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How do normal people afford to buy houses in the UK?

Reply 20

Right so the point stands, however is nowhere near as strong as is what when we were talking means.

I've been thinking about the logic, what we're really saying is 1. we know the median household can't afford the median house 2. we assume that the there's an ordinal relationship between the house you buy and your income 3. the lowest earner definitely can't afford the lowest price house (reasonable assumption) and therefore, at least 50% of the population can't afford a mortgage with current house prices.

Reply 21

la fille danse

OP

17

The mean household income is around 32K, so it's essentially the same however you look at it.

Reply 22

naivesincerity

2

Libertinus Septentrionalis

Because averages don't work like that.

The average house price may be £230,000 - but that doesn't mean most houses cost £230,000. You can get a perfectly viable and pleasant family home in a nice town up here in Scotland for a huge deal less than that.

In fact, for £230,000 up here, you could buy a considerably better house than the one my sister has just paid £500,000 for in Surrey. Moreover, if you believe the statistics, we have the better quality of life.

Wow she must be well off to be paying that at a young age.

Reply 23

WoWZa

14

House prices back then were a *lot* more affordable. For example, since my parents purchased our house, its price has gone up considerably. You could get a really decent property with a £30k to £40k salary.

America or Canada is the place to go for cheap property and cheap taxes.

Reply 24

Guvnor

15

For a normal person it is very hard to buy a house upfront especially if you live in London. The only way round it is perhaps a mortgage but it is really depressing when I think that I wont be able to afford my own house for a long time :frown:

Reply 25

WoWZa

14

no hero in her sky

It would also seem reasonable to assume that, in places where property is signficantly cheaper than average, salaries are also less than average.

But in my opinion you're getting better value for money. Although the average salary is slightly higher in places like London, there isn't really *that* much difference in the mortgage rate.

Reply 26

la fille danse

OP

17

Hooligan

For a normal person it is very hard to buy a house upfront especially if you live in London. The only way round it is perhaps a mortgage but it is really depressing when I think that I wont be able to afford my own house for a long time :frown:

Obviously, I don't expect anyone except the very richest of people to be able to buy a house upfront... I'm asking how people with average incomes can afford to get a mortgage, when most lenders will only lend up to four times your salary. Why are mortgages depressing? How many people have a few hundred thousand pounds lying around?

Reply 27

WoWZa

14

Like I said before, many houses were purchased when the prices were much lower. These house prices have then risen.

Reply 28

Vohamanah

16

I have a house, but were it not for the genorosity of my boyfriend's dad I wouldn't be able to afford to buy a house for a while.

I think that's fairly typical :frown:

Reply 29

frost105

14

The only way me and hubbie will be able to get on the property ladder is to get a small terrace in a not so great area. however we are certainly no where near having enough for a deposit.

Reply 30

silverbolt

19

my friend rents and forks out almost 70% of her monthly income on rent alone. Housing is ridiculous in the UK at the moment you have to win the lottery or you leanr how to do mass insurance scams or you commit identiy fraud then theres not a lot ou can do especially if you want to live alone,

one bed flats in brum are hideously expensive and thier boxes stupidly small for stupid amounts of money

Reply 31

scarlet ibis

live on a boat. thats what i'm planning to doing

Reply 32

Rachaella Bella

frost105

The only way me and hubbie will be able to get on the property ladder is to get a small terrace in a not so great area. however we are certainly no where near having enough for a deposit.

if you live in liverpool. have you considered living in a flat or something in the city centre because they cost about the same ammount as the terraces, but they would probably be nicer, modern and in an ok area, close to shops etc

Reply 33

Clubber Lang

15

House prices will start to come down soon when people realise that they are not actually worth that much - will also be helped on by loads of people not being able to pay off their mortages

To be clear, anyone who spends a massive proportion of their wage on mortage repayments, so much so that they can hardly keep up with rate rises is a fool.

IMO a decent 4 bedroom house is a good 80k+ overpriced around here.

