How the heck do people my age and younger afford to buy houses?!

Most of my friends are southern mainly from Devon/Gloucestershire/South Wales or now living in London - so still doesn't make sense!

Probably not. But the younger generation are also very mobile. If owning a house it top of your priority, why would you hang about in London? If people are prepared to move half way around the world to better their lives, moving from London to one of the other great cities of Britain like Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Cardiff or Glasgow isn't much of a sacrifice.

I still smile to myself at the thought that I bought a 4 bed house in a leafy suburb of Stockport for less than £250k especially when I see couples on Location, Location, Location raving about 1 bed basement apartments in sh1tty areas of London for double that money.

I am from up north houses may be cheaper but hardly no jobs here! so no point the good thing about south is theres always jobs thats why friends of mine have moved there. The north will always be worse off always has been like that.

Pretty much, I have lived in the north east all my life. I am 25 and I think it is ruining my career prospects by staying here. I have tried my best but progress has been start and stop. I have to tell my parents I am to leave indefinitely, not a nice conversation but it has to be done.

Its true sadly nice quiet place to live but if theres hardly any jobs where does that leave us. We have the largest number of people on benefits here too. We have a friend who moved up from Wiltshire who totally regrets it because of the lack of jobs but now cant afford to move back because shes on a rubbish wage way less than what she was there and she also had the thoughts of cheaper living costs! cheaper yes but at what price lol

read fight club.

Then it won't bother you.

This, exactly. It's cheaper to live here but jobs are scarce. And nothing ever happens here, ever. Once its past 5pm its like everyone just disappears.

Also, I was on a graduate salary and it was not like flats to rent were really affordable, I was barely getting by.

Mortgage? I am afraid, simply because job security seems so non existent in the north east.

I'm 25 and halfway towards a deposit despite the fact i'm dreadful with money. I pissed away inheritance money from my parents AND had my savings completely wiped out in the 6 months following graduation where I struggled to secure a proper job.

If I had a girlfriend to split the costs with, or i'd made any serious attempt to save over the last 5 years, or if I moved back in with my parents for a year and lived rent free, i'd have easily become a homeowner by now.

The only real reason why I don't own a property is because I'm not at the stage in my life where i'm ready to lock myself down to one area and make roots. I'm being made redundant in October and when I add my payout to my savings, i'll probably have enough for a deposit. But what's the point in buying a house when i'm single and have no idea where I want to live? Not to mention I work in Finance and jobs in that sector are currently non existent (and are likely to remain that way for some time) thanks to Brexit.

Lots of people in this country live paycheck to paycheck. Some out of necessity i'll admit, but some just because they're living way beyond their means. Instead of looking for ways to reduce their voluntary expenses they just moan. Anyone who says they can't afford to even put 50 quid a month away in savings is lying.

This, exactly. It's cheaper to live here but jobs are scarce. And nothing ever happens here, ever. Once its past 5pm its like everyone just disappears.

Also, I was on a graduate salary and it was not like flats to rent were really affordable, I was barely getting by.

Mortgage? I am afraid, simply because job security seems so non existent in the north east.

I don't believe there are no jobs in the north. How about cities like Manchester, Bradford etc.

How?! I remember you saying how you were earning big bucks with overtime. What do you spend your money on? Chips?!

And for what its worth, I don't think I will be buying a house in the north, I just don't see myself settling down here even though I have been here all my life. I am also 25.

Interest only mortgages seem to be a good deal at the moment, it can work out cheaper than renting. The hardest part is the deposit imo which I guess isn't that hard if you're with someone and both have decent jobs… with serious commitment it could take as little as 3-4 years if you both have a post tax income of about £40k

There are all kinds of reasons why someone may not be able to move out of the South East, and frankly you shouldn't have to just to buy a home. Living away from home for a while is one thing, but who wants to permanently move to a city where they don't know anyone? I wouldn't.

I might just go abroad for a while to save. I'd rather live in Berlin (where the cost of living is much cheaper than anywhere in the UK), but you can still enjoy a high quality of life. But again, most people won't have that option.

40k EACH?! Post tax?! That's ridiculous who earns that much*

A rather confusing post. You wouldn't move to a city where you didn't know someone, but you would move to Berlin? Still, you have the right idea. If people want to stay and live in London then that it completely fine. But it they want to do that and live in something slightly bigger than a shoe box, something has to give. That was my point.