Saving for a house deposit, how does anyone do this now...



First time buyers set their sights too high nowadays. I bought my first house in 2001 for 20k, a dated but solid and liveable 2 bed terrace with 70s kitchen/decor. The equivalent house now can still be had for about 50k. However, they all want nearly new or new build 100k+ houses rather than move up the ladder as their incomes rise. That's the crux of the problem imo.

It's certainly part of the problem. A good way onto the ladder would be to buy a £50k house which is in need of modernisation, do some work on it over the next few years and then sell on in order to afford somewhere better if you need more space.

I've just sold my late aunt's house to a young couple as the executor of her will. It went for £55k but needs £25-30k spending on it (basically it hadn't been decorated since the 80s) but is a good project for someone to get stuck into.
 
It's certainly part of the problem. A good way onto the ladder would be to buy a £50k house which is in need of modernisation, do some work on it over the next few years and then sell on in order to afford somewhere better if you need more space.

I've just sold my late aunt's house to a young couple as the executor of her will. It went for £55k but needs £25-30k spending on it (basically it hadn't been decorated since the 80s) but is a good project for someone to get stuck into.
That's why they call it a ladder. People want to join at 4 bed new build detached these days. 😂
 
It's fine if you can afford it, but I've come across many that moans about unable to get a nice house, yet their lass spends 100s on hair, nails, eyebrows, fanny, the full monty, he struts about like a f***ing peacock. Get out and deliver some f***ing pizzas or summit. Keeps you off the drink at least. Go out on the taxis, crying out for them in Sunderland. I know kids lifting 500 notes off a Saturday night shift. It ain't easy and I don't envy them but they need to man the fuck up and do the hard miles.
 
Most people work hard. If what it took to get the best life was to be the hardest working, hardest fighting people in the world, then most of the population of the developing world would be millionaires. As would most of the immigrant population, janitors, cleaners, dishwashers etc.

Effort does not lead to wealth without opportunity.
The harder you work the luckier you get
 
In the North East? Aye because as one of the most economically deprived areas in the UK getting on the housing ladder is much easier, everything is cheaper by a stretch to be within the reach of people who are less financially secure. If you're fortunate enough to have a decent Job and security in a historically economically deprived area, you can usually usually live it up, because you benefit from that lower cost of living and areas that would otherwise be out of reach elsewhere are an option for you . That's true all over the world.

But the UK isn't the NE. Most of the population, most of the jobs, in the UK, aren't there. And if everyone suddenly *did* move to the North East then the North East would cease to be affordable because precisely the things that curently make it that way wouldn't be in place anymore. Houses would be desirable to people with more money, and therefore more expensive.

If Sunderland was like a lot of places south of Birningham, a lot of your friends and possibly yourself would have had to move away from a place and people you know and love not because you wanted to but just because you had to. That or live in some shitty estate where you didn't feel safe half the time.

I just happen to believe that people should be able to choose to live near where they grow up if they want, it's not a particularly radical belief I don't think. Its nice for the folk in parts of the country who can but its not the case for an awful lot of people through no fault of their own, and I think that's sad.

not sure what you do for a living but have you considered moving back to the NE ? I think if you’re earning 50k or above here you’d need to be earning 5 x (or more)that to face even the chance of a comparable work / life balance and lifestyle in the south east
 
not sure what you do for a living but have you considered moving back to the NE ? I think if you’re earning 50k or above here you’d need to be earning 5 x (or more)that to face even the chance of a comparable work / life balance and lifestyle in the south east
I'm very settled in Edinburgh thanks pal :) We're managing fine money wise and I love my job. Nowhere near as pricey as the SE but still pretty considerable mind. But we'd be on our uppers if we earned the same money down South.

My uncle did the reverse though, he had to leave NE in the 80's due to pit closures and had a shite job down south with a shite house. But he sold up the shite house about 8 years ago and has a gorgeous massive place near the Lakes now. Straight trade from a nothing semi into a beautiful converted barn.
 

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