Its silly to buy a crap house now because if prices do fall you will have ended up paying laods of money for a crap house that you wont even be able to sell to get back what you paid for it unless prices rise again (which they tend to do slowly after a burst of the bubble).

Reply 34

silverbolt

19

Clubber Lang

House prices will start to come down soon when people realise that they are not actually worth that much - will also be helped on by loads of people not being able to pay off their mortages.

and those of us who waited for the housing market to collapse we'll be laughing all the way to the bank when we can get a house for the prcie of a car

Reply 35

Segat1

16

Well, you don't. Youu just continue to shove money your savings account until a relative dies.

I live in Cambridge, earn a nice chunk of money and choose to rent rather than move to a town 20 miles away from work which I might be able to afford a flat. The reason? To the north, you have the A14. A carpark in the morning rush hour, sitting there with all the other people who bought outside the city to commute to the Science Park. To the south, you have lots of pretty villages which are v v expensive, where people like Tom Sharpe, Germaine Greer and Jeffrey Archer live. To the East, thar be Fenland dragons and Norfolk. West... the motorway. I refuse to buy in at this point. I'd rather be in the city, be able to cycle to work, and do rowing and whatnot and be able to save up. Given the way the markets are behaving at the moment, I think you'd be mad to buy in right now where I am. I have a feeling we're all going to get a lot tigher soonish. The rates will go up and it'll be too much for those who've bought in, they'll sell, prices drop, etc etc etc. You know all this.

Ahem. So, no I don't know how normal people afford to buy houses. Because I can't and I earn more than median.

Reply 36

brokenangel

16

Really depends where you live our house has 4 bedrooms ensuit games room study and a hot tub it will set you back 220k. A terrace starter house will set you back between 60-80k

Reply 37

Hannadog

Rent for about 3-4 years, "apparently" house prices are going to start falling anywhere between 5-10% per year. Wait a few years and see how the market is.

Reply 38

Clubber Lang

15

silverbolt

and those of us who waited for the housing market to collapse we'll be laughing all the way to the bank when we can get a house for the prcie of a car

yep, and i am almost at the ripe old age of having to buy a house :p:

A lot of it is down to sentiment, when peopel start thinking prices are too high then you will see prices coming down

Theres a guy at work who has had his hosue on the market for over a year now and had to reduce the price by 30k and still cannot get rid of it. he is currently on a years mortgage break so isnt paying 2 mortgages (he bought a new house before sellign the old one due to family issues (needed a bigger oen to look after ill parents)) - but i feel for him if he cannt shift the odl oen before he has to start payign back 2 mortgages - his story of being unable to sell his house is not uncommon AT ALL.

Reply 39

death.drop

16

Clubber Lang

yep, and i am almost at the ripe old age of having to buy a house :p:

A lot of it is down to sentiment, when peopel start thinking prices are too high then you will see prices coming down

Theres a guy at work who has had his hosue on the market for over a year now and had to reduce the price by 30k and still cannot get rid of it. he is currently on a years mortgage break so isnt paying 2 mortgages (he bought a new house before sellign the old one due to family issues (needed a bigger oen to look after ill parents)) - but i feel for him if he cannt shift the odl oen before he has to start payign back 2 mortgages - his story of being unable to sell his house is not uncommon AT ALL.

my dads in the same position. a house he had wanted since he was 20 came on the market for a little cheaper than his own house so he bought it and then put his house on the market. there was one buyer but the deal fell through and he's now having to rent it out until someone buys because he couldn't afford both mortgages on his salary. he's had it on the market for well over a year now and only that one interest.
i think people have got to that point where they realise they're better off renting at the moment.

and btw, there is no having to buy a house. there are plenty of countries/cities where most people rent because they're better off. i would also argue that there isn't an age to buy a house. a friend of my mums has only just bought her house at the age of 54. i just had to say that.

How do normal people afford to buy houses in the UK?

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