Housepricecrash91 Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 I was chatting to a mate yesterday over a pint. He's looking to move out with his long-term girlfriend and start a family, but the challenge is there doesn't appear to be any feasible options anymore? Freehold mortgage - Overpriced, need a massive deposit, repayments coming out at £1.7k Leasehold flat - Overpriced, you don't own the land, short leases, and all seem in appalling condition Shared ownership - Poor quality, he'll only own 50% of it, overpriced, small, ground rent, leasehold, service charges, rent, other scams and maintenance fees Rent - No stability, landlord hikes prices every year, prices already around £1.6k-£1.7k, landlords haven't put in penny into the place in many years, not idea to raise a family Moving further out - Again, even places 50 miles from London are overpriced nowadays, who wants to live 50 miles from their place of work and pay £6k per year on rail fare Lodger - Limits the number of kids as the lodger is taking up a bedroom. For the typical hard-working couple on an average to decent salary, there's not much that you can do now? The UK is over for these type of people, unless you have a wealthy family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stewy Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 WFH, move up north, buy with cash. ✓✓✓ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quid Game Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 The answer here is going to be heavily dependent upon definitions. Median London salary is 42k, so if the definition here of ‘decent’ salary is that or better x 2 then there are plenty of options. 85k or thereabouts x 4.5 = £382,500 5% deposit will top that up to 400k which is enough for a freehold 2/3 bedder in the burbs and then you come down from there to a parking space in Knightsbridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeanutButter Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 Share of freehold flat, with garden and parking if possible. 2 bed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blobsy Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 * Leave the UK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orb Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 Move north and consider an entirely different life/lifestyle. You can get a house for £60k in cities like Hull. £200k would get something quite nice. £120k something reasonable. Leave the girlfriend and forget about kids, then travel. Live on a narrowboat with girlfeind and kid/s, lead a nomadic lifestyle, and work from home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Housepricecrash91 Posted October 12, 2023 Author Share Posted October 12, 2023 1 hour ago, Quid Game said: The answer here is going to be heavily dependent upon definitions. Median London salary is 42k, so if the definition here of ‘decent’ salary is that or better x 2 then there are plenty of options. 85k or thereabouts x 4.5 = £382,500 5% deposit will top that up to 400k which is enough for a freehold 2/3 bedder in the burbs and then you come down from there to a parking space in Knightsbridge. Median salary is inflated by bankers and other high paying careers though? It also includes people who are older people who earn more? The median is London for a young FTB is probably like £30k-£35k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stewy Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 12 minutes ago, Housepricecrash91 said: The median is London for a young FTB is probably like £30k-£35k You'd be better off on minimum wage up north. Those are poultry wages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armus Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 Wait for 2 years or so and see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Housepricecrash91 Posted October 12, 2023 Author Share Posted October 12, 2023 7 minutes ago, Stewy said: You'd be better off on minimum wage up north. Those are poultry wages. Agreed. My old company had an office in Yorkshire and most of the chaps up there doing a similar role to me were living the high life in their 3 bed semis and getting building work done pretty much every month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tw@t Badger Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 23 minutes ago, Housepricecrash91 said: Median salary is inflated by bankers and other high paying careers though? It also includes people who are older people who earn more? The median is London for a young FTB is probably like £30k-£35k The mean salary would be affected tona greater extent by salaries at either end of the scale. Median is the better statistic to use, in this case. I stand ready to be corrected, though.... everyday's a school day and all that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msi Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 1 hour ago, Blobsy said: * Leave the UK +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quid Game Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 1 hour ago, Housepricecrash91 said: Median salary is inflated by bankers and other high paying careers though? It also includes people who are older people who earn more? The median is London for a young FTB is probably like £30k-£35k Nope. The median salary in London is in the region of 42k. https://www.statista.com/statistics/416139/full-time-annual-salary-in-the-uk-by-region/ I’m using median for exactly the reason you say, so as to mitigate for outliers. Average would be skewed by bankers. Median gives the middle value if you like, therefore factors out the big earners and at the other end of the scale, the poorest. It Is by definition in this case the Joe Bloggs of boringville crescent. As per my original post, the answer to your question is going to come down to definitions. You didn’t state your couple were young first time buyers, you simply said they were earning decent money. So what is decent money? If your definition of this is 30-35k each then that changes things, and I would say that no, in London terms they are not earning decent money, and so are going to have to make compromises / will be priced out. If they are earning more than this then they can buy a property, it just isn’t going to be in the middle of Chelsea. What’s the budget and where are they looking to buy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huggy Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 I'd chill out. Definitely spend some of my house buying war chest on some popcorn, enjoy the free fireworks, and come down to take my pick of places in a couple of years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Innkeeper Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 1 hour ago, Stewy said: You'd be better off on minimum wage up north. Those are poultry wages. The chicken factory doesn’t pay too well.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdd Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 Wait a few years, it's not a good time to buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spyguy Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 In the North, buying was a relative no brainedr when you could get fixes under 2%-3% - about 2013ish to 2022ish Pitch offers at least 20% off. Get a mortgage with at least 20 % down. Fix for 5y. Overpay at least 2%, ideally 5%, of original mortgage. My idea - and I managed to sell it to a couple of couples - was you can afford a 30% hit IF you can save so much on the IR cost with a low fix. Hammer down the balance on tge assumption IR will rise. And they did. Different came now SVRs are 5%+ I guess tge same but offer 40% off.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frederico Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 Do not buy unless you can afford the payments for 10 years and don’t mind watching the value drop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerchantNavy Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 4 hours ago, Stewy said: WFH, move up north, buy with cash. ✓✓✓ I normally don't bother you and think the other posters have been unfairly harsh but when you post nonsense like this, it's fully deserved. What if WFH is not possible? Maybe their skill set is different and they need to be present such as a school teacher. Young couple won't have the cash to buy outright. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fellow Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 I wouldn't be a first time buyer in today's market. Wait for tomorrow's market to arrive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerchantNavy Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 4 hours ago, Blobsy said: * Leave the UK Unfortunately it seems to be European wide issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fellow Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 2 minutes ago, MerchantNavy said: Unfortunately it seems to be European wide issue. Australia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerchantNavy Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 23 minutes ago, frederico said: Do not buy unless you can afford the payments for 10 years and don’t mind watching the value drop. Will the value drop take 10 years to recover? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerchantNavy Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 Just now, fellow said: Australia. Sorry but Australia has similar problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerchantNavy Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 3 minutes ago, fellow said: I wouldn't be a first time buyer in today's market. Wait for tomorrow's market to arrive. Would you say the same to a 30 year old living with parents? At some point it's time to move on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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