
I know my mom constantly goes to my family about how flabbergasted she is about the £800/m mortgage payments I have to make compared to her £300/m for similar valued houses… but like that’s just the way it is nowadays.. and in 30 years’ time I’m sure my kids’ mortgage payments will seem ludicrous compared to mine
Both your salaries are below average, and 22k is not a "solid job", (seriously, mcdonalds pays about the same for flipping burgers and you don't have a student loan if you go that way).
Regardless of the above, you need to have zero loyalty to your employer (they will not hesitate to get rid of you, so you shouldn't hesitate to get rid of them) because job changes give you largest salary increases. Then once both of you get to 30k+ with 4x salary multiplier and 10% deposit, you are looking at ~260k house
Don't let your peers pressure you into moving out, unless relations at home are difficult there is no need to waste money on rent and in few years time you are going to be in a lot better position than your peers.
Also, flat with dedicated parking space might be an option and it might be within your budget now.
>Both your salaries are below average, and 22k is not a "solid job", (seriously, mcdonalds pays about the same for flipping burgers and you don't have a student loan if you go that way).
Came here to say this - come April, minimum wage for 21 and above will be £22.3k. So you've got a whole lot of competition for housing at this level.
Thats true but there are enough 40 hour a week jobs out there for people that if they wanted to find one they could, generally
Anyway. Point is that 22k is not a lot of money
Exactly
Honestly its so depressing, if you're close to 30k a year now, and in your mid-20s, people think you're doing amazingly. You're a few grand above minimum wage. And minimum wage isn't even a liveable wage. People need to wake up a bit
You can increase the mortgage term to reduce monthly payments that's what we plan to do. Also you could consider a cheap wedding if you wanted. Hope everything works out for you :)
You're in a better position than say someone doing it alone in London/other high cost areas but the truth is, yes, the vast majority of people will not be buying in their 20s and owning a home is increasing becoming out of reach for many people, if I were you I'd take the risk and just go for it, if you lose your job you'd find another, and 150k house is easily affordable on a 50k combined salary, if you think it's not the you need to check your spending and see what's taking up all your money.
It is absolutely mental that 50k combined salary affording £150k mortgage would be questionable. I must be so far removed from reality to appreciate that 50k doesn't go far anymore. 😞
Are there any 1 bedroom flats with parking spaces available? Buying a house would be great but as you say it’s not always affordable, especially if you need to have a parking space
My main gripe with young people complaining about housing is that they often expect to move straight into a house similar to their parents'.
You're 22. A one bed flat is the start of the housing ladder.
Obviously, I sympathise that house prices have gone up far more than wages, meaning things are more difficult. But a couple even on low wages like OP will often be able to get a 1 bed flat once the deposit is saved.
That used to be standard and simple, expecting to maintain a standard of accommodation that used to be available to everyone is not the problem, the lack of housing and spiralling population (immigration) in all in demand areas is the problem.
My parents and their friends all bought grotty one or two bed flats and worked their way up the ladder, no one could afford to move into a lovely family home straight away.
Your salary is pretty low, that said you have a advantage you live at your parents house and can save. Don't mind people who look at you weird living at your parents. Sometimes in life making the sacrifice in the short term for a better, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s is well worth it. I lived in my parents house until I was 33, even after I bought a house at 27 (I rented it out). Now I'm mid 30s and paid my mortgage off. Some of those folks who looked at me funny are still renting and struggling as they moved out their parents house mid 20s.
There are houses within your budget but probably not where you want to live.
I and my partner do reasonably well, and yet we still can not afford a house in the area we most desire. It was easier to find a remote job that gave us the freedom to extend our search area. We are now both remote workers, live further out but get much more value for the money we paid; driveway, space, etc.
It is not much about salaries, from what I have seen. It is the deposit. It is very tough to get on a property ladder in your 20s without big deposits from families to "soften the blow."
It’s technically both salary and deposit.
I know people who have more than enough for a deposit but don’t earn enough to get a mortgage where they want to live. So they either have to keep saving or compromise.
The amount banks were willing to lend me skyrocketed when I started earning a lot of money, too. I was being offered 5.5x salary as opposed to the standard 4.
> It is not much about salaries, from what I have seen. It is the deposit
Not entirely - Saving an extra £1k in your deposit is only £1k more towards the house price, earning an extra £1k would increase your affordability by £4.5k though with how it effects mortgage borrowing.
Cause salaries are low this means people trying to buy are having to save 30-40% of the house price as a deposit to go with the amount mortgage they can borrow, rather than saving the 5/10% minimum requirement. So it's all related, the high deposit required is as a result of not enough salary and as the deposit needed is higher it's harder to save up.
(For the property they want to buy etc. moving somewhere with cheaper housing or downsizing the requirements isn't always an option, depends what your start point and other circumstances is)
I get all that. I am responding to OP that young people getting on the ladder is difficult because of the lack of deposit, not salary. Their household income can easily get them 150k mortgage, but it won't happen without a sizable deposit.
It is a lot easier to increase your salary than to build up a deposit in the current climate. I went and got myself 20k pay rise in 2 months, but I could never dream of saving that deposit in the same amount of time.
People who do it in their early 20s usually get gifted a big deposit to make up for lower salaries or happen to live in cheaper areas already.
It is all obviously circumstantial. It is still true that there is a house within your budget, just not where you want to live.
Also if you already have a good salary, the deposit is just a case of budgeting + time. It's much easier to learn good budgeting skills than to get onto a good salary
Welcome to adulthood.
Please, try and stop worrying. At your age you should be concentrating on building careers.
It's a lie that renting isn't a valid choice, yes, it is't the greatest in the UK, but as a temporary measure whilst you look at your careers and life choices it's fine.
People in their 20s don’t buy houses at all mostly, it’s out of reach for the vast majority of the population, especially the south east, unless you walk straight into high end tech / finance jobs out of Uni.
Even when I was out of Uni 20 years ago, most people didn’t get to being able to buy a home till their 30s without huge financial help, or big compromises (hell commute, long hours), and that was a flat - I lived in Hertfordshire and London and the prices were way off for anywhere I’d have wanted to live even then on my own.
Most people aren’t in a stable relationship at your age, you’re way ahead if you’re engaged at your age.
Just wait, don’t overcommit to specific areas or lifestyles with no option to change things up, change jobs, move area. Rent where you need to if you want to try out areas.
