Malcolm

Excellent idea- I often wonder if the audience are especially recruited. The whole thing always seems rather left-wing biased, when the BBC is meant to represent everyone.

Well done, very good video. I hope more people get to see it.

Yes it's just a one bedroom, but according to the regulations of the housing association you are not permitted to rent out part or all of the flat anyway. I agree with you about new build flats, generally they are a bit poky! Well not long to the election now, guess I can wait until then!

Interesting, I never thought of calculating it out that way. But I get your point. And as regards 'affordable housing', what's the point if they price the flat at current market rates? Hardly affordable is it? Granted, the rent is slightly subsidised, but then you have the service charge on top. So it works out much the same I'm sure.

Thanks for you comments Frenchie. In the end I've decided to leave this one alone as I think it just costs too much for a single person each month and after years of paying the mortgage I would still only own 25% anyway. Plus I would still continue to pay rent on the other 75% and who knows how much service charge as well. It's just so depressing living in London, you feel like you will never own anything. No matter how much you save the prices keep going up and up and it always seems to be out of reach. Oh well, perhaps when i'm older I can leave London and move somewhere cheaper.

Thanks fallinngbuzzard but I dont think a minimum wage would really cover it all, and leave any meaningful amount of money for 'living' afterwards. I just had the impression that in the past people only spent 25-33% of their net income on mortgages or rent. Times seem to have changed now. Si1: i believe you are responsible for paying for repairs, blocked toilets, etc, regardless of the percentage you own. Although you have to use the contractors recommended by the Housing Association I believe. Thanks all.

Hi everyone, Just registered with HPC- first post.. I was just wondering what people consider a sensible proportion of their net salary to be when buying property. I'm looking at a new build, shared ownership property in London and have calculated that with a mortgage on 25% and paying rent on the remaining 75%, plus other bills and travelcard it's going to cost 58% of my net salary. Is that too much? Seems like quite a lot to me. I'm a first time buyer. I'm also worried that at £124 per month service charge this could be a bit of a rip off. I'd appreciate anybody's thoughts. Cheers, Malcolm