The Student Room Group

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

Scroll to see replies

Original post by LavenderBlueSky88
they're all from the south mainly living in Devon, South Wales, Gloucestershire and one in London.*


i dont know much about those areas but ive a friend from bristol who said houses are expensive there.

i cant imagine any 20something can be a homeowner in london without having got 100k gift from family
Original post by Chakede
i dont know much about those areas but ive a friend from bristol who said houses are expensive there.

i cant imagine any 20something can be a homeowner in london without having got 100k gift from family


yeah to be fair the one in London had a hefty inheritance left to her plus lived at home rent free while earning £26k for a year and a half*
Original post by LavenderBlueSky88
yeah to be fair the one in London had a hefty inheritance left to her plus lived at home rent free while earning £26k for a year and a half*


yaeh well thats basically the same thing. i know of one maybe 2 ppl that own a place in london, out in zone 4 though, not in central. he has had same job for about 8 years and bought when he was 32 i think, after 8 years of hardly going out, holidays or spending money. so it is possible - just takes a lot of self discipline.
its the easiest way though to make 40k a year doing nothing but in property rises , so prob worth the sacrifice
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Chakede
i dont know much about those areas but ive a friend from bristol who said houses are expensive there.

i cant imagine any 20something can be a homeowner in london without having got 100k gift from family


I think that's roughly true. They aren't always complete 'gifts' though, I know people who've had big family help getting into property here, but they are expected to slowly repay the loan.

One of the more bizarre things that happened in recent years in the overheated London market is that well off parents borrowed substantial sums against the existing London family home to lend to children to buy flats, etc - the value of the family home continued to rise so rapidly that the entire value of the loan was speedily replaced without any effort. Not only that, but the value of the newly purchased property increased rapidly enough that the kids could sell on, repaying the loans and upscaling with new ones generated on the first!

Like some deranged money game where the properties multiply and nobody dies.
Original post by Fullofsurprises
I think that's roughly true. They aren't always complete 'gifts' though, I know people who've had big family help getting into property here, but they are expected to slowly repay the loan.

One of the more bizarre things that happened in recent years in the overheated London market is that well off parents borrowed substantial sums against the existing London family home to lend to children to buy flats, etc - the value of the family home continued to rise so rapidly that the entire value of the loan was speedily replaced without any effort. Not only that, but the value of the newly purchased property increased rapidly enough that the kids could sell on, repaying the loans and upscaling with new ones generated on the first!

Like some deranged money game where the properties multiply and nobody dies.


Yet more rewards for reckless borrowing. Also, while it is nice for the children of the families that are lucky enough to do that, it is yet more barriers to the vast majority that cannot afford to get onto the housing ladder.
Reply 185
Original post by James.Carnell
Yet more rewards for reckless borrowing. Also, while it is nice for the children of the families that are lucky enough to do that, it is yet more barriers to the vast majority that cannot afford to get onto the housing ladder.


Yea that's ****ed up
Original post by Alfissti
Its' never been easy to get on in Australia unless you're willing to perform all the crappy jobs or you are able to work in the healthcare or trades industry.

NZ is a better option but you must be willing to do work in the building or agriculture industry to get ahead.


Thanks for the advice. I've considered a NZ working holiday, but worry the same thing would just happen again with job search struggles. But oh well, I still have a few years within the age limit to think about it :yep:
I know someone who's already married and living with her husband in London. Guess the family forked out the cost. Under 21 as well.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Ladymusiclover
I know someone who's already married and living with her husband in London. Guess the family forked out the cost. Under 21 as well.


that's sad, way too young for that life!*
Original post by LavenderBlueSky88
This week 3 of my Facebook friends have posted the nauseating "finally got my keys" status. They're all between the ages of 24 and 27, I know none of them earn more than £25k and the houses they've bought look pretty decent. How in gods name have they done it? I'll be lucky to be on the property ladder by the time I'm 40 - I have absolutely no savings, very little chance of family inheritance, no rich boyfriend. sigh.*


There are some mortgage deals, shared equity and right to buy schemes that can be secured with as little as a 5-10% deposit. That equates to £10,000-20,000 on a £200K house. That may sound unattainable but it is doable.

To give you some perspective, when I got my first job I was saving around 15% of my salary (and that was with me spending £700 a month on rent alone). Two years later I pushed that up to 30% with the benefit of a pay rise, new job and careful budgeting. Over the space of four years I'd built up a reasonable deposit.

As far as your friends go take some comfort from the fact that they probably had relatively small deposits, own very little equity in the house itself (eg; <90%) and have a very long mortgage period (eg; 25+ years).

When you find yourself in the position of buying be wary. Avoid shared equity schemes. It may sound like an amazing way of owning your own home but as house prices rise you end up struggling to ever purchase the other half of your house and have to rent the other half of your house indefinitely (alongside paying a mortgage).

Similarly I would avoid "interest only" mortgages or those with exceptionally long terms. They can be ways of reducing monthly repayments but you will end up overpaying to the tune of £10,000s over the term of the mortgage or end up struggling to ever repay the final balance. If you can afford to repay it sooner, do so.

There was a article on the BBC website several months ago about a 20-year old couple buying a £250,000 four bed house. Frankly it made me laugh a little. They own less than 10% of the house, are mortgaged up to the hilt and it will probably take them 25-30 years to pay that off (if not longer). If they had picked a more modest home they would owe substantially less, their mortgage could be repaid far quicker and they wouldn't be as screwed if one or other of them lost their job or suffered from severe illness.

There is more to life than overstretching yourself to the max in order to buy the biggest possible house you can afford, and then spending most of your working life struggling to pay it off.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by LavenderBlueSky88
I can't afford to save that much! I've been full time employed for almost 2 years and the most I was ever able to save was £1000 and then I had to spend it on a rather large car repair*


I'm a student, I work in Sainsbury's and I have nearly 3k savings...step your game up!
I'm currently in my final year and have opened a help to buy ISA. My friend opened one and it took him a year to save up enough and he now lives in a fantastic 2 bed apartment.

Quick Reply

Latest