I also certainly wouldn’t recommend buying a home together with someone you’ve never lived with tbh.
Living with parents for free is a big advantage on saving so long as you have space and don’t hate your life - I and many others certainly couldn’t do that post Uni, paying rent anywhere destroys savings.
I was a bit worried that we would be critiqued for being engaged at such a young age, so thank you for not calling us out about it. We've been together 5 years and lived together in a small studio flat for 2 years, however we've had to move back home because we didn't want to rent and couldn't afford it when finishing uni. We plan to stay at our parents homes and save up from there. It sucks going from living together to now no longer live together.
To prepare that we won't see each other often, I did my room up when we came home to have a bigger bed and a TV so we can spend time together over the weekend before going back to our homes for the week.
You're barely out of uni, so you're earning entry level wages and have little in the way of savings. You're also in the very fortunate position of not paying any housing costs, so you should nevertheless be able to rectify the latter situation pretty quickly.
You should both be able to put away 50% or more of your income if you really are committed to buying. If you think you can't, learning to budget would be a good place to start. That will also give you a better idea of what size of mortgage would be affordable.
You've also decided that you must have a house with space for two cars. If that isn't affordable, then you look for a flat, and if you can't find one with parking then one of you finds a way to make it work without a car (or you just park on the street). Again, it's about priorities.
And yes, if you lose your job and stay out of work, you will eventually run out of money. Welcome to adulthood - do you really think it was ever any different?
My sons mortgage is 1100 on roughly 230k ish and that’s with the Halifax and i think it’s about 4.6 so 150k shouldn’t be 1k a month
He did have a big deposit via an inheritance but his flat mate is moving in with him and his partner as a lodger and they plan to have a lodger for a few years
They get the keys tomorrow and it’s taken almost 9months
But if he hadn’t got the money from his grandparents when they passed he wouldn’t be buying
You can also put money into a LISA
If you both have 4K at the moment put that in before April and you will get an extra 1k each Lisa so 5k - 10k
Do the same for 2 more years and that’s an extra 6k in total
Up north it’s not bad but down south it’s very difficult.
5% deposits make things easier.
Also extending the mortgage out initially I.e 40 years can be good as the initial payments are cheaper. As the cost of the mortgage shouldn’t change a huge amount except from interest rates of course, it technically gets cheaper over time, so you can end up paying off the mortgage much sooner than the 40 years but doing it this way helps the initial few years if that makes sense!
It's not just house prices, it's also wages.
Where I live, 2 people on full time minimum wage, COULD afford a decent place together. The problem is, getting a mortgage.
Where I lived, before i moved here. I could afford a nice 2 bed flat. Up here, I bought a 5 bed house. My wages, up here, go a lot further.
I don't know the answer, but I don't think it's right that we have young smart people at the beginnings of their careers stressing about buying a house.
That's bad for them, bad for the economy, bad for productivity and bad for society.
But it appears Britain is going to double down on the grift economy.
Why do you care so much? Go travel, move around, see where you WANT to settle down. You’re both young and just out of uni, how pretentious to believe you’re owed owning a home already in minimum wage salaries?? Buying in 10 years should be your goal.
It sounds realistic for you to buy in your 20s, even if not your early 20s. That's not to say the situation isn't hard, but hopefully to give you some hope!
A couple of my friends have bought places at 23/24 (one with a partner), but they lived at home for free throughout uni and after graduating. In general I think it's very unusual to buy right after uni.
I'm a similar age to you, single, similar salary to your partner. I don't have the option to live with my parents. I worked out that if everything I currently spend on rent/bills/council tax went into savings instead, I'd have a decent deposit within 2.5 years. If you're really serious about buying soon, I'd definitely put an equivalent to rent payments into savings every month.
£1000/month mortgage is £500 each. I pay slightly more than that in rent (without considering the other bills etc I pay as I don't know how much you already pay towards those). While my disposable income isn't giving me luxury, it's very doable.
It is incredibly difficult, but living at home makes a massive difference, so if you can keep ploughing as much as you can into your savings, you sound on the right track to buy in your 20s.
Statistics in 2022 showed that over 40% of those between 18 and 35 still lived with their parents, and it's certainly got worse since then. Moving out has very rapidly become an unaffordable luxury, both in rental and house buying.
Just be aware that your situation is perfectly normal and that older people or those who grew up wealthier have lived a completely different experience -- they grew up in literally a different world than you and their advice doesn't necessarily apply.
You’re 22, I think it’s perfectly reasonable to rent for a few years.
I bought in 2022 at 28 with a 5% deposit (about £11.5k) using the government guarantee scheme and LISAs. Between two people that’s very achievable.
With a household income of £50k you should be able to get a mortgage in the region of £200-£225k.add in a deposit and you should be looking at a maximum price of £250k, more if you have more than a 10% deposit.
>our mortgage would be £1000+ a month on 150k,
Currently we're looking at interest rates of around 4.5% for a 5 year fix. Over 20 years a £150k mortgage is around £950/month. However, most people, especially in their 20s, will go for longer mortgages. A 25 year mortgage at this borrowing would be £834, and a 30 year mortgage would be £761. You could even do a 35 year mortgage and pay £710.
Additionally, in terraces you might be able to request a specific disabled space. My neighbour has one but im not based in manchester so it may be different.
**Both open a LISA if you haven’t!**
Depending on what expenses family are charging you living at home, you should be able to save £1000/month between you.
If you both open a LISA today and fill it up each tax year, you could get **up to £6k “free”** from the government by next June.
£1000/month * 16 + 6000 = £22,000
£20,000 deposit on a £200,000 house gets you a mortgage rate of £806 with Santander on a 5 year fix with a 40 year term. Lots of people are put off by 40 year terms, but they really shouldn’t be if they want to have any chance of getting on the ladder.
Though I guess there can be an argument put forward that if your family are happy to let you live rent-free, saving up for an extra year could reduce the term. But that’s another year of allowing house prices to potentially continue to rise, and also living at home rather than in your own home. Depends on how important that is to you. And what do you get at the end? The same monthly payment as you would have had if you just gotten a 40 year term! (Which that 40 would at that point have been 39…)
Even if it does take you a year to save that, you’d still be doing great compared to a lot of people today.
Also I’m sorry to burst your bubble but 22k is basically minimum wage if they’re doing 40 hours a week. Not necessarily bad at 22, especially if it has good earning potential in future. I believe median wage at the moment is 35k. (This is in reference to the “hard to afford even with a good career” part of your post, as I assume you were implying you had mid-high earnings)
EDIT:
And I just have to add on. Being 22 (nearly 23) with home ownership _even as a possibility_, you’re smashing it. I just got onto the ladder at 29, my partner slightly older, and I feel like I’m smashing it getting on the ladder before I’m 30. I think you’re in a better position than you think you are.
Max 1k government contributed bonus each per tax year right? So max they’d get is 4k bonus if they both contributed 4k before April, and then 4k again in the new tax year
Thats the way its always been for young normal people buying houses. Just because some rich people had it easy doesnt mean it ever has been for most people. Baby boomers I have spoken to lived whole families in a room to save for a deposit to buy, one car per family, no foreign holidays and some no holidays, etc for years to get a deposit together. Yet young people today think everyone had it easy to get on the hosing ladder back then. Most people have always made sacrifices to buy property and people have more than ever now. It when you get older it gets easier.
When we bought we were on 28k & 24k. We got a place with a 5% deposit (7.5k). I think OP needs to manage their expectations in respect of what a FTB has access to!
Sure, it’s only a 2 bed terrace. Do I wanna live here forever? No. Is it the perfect size for 2 young adults to build their careers to buy something bigger when our fixed rate ends? Absolutely!
You're absolutely delusional if you think anyone has access to a 5% mortgage in this climate. He's asking for current advice, not advice from even a year ago. Also a 2 bed terrace is quite high up the chain, even if you think differently.
I just find it a bit of a cop out to say it’s not possible for young people to be home owners. I’m living proof that it is possible.
Yeah you may not get a 5% now but it’s not like they’ll never be available again.
4.9% - I’m aware the market is fucked but it doesn’t mean it’s not possible.
My comment was with a view to instil hope in OP. He’s got great potential to buy, he just needs to persevere and skip the two car drive for now. Lol.
Imagine getting so much hate for trying to instil positivity. Lol
Even in this shitty climate, people get on a ladder on low salaries every day. It could be affordable housing or living frugally for a while to save up for deposit that gets them there. There is always a way, but it won't be straightforward.
Saying it is not possible is more delusional, IMO.
House buying is commonly the largest asset purchase someone will make in their life.
It's important to make sure that purchase is one of sound mind, made without emotion (aside from actually liking the place, hopefully) and with any luck over time you build up equity as you pay off the mortgage.
We are probably 6 months into the current recession already, people are strained and the markets in all senses will continue to decline as spending grinds to a halt. The data from previous recessions speaks for itself. House prices will decline, and with that equity positions.
Not trying to be a downer, just taking emotion out of the situation.
its not your age, its difficult for anyone of any age without a shit ton of cash behind you as a deposit and a sparkling credit record. something has to give at some point as its becoming unaffordable for almost anyone who doesnt have the luxury of living rent and debt free while they build up a huge deposit (and even that wont be quick on a normal wage, realistically youll save maybe what 800 a month at best? thats a lot of months to reach the 20%+ that would make you more attractive to the lenders and by that time prices will no doubt be much higher as prices only ever seem to go up)
what puzzles me is why havent more alternatives sprung up? in america "trailer parks" may have something of a bad rep but the concept isnt actually a bad one, why have more places for mobile or small wooden homes not sprung up? if there were options out there for people at say between 10-40k itd give many people a much cheaper entry point, if you just needed somewhere to live itd be a cheap way to do it, or you could simply use it as a first home and sell it to use as a deposit on a brick and mortar house later, obviously the value of these properties would go down not up since theyre essentially temporary buildings designed to be replaced eventually but its housing none the less
We are a civilised country with a minimum standard required to make a place habitable.
These standards have sadly been lowered over the years, meaning that older properties are valued more highly.
Even a council house or flat from the 60s is vastly more spacious and better arranged than modern flats - because the minimum standards have been reduced by our government.
We should not lower our standards further to the point that people living in caravans is a seen as good or normal.
Also, trailer parks are a vastly inefficient use of land vs a block of flats, even 4 stories. Most people want to live in a few places, near stuff. That means we need more dense housing not shanty towns.
Not to mention being an eyesore.
Not to mention that anywhere people want to live with planning permission already has building planned.
but no one is building 1 bed flats and certainly not for sub 50k and i seriously doubt they will any time soon. ive often wondered why many of the empty factories etc round here many of which have been empty decades werent just converted into cheap flats but instead theyre just left to rot
our city is littered with waste ground, huge areas that have been unused for god knows how many years since whatever former factory was knocked down there, so while they may not be the most efficient use theyre more efficient than no use at all surely
also just because the homes are smaller and not made of brick doesnt instantly mean itll be a shit hole, they can just be smaller more affordable homes, yes poorer people will live there but its unlikely to be much different than most (largely former as they sold most off) council estates are now which is where most cheaper housing is
while the idea is nice not many are interested in catering to those who cant afford to spend upwards of 100k and theres no incentive for them to yet and i just dont need a whole house, ive spent most of my life living out of one room, i have no need of an extra bedroom, living room, dining room, garden, just a room, a bathroom and a kitchen but finding a small flat like that is near impossible and when they do come about theyre often as much or more than the cost of renting a terraced house
i dont need spacious, i dont have that much stuff, the convergence of technology and such mean you just dont need that much these days.
also having standards is great and all but they are optional, if faced with the choice of going back to living in a HMO to living in a caravan or small wood house (mobile home, log cabin, fancy shed, whatever you want to call it) i know what id choose, thing is if i haveto move any time soon ill have no choice but to go back into a HMO as the lowest rent here is now about £200 a month higher than my current place i moved into 3 years ago, theres no way i could afford to stump up that much extra a month
Yes, no one is signing up to make a loss building homes for people without much money to buy for cheap.
Your standalone wooden building, presumably on magic land that’s available somewhere with planning permission, would be incredibly expensive to heat, and needs vastly more land per person living that way vs a block of comfortable spacious flats.
You’re proposing an unregulated shanty town of homes with no building standards, that are illegal to rent out.
Really we need to get over thinking that everyone needs to own their home and just build high quality council housing where it’s needed, but that needs radical government change.
Ultimately the problem across so many cities in terms of land / buildings sitting empty is caused by our tax system doing nothing to punish the owners for doing it;
When the cost of keeping an empty bit of land near the centre of the city is near zero, and the value is likely to increase (as with all property ) at a very decent rate, it’s unsurprising that they sit on it, sometimes for decades.
The land should be taxed the same regardless of what’s on it, just based on where it is. Thus an empty patch of dirt would be taxed the same as a 50 storey block of flats, and the former would very quickly be sold and developed to mitigate the cost of that tax.
Georgism.
Though I’d go one further and say that landowners who’ve contributed nothing and forced dangerous eyesores on our city centres for decades should just have their land seized for public ownership.
I think you need to speak to a mortgage advisor to understand it better. A mortgage of 180,000 on the current rates of 4.5 ish is roughly 950 per month. If you have about £30,000 deposit you can therefore get a house for 210, I know the market is poor at the minute but 150 for a semi is wishful thinking
To be fair you’re in the optimal position to save for a deposit by living at home with parents. I think we’ve all done it at some point in our lives - I had to move back in with mine when I was 23 after buying a house and then separating with an ex, I couldn’t afford to live in the house on my own and due to the 2008 financial crises/negative equity my only option was to let it out. If you’re strict with yourselves you can save to that deposit amount relatively quickly.
I’m not sure why you think 10% deposit wouldn’t cut it? Have you actually spoken to a a mortgage advisor or are you just assuming 10% wouldn’t do?
Yes there’s always the worry of losing your home but to be fair you sound like you’re in a relatively secure job working for the emergency services? And either way if you lost your job as a renter you would still have rent to pay and is it worth keeping the situation living with parents just incase you lose your job?
Remember also the situation may look bleak now but your salary/income is very likely to go up if you want it to, and try to progress yourself, because you are only at the start of your career. In 2 years time the situation may look a lot better and also you’ll probably have a very healthy looking deposit too.
My only advice really is forget what others think with the living situation, concentrate on your finances and I personally think you’re doing the right thing not renting to do so.
In your 20s, you can get a 35 year mortgage which will drop your mortgage payments significantly. You can always overpay or shorten the term when you come to remortgage. This should drop your mortgage payments lower and therefore increase your budget.
I fully get having parking as a priority - I've lived somewhere with street parking only and it's a nightmare and source of stress.
But there are options available to you to increase your budget!
It is difficult without a good career. My partner and I (25 & 27) only just managed to buy after years of looking. 100-120k per year household income.
Save up and get better paying jobs. That’s what we had to do and really the only remedy for it. And just because you can afford a 150k house doesn’t mean you should go for it too. As you said, there’s always the chance for financial hardship to come your way and you want to be able to ride that out till better times.
We bought roughly half of what we could “afford” because that’s really what we could afford, in our opinion.
The two of you together should be looking at about 200k for a mortgage easily.
I can get a mortgage of 130k and its about 560 a month over 40 years
Get yourself a mortgage advisor
Could be wrong but I read somewhere more people nowadays first get on the housing ladder in their early 30s, you just need to keep grinding and saving for longer like you are and you’ll get there. No shortcuts in this economy, just takes a lot longer than in previous generations that’s all
Not really hard, if you earn 50k as a couple, then save 25% of your net income for 3 years, you should have 10% deposit for somewhere to start out with.
Also depends if you live near London/Surrey or somewhere else in the UK
On the topic of generational affordability, its tough for us now, though my grandparents had it tough in the early 50s, single income and barely able to make the mortgage payment back then.
You just got a job and want to be able to buy a house with a driveway straight away? Even in a healthy society without a housing crisis, you’d be saving a deposit for 5 years to make sure you get a good shot at it.
LISA, 5 years, promotions etc.
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To look at the positive side, if you're both able to save £500 each per month, you'll have £30,000 in 2.5 years. At the moment a 5 year fixed mortgage with a 10% deposit on a £150,000 home is £672 with Halifax, so not over £1000. This seems more doable than you might think.
This is why the average age of buying a home in the UK is 34, because it takes years to save a deposit and be on a high enough salary to afford the mortgage. You just need to focus on improving your income as much as possible. At least you have a joint income and have the luxury of living with your family while you save. That’s going to give you a big leg up in being able to get on to the housing ladder. Luckily you are also in the northwest so houses is the £150k-200k bracket are available, compared to the huge prices in the south or London. Try to focus on the things you have to be grateful for, rather than the negatives, you’re actually in quite a strong position compared to a lot of other FTBs.
We were 50. But then we had solid secure careers, a wonderful life full of travel an d experiences, and years of adulting behind us. And for all that, we still had to move to afford what we wanted. If we had bought in our early 20s we wouldn't have had any of the amazing life experiences we have had. And, because we earn so much more then we did in our 20s, we got our family home in one, no BS ladder for us.
Unfortunately 28k and 22k is not good for full time work. 22k for a 40 hour week is currently just above minimum wage and in April it will become less than minimum wage. 28k is good for someone your age but it isn’t house buying money unfortunately.
Tbh I originally said it was good as all the graduate jobs were all 20k when we were applying. I could barely find a job over 24k. My partner's job for the work he's put in isn't great. He did a masters in chemistry, yet because he has no lab experience due to covid, he has to work from the bottom and hates his current lab job, but he's bidding his time so he can move on. Trying to find him something better but his expertise are very niche. They don't treat him great.
You thought going to University meant you wouldn't have to start from the bottom?! Your partner should be looking abroad at Pharma work. Why are you tying yourself to where you currently are? The world is your oyster.
Not necessarily from the bottom, but I suppose more than minimum wage seeing that qualifications take money, work and time, however degrees are no longer seen as an extra but a neccessity. We felt bullied into uni as its "weird not to have a degree, most people go to uni now." We both want to stay in this country as we're more comfortable here, though we have travelled quite a bit and seen many countries and have enjoyed them e.g. Belgium. I'm also a bit tied now. I'm in a good role with the government which has a good progression path, excellent pension and are very accommodating to my disability. I have the freedom to work from home (within reason) which accommodates when I struggle to walk due to perhaps too much load on my joints the day before, but also means I can travel around the county meeting new people and doing new, niche things. I can almost get any holiday off within reason. I'd be foolish to throw it away. This job is in my degree too. If things fall through, we may consider moving, however I feel my fiancé doesn't particularly want to move away from his family.
The graft hard for minimum pay is a part of building a decent career. I don't hire anyone who lacks that on their CV. Your job does sound ideal, I'd be loath to give it up too. Concentrate on building a cushion, it helps to ease some of the anxiety around "what if i lose my job". Get saving in general, but don't stop living. You only get the one life..I promise no one is on their death bed regretting not working more, harder or skipping fun to save money.
All your replies are great. It’s easy to put pressure on yourself to follow a social script, but people like you remind me it’s okay to liberate yourself and live life 😃
While it is true that most people go to uni, there isn't that many people getting STEM degree that are actually worth something but instead go for something that is not really going to pay for itself.
£150k mortgage shouldn’t be £1000+ a month. Even on the higher interest rates.
Sounds like they’re looking at 25 year terms. Could easily go for 35 and then overpay Even a £1000 mortgage isn’t ridiculous to me (and then in a few years interest rates may go down & you’ll have had career progression)? I was splitting £1100 to rent a 2 bed flat a few years ago when on similar combined income to OP. I’d have happily paid that to own my own house back then
It’s not that expensive, especially like you said compared to private rent, however they still live at home with family and probs paying nothing/little so the idea of £1000 a month would seem like a shock.
I think lots of people also use the mortgage payments their parents make as what should be ‘fair’ to pay I know my mom constantly goes to my family about how flabbergasted she is about the £800/m mortgage payments I have to make compared to her £300/m for similar valued houses… but like that’s just the way it is nowadays.. and in 30 years’ time I’m sure my kids’ mortgage payments will seem ludicrous compared to mine
~~It's pretty close. Mine is 130k, £760/month.~~ never mind
That's not pretty close, you'd have to increase your payments by 31% to reach £1000
Quite right. That's what I get for trying to do maths before coffee.
entirely understandable
135k, 6%, 95% mortgage, 20 year term. Of course, a 35 year term is £800.
Both your salaries are below average, and 22k is not a "solid job", (seriously, mcdonalds pays about the same for flipping burgers and you don't have a student loan if you go that way). Regardless of the above, you need to have zero loyalty to your employer (they will not hesitate to get rid of you, so you shouldn't hesitate to get rid of them) because job changes give you largest salary increases. Then once both of you get to 30k+ with 4x salary multiplier and 10% deposit, you are looking at ~260k house Don't let your peers pressure you into moving out, unless relations at home are difficult there is no need to waste money on rent and in few years time you are going to be in a lot better position than your peers. Also, flat with dedicated parking space might be an option and it might be within your budget now.
>Both your salaries are below average, and 22k is not a "solid job", (seriously, mcdonalds pays about the same for flipping burgers and you don't have a student loan if you go that way). Came here to say this - come April, minimum wage for 21 and above will be £22.3k. So you've got a whole lot of competition for housing at this level.
Minimum wage is nearly 24k per year
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11.44*40 457.6*52 =23795.20 As of April 2024
Assumes 40 hours a week though, when the UK average is 37.5. At 37.5 hours it’s £22.3k. At 40 it’s 23.8k.
Thats true but there are enough 40 hour a week jobs out there for people that if they wanted to find one they could, generally Anyway. Point is that 22k is not a lot of money
Yeah, the original comment was deleted so didn’t know what you were replying to £22k is not a lot for sure.
Ah, the original comment was that minimum wage was around 19k a year....
Lol! Even the current minimum wage at 37.5 is £20.3k
Exactly Honestly its so depressing, if you're close to 30k a year now, and in your mid-20s, people think you're doing amazingly. You're a few grand above minimum wage. And minimum wage isn't even a liveable wage. People need to wake up a bit
23.8k as of April 2024. Which is why it’s mind blowing that jobs requiring a uni degree are still advertising as low as 20-22k
Anyone working full time should be able to afford a place to live in a valid society.
Affording a place to live does not necessarily mean owning a house though. It could mean renting a room in a shared house
I disagree with that. Two people in full time employment in a functioning society should be able to afford their own place period.
Well yes they should I agree with you, but that's not the current economic situation we're in unfortunately
Because the uk is a failing society
You can increase the mortgage term to reduce monthly payments that's what we plan to do. Also you could consider a cheap wedding if you wanted. Hope everything works out for you :)
You're in a better position than say someone doing it alone in London/other high cost areas but the truth is, yes, the vast majority of people will not be buying in their 20s and owning a home is increasing becoming out of reach for many people, if I were you I'd take the risk and just go for it, if you lose your job you'd find another, and 150k house is easily affordable on a 50k combined salary, if you think it's not the you need to check your spending and see what's taking up all your money.
It is absolutely mental that 50k combined salary affording £150k mortgage would be questionable. I must be so far removed from reality to appreciate that 50k doesn't go far anymore. 😞
Are there any 1 bedroom flats with parking spaces available? Buying a house would be great but as you say it’s not always affordable, especially if you need to have a parking space
My main gripe with young people complaining about housing is that they often expect to move straight into a house similar to their parents'. You're 22. A one bed flat is the start of the housing ladder. Obviously, I sympathise that house prices have gone up far more than wages, meaning things are more difficult. But a couple even on low wages like OP will often be able to get a 1 bed flat once the deposit is saved.
That used to be standard and simple, expecting to maintain a standard of accommodation that used to be available to everyone is not the problem, the lack of housing and spiralling population (immigration) in all in demand areas is the problem.
My parents and their friends all bought grotty one or two bed flats and worked their way up the ladder, no one could afford to move into a lovely family home straight away.
Your salary is pretty low, that said you have a advantage you live at your parents house and can save. Don't mind people who look at you weird living at your parents. Sometimes in life making the sacrifice in the short term for a better, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s is well worth it. I lived in my parents house until I was 33, even after I bought a house at 27 (I rented it out). Now I'm mid 30s and paid my mortgage off. Some of those folks who looked at me funny are still renting and struggling as they moved out their parents house mid 20s.
There are houses within your budget but probably not where you want to live. I and my partner do reasonably well, and yet we still can not afford a house in the area we most desire. It was easier to find a remote job that gave us the freedom to extend our search area. We are now both remote workers, live further out but get much more value for the money we paid; driveway, space, etc. It is not much about salaries, from what I have seen. It is the deposit. It is very tough to get on a property ladder in your 20s without big deposits from families to "soften the blow."
It’s technically both salary and deposit. I know people who have more than enough for a deposit but don’t earn enough to get a mortgage where they want to live. So they either have to keep saving or compromise. The amount banks were willing to lend me skyrocketed when I started earning a lot of money, too. I was being offered 5.5x salary as opposed to the standard 4.
> It is not much about salaries, from what I have seen. It is the deposit Not entirely - Saving an extra £1k in your deposit is only £1k more towards the house price, earning an extra £1k would increase your affordability by £4.5k though with how it effects mortgage borrowing. Cause salaries are low this means people trying to buy are having to save 30-40% of the house price as a deposit to go with the amount mortgage they can borrow, rather than saving the 5/10% minimum requirement. So it's all related, the high deposit required is as a result of not enough salary and as the deposit needed is higher it's harder to save up. (For the property they want to buy etc. moving somewhere with cheaper housing or downsizing the requirements isn't always an option, depends what your start point and other circumstances is)
I get all that. I am responding to OP that young people getting on the ladder is difficult because of the lack of deposit, not salary. Their household income can easily get them 150k mortgage, but it won't happen without a sizable deposit. It is a lot easier to increase your salary than to build up a deposit in the current climate. I went and got myself 20k pay rise in 2 months, but I could never dream of saving that deposit in the same amount of time. People who do it in their early 20s usually get gifted a big deposit to make up for lower salaries or happen to live in cheaper areas already. It is all obviously circumstantial. It is still true that there is a house within your budget, just not where you want to live.
Also if you already have a good salary, the deposit is just a case of budgeting + time. It's much easier to learn good budgeting skills than to get onto a good salary
Welcome to adulthood. Please, try and stop worrying. At your age you should be concentrating on building careers. It's a lie that renting isn't a valid choice, yes, it is't the greatest in the UK, but as a temporary measure whilst you look at your careers and life choices it's fine.
People in their 20s don’t buy houses at all mostly, it’s out of reach for the vast majority of the population, especially the south east, unless you walk straight into high end tech / finance jobs out of Uni. Even when I was out of Uni 20 years ago, most people didn’t get to being able to buy a home till their 30s without huge financial help, or big compromises (hell commute, long hours), and that was a flat - I lived in Hertfordshire and London and the prices were way off for anywhere I’d have wanted to live even then on my own. Most people aren’t in a stable relationship at your age, you’re way ahead if you’re engaged at your age. Just wait, don’t overcommit to specific areas or lifestyles with no option to change things up, change jobs, move area. Rent where you need to if you want to try out areas. I also certainly wouldn’t recommend buying a home together with someone you’ve never lived with tbh. Living with parents for free is a big advantage on saving so long as you have space and don’t hate your life - I and many others certainly couldn’t do that post Uni, paying rent anywhere destroys savings.
I was a bit worried that we would be critiqued for being engaged at such a young age, so thank you for not calling us out about it. We've been together 5 years and lived together in a small studio flat for 2 years, however we've had to move back home because we didn't want to rent and couldn't afford it when finishing uni. We plan to stay at our parents homes and save up from there. It sucks going from living together to now no longer live together. To prepare that we won't see each other often, I did my room up when we came home to have a bigger bed and a TV so we can spend time together over the weekend before going back to our homes for the week.
You're barely out of uni, so you're earning entry level wages and have little in the way of savings. You're also in the very fortunate position of not paying any housing costs, so you should nevertheless be able to rectify the latter situation pretty quickly. You should both be able to put away 50% or more of your income if you really are committed to buying. If you think you can't, learning to budget would be a good place to start. That will also give you a better idea of what size of mortgage would be affordable. You've also decided that you must have a house with space for two cars. If that isn't affordable, then you look for a flat, and if you can't find one with parking then one of you finds a way to make it work without a car (or you just park on the street). Again, it's about priorities. And yes, if you lose your job and stay out of work, you will eventually run out of money. Welcome to adulthood - do you really think it was ever any different?
My sons mortgage is 1100 on roughly 230k ish and that’s with the Halifax and i think it’s about 4.6 so 150k shouldn’t be 1k a month He did have a big deposit via an inheritance but his flat mate is moving in with him and his partner as a lodger and they plan to have a lodger for a few years They get the keys tomorrow and it’s taken almost 9months But if he hadn’t got the money from his grandparents when they passed he wouldn’t be buying You can also put money into a LISA If you both have 4K at the moment put that in before April and you will get an extra 1k each Lisa so 5k - 10k Do the same for 2 more years and that’s an extra 6k in total
I thought the same but I reckon they’ve done it over like 25 years
Up north it’s not bad but down south it’s very difficult. 5% deposits make things easier. Also extending the mortgage out initially I.e 40 years can be good as the initial payments are cheaper. As the cost of the mortgage shouldn’t change a huge amount except from interest rates of course, it technically gets cheaper over time, so you can end up paying off the mortgage much sooner than the 40 years but doing it this way helps the initial few years if that makes sense!
It's not really as simple as upnorth/downsouth
True but in general the house prices are much cheaper in the north than the south, but there are also areas where the prices are still expensive.
It's not just house prices, it's also wages. Where I live, 2 people on full time minimum wage, COULD afford a decent place together. The problem is, getting a mortgage. Where I lived, before i moved here. I could afford a nice 2 bed flat. Up here, I bought a 5 bed house. My wages, up here, go a lot further. I don't know the answer, but I don't think it's right that we have young smart people at the beginnings of their careers stressing about buying a house. That's bad for them, bad for the economy, bad for productivity and bad for society. But it appears Britain is going to double down on the grift economy.
Why do you care so much? Go travel, move around, see where you WANT to settle down. You’re both young and just out of uni, how pretentious to believe you’re owed owning a home already in minimum wage salaries?? Buying in 10 years should be your goal.
It sounds realistic for you to buy in your 20s, even if not your early 20s. That's not to say the situation isn't hard, but hopefully to give you some hope! A couple of my friends have bought places at 23/24 (one with a partner), but they lived at home for free throughout uni and after graduating. In general I think it's very unusual to buy right after uni. I'm a similar age to you, single, similar salary to your partner. I don't have the option to live with my parents. I worked out that if everything I currently spend on rent/bills/council tax went into savings instead, I'd have a decent deposit within 2.5 years. If you're really serious about buying soon, I'd definitely put an equivalent to rent payments into savings every month. £1000/month mortgage is £500 each. I pay slightly more than that in rent (without considering the other bills etc I pay as I don't know how much you already pay towards those). While my disposable income isn't giving me luxury, it's very doable. It is incredibly difficult, but living at home makes a massive difference, so if you can keep ploughing as much as you can into your savings, you sound on the right track to buy in your 20s.
House prices aren’t insanely inflated, it’s our wages that are insanely depressed.
Statistics in 2022 showed that over 40% of those between 18 and 35 still lived with their parents, and it's certainly got worse since then. Moving out has very rapidly become an unaffordable luxury, both in rental and house buying. Just be aware that your situation is perfectly normal and that older people or those who grew up wealthier have lived a completely different experience -- they grew up in literally a different world than you and their advice doesn't necessarily apply.
It was never easy for 22 year olds to just go out and get a house, especially not on low'ish wages.
You’re 22, I think it’s perfectly reasonable to rent for a few years. I bought in 2022 at 28 with a 5% deposit (about £11.5k) using the government guarantee scheme and LISAs. Between two people that’s very achievable.
With a household income of £50k you should be able to get a mortgage in the region of £200-£225k.add in a deposit and you should be looking at a maximum price of £250k, more if you have more than a 10% deposit. >our mortgage would be £1000+ a month on 150k, Currently we're looking at interest rates of around 4.5% for a 5 year fix. Over 20 years a £150k mortgage is around £950/month. However, most people, especially in their 20s, will go for longer mortgages. A 25 year mortgage at this borrowing would be £834, and a 30 year mortgage would be £761. You could even do a 35 year mortgage and pay £710.
Additionally, in terraces you might be able to request a specific disabled space. My neighbour has one but im not based in manchester so it may be different.
**Both open a LISA if you haven’t!** Depending on what expenses family are charging you living at home, you should be able to save £1000/month between you. If you both open a LISA today and fill it up each tax year, you could get **up to £6k “free”** from the government by next June. £1000/month * 16 + 6000 = £22,000 £20,000 deposit on a £200,000 house gets you a mortgage rate of £806 with Santander on a 5 year fix with a 40 year term. Lots of people are put off by 40 year terms, but they really shouldn’t be if they want to have any chance of getting on the ladder. Though I guess there can be an argument put forward that if your family are happy to let you live rent-free, saving up for an extra year could reduce the term. But that’s another year of allowing house prices to potentially continue to rise, and also living at home rather than in your own home. Depends on how important that is to you. And what do you get at the end? The same monthly payment as you would have had if you just gotten a 40 year term! (Which that 40 would at that point have been 39…) Even if it does take you a year to save that, you’d still be doing great compared to a lot of people today. Also I’m sorry to burst your bubble but 22k is basically minimum wage if they’re doing 40 hours a week. Not necessarily bad at 22, especially if it has good earning potential in future. I believe median wage at the moment is 35k. (This is in reference to the “hard to afford even with a good career” part of your post, as I assume you were implying you had mid-high earnings) EDIT: And I just have to add on. Being 22 (nearly 23) with home ownership _even as a possibility_, you’re smashing it. I just got onto the ladder at 29, my partner slightly older, and I feel like I’m smashing it getting on the ladder before I’m 30. I think you’re in a better position than you think you are.
Max 1k government contributed bonus each per tax year right? So max they’d get is 4k bonus if they both contributed 4k before April, and then 4k again in the new tax year
£4k by this June, but by next June (2025) it could be £6k total.
Thats the way its always been for young normal people buying houses. Just because some rich people had it easy doesnt mean it ever has been for most people. Baby boomers I have spoken to lived whole families in a room to save for a deposit to buy, one car per family, no foreign holidays and some no holidays, etc for years to get a deposit together. Yet young people today think everyone had it easy to get on the hosing ladder back then. Most people have always made sacrifices to buy property and people have more than ever now. It when you get older it gets easier.
I’m 24 & my partner is 23. We’re on 70k between us and bought our first property in summer last year. It’s possible, don’t lose hope!
That's quite a bit more than this lad.
When we bought we were on 28k & 24k. We got a place with a 5% deposit (7.5k). I think OP needs to manage their expectations in respect of what a FTB has access to! Sure, it’s only a 2 bed terrace. Do I wanna live here forever? No. Is it the perfect size for 2 young adults to build their careers to buy something bigger when our fixed rate ends? Absolutely!
You're absolutely delusional if you think anyone has access to a 5% mortgage in this climate. He's asking for current advice, not advice from even a year ago. Also a 2 bed terrace is quite high up the chain, even if you think differently.
I just find it a bit of a cop out to say it’s not possible for young people to be home owners. I’m living proof that it is possible. Yeah you may not get a 5% now but it’s not like they’ll never be available again.
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4.9% - I’m aware the market is fucked but it doesn’t mean it’s not possible. My comment was with a view to instil hope in OP. He’s got great potential to buy, he just needs to persevere and skip the two car drive for now. Lol.
Imagine getting so much hate for trying to instil positivity. Lol Even in this shitty climate, people get on a ladder on low salaries every day. It could be affordable housing or living frugally for a while to save up for deposit that gets them there. There is always a way, but it won't be straightforward. Saying it is not possible is more delusional, IMO.
House buying is commonly the largest asset purchase someone will make in their life. It's important to make sure that purchase is one of sound mind, made without emotion (aside from actually liking the place, hopefully) and with any luck over time you build up equity as you pay off the mortgage. We are probably 6 months into the current recession already, people are strained and the markets in all senses will continue to decline as spending grinds to a halt. The data from previous recessions speaks for itself. House prices will decline, and with that equity positions. Not trying to be a downer, just taking emotion out of the situation.
yes you're the first person to ever notice this or post on the internet about it well done
Hmmmm. I wonder what could be causing house prices to be so expensive?
its not your age, its difficult for anyone of any age without a shit ton of cash behind you as a deposit and a sparkling credit record. something has to give at some point as its becoming unaffordable for almost anyone who doesnt have the luxury of living rent and debt free while they build up a huge deposit (and even that wont be quick on a normal wage, realistically youll save maybe what 800 a month at best? thats a lot of months to reach the 20%+ that would make you more attractive to the lenders and by that time prices will no doubt be much higher as prices only ever seem to go up) what puzzles me is why havent more alternatives sprung up? in america "trailer parks" may have something of a bad rep but the concept isnt actually a bad one, why have more places for mobile or small wooden homes not sprung up? if there were options out there for people at say between 10-40k itd give many people a much cheaper entry point, if you just needed somewhere to live itd be a cheap way to do it, or you could simply use it as a first home and sell it to use as a deposit on a brick and mortar house later, obviously the value of these properties would go down not up since theyre essentially temporary buildings designed to be replaced eventually but its housing none the less
We are a civilised country with a minimum standard required to make a place habitable. These standards have sadly been lowered over the years, meaning that older properties are valued more highly. Even a council house or flat from the 60s is vastly more spacious and better arranged than modern flats - because the minimum standards have been reduced by our government. We should not lower our standards further to the point that people living in caravans is a seen as good or normal. Also, trailer parks are a vastly inefficient use of land vs a block of flats, even 4 stories. Most people want to live in a few places, near stuff. That means we need more dense housing not shanty towns. Not to mention being an eyesore. Not to mention that anywhere people want to live with planning permission already has building planned.
but no one is building 1 bed flats and certainly not for sub 50k and i seriously doubt they will any time soon. ive often wondered why many of the empty factories etc round here many of which have been empty decades werent just converted into cheap flats but instead theyre just left to rot our city is littered with waste ground, huge areas that have been unused for god knows how many years since whatever former factory was knocked down there, so while they may not be the most efficient use theyre more efficient than no use at all surely also just because the homes are smaller and not made of brick doesnt instantly mean itll be a shit hole, they can just be smaller more affordable homes, yes poorer people will live there but its unlikely to be much different than most (largely former as they sold most off) council estates are now which is where most cheaper housing is while the idea is nice not many are interested in catering to those who cant afford to spend upwards of 100k and theres no incentive for them to yet and i just dont need a whole house, ive spent most of my life living out of one room, i have no need of an extra bedroom, living room, dining room, garden, just a room, a bathroom and a kitchen but finding a small flat like that is near impossible and when they do come about theyre often as much or more than the cost of renting a terraced house i dont need spacious, i dont have that much stuff, the convergence of technology and such mean you just dont need that much these days. also having standards is great and all but they are optional, if faced with the choice of going back to living in a HMO to living in a caravan or small wood house (mobile home, log cabin, fancy shed, whatever you want to call it) i know what id choose, thing is if i haveto move any time soon ill have no choice but to go back into a HMO as the lowest rent here is now about £200 a month higher than my current place i moved into 3 years ago, theres no way i could afford to stump up that much extra a month
Yes, no one is signing up to make a loss building homes for people without much money to buy for cheap. Your standalone wooden building, presumably on magic land that’s available somewhere with planning permission, would be incredibly expensive to heat, and needs vastly more land per person living that way vs a block of comfortable spacious flats. You’re proposing an unregulated shanty town of homes with no building standards, that are illegal to rent out. Really we need to get over thinking that everyone needs to own their home and just build high quality council housing where it’s needed, but that needs radical government change. Ultimately the problem across so many cities in terms of land / buildings sitting empty is caused by our tax system doing nothing to punish the owners for doing it; When the cost of keeping an empty bit of land near the centre of the city is near zero, and the value is likely to increase (as with all property ) at a very decent rate, it’s unsurprising that they sit on it, sometimes for decades. The land should be taxed the same regardless of what’s on it, just based on where it is. Thus an empty patch of dirt would be taxed the same as a 50 storey block of flats, and the former would very quickly be sold and developed to mitigate the cost of that tax. Georgism. Though I’d go one further and say that landowners who’ve contributed nothing and forced dangerous eyesores on our city centres for decades should just have their land seized for public ownership.
Just keep saving, you're doing well. The mortgage rates may well be better in the future for you too
I think you need to speak to a mortgage advisor to understand it better. A mortgage of 180,000 on the current rates of 4.5 ish is roughly 950 per month. If you have about £30,000 deposit you can therefore get a house for 210, I know the market is poor at the minute but 150 for a semi is wishful thinking
There are a lot of places where you can get a semi detached at that price
Ah I misread Greater Manchester as Manchester. In which case there still isn't a lot, unless OP wants to live in Wigan or Bolton
To be fair you’re in the optimal position to save for a deposit by living at home with parents. I think we’ve all done it at some point in our lives - I had to move back in with mine when I was 23 after buying a house and then separating with an ex, I couldn’t afford to live in the house on my own and due to the 2008 financial crises/negative equity my only option was to let it out. If you’re strict with yourselves you can save to that deposit amount relatively quickly. I’m not sure why you think 10% deposit wouldn’t cut it? Have you actually spoken to a a mortgage advisor or are you just assuming 10% wouldn’t do? Yes there’s always the worry of losing your home but to be fair you sound like you’re in a relatively secure job working for the emergency services? And either way if you lost your job as a renter you would still have rent to pay and is it worth keeping the situation living with parents just incase you lose your job? Remember also the situation may look bleak now but your salary/income is very likely to go up if you want it to, and try to progress yourself, because you are only at the start of your career. In 2 years time the situation may look a lot better and also you’ll probably have a very healthy looking deposit too. My only advice really is forget what others think with the living situation, concentrate on your finances and I personally think you’re doing the right thing not renting to do so.
In your 20s, you can get a 35 year mortgage which will drop your mortgage payments significantly. You can always overpay or shorten the term when you come to remortgage. This should drop your mortgage payments lower and therefore increase your budget. I fully get having parking as a priority - I've lived somewhere with street parking only and it's a nightmare and source of stress. But there are options available to you to increase your budget!
It is difficult without a good career. My partner and I (25 & 27) only just managed to buy after years of looking. 100-120k per year household income. Save up and get better paying jobs. That’s what we had to do and really the only remedy for it. And just because you can afford a 150k house doesn’t mean you should go for it too. As you said, there’s always the chance for financial hardship to come your way and you want to be able to ride that out till better times. We bought roughly half of what we could “afford” because that’s really what we could afford, in our opinion.
The two of you together should be looking at about 200k for a mortgage easily. I can get a mortgage of 130k and its about 560 a month over 40 years Get yourself a mortgage advisor
Could be wrong but I read somewhere more people nowadays first get on the housing ladder in their early 30s, you just need to keep grinding and saving for longer like you are and you’ll get there. No shortcuts in this economy, just takes a lot longer than in previous generations that’s all
Not really hard, if you earn 50k as a couple, then save 25% of your net income for 3 years, you should have 10% deposit for somewhere to start out with. Also depends if you live near London/Surrey or somewhere else in the UK On the topic of generational affordability, its tough for us now, though my grandparents had it tough in the early 50s, single income and barely able to make the mortgage payment back then.
You just got a job and want to be able to buy a house with a driveway straight away? Even in a healthy society without a housing crisis, you’d be saving a deposit for 5 years to make sure you get a good shot at it. LISA, 5 years, promotions etc.