I can't afford to buy a house
I am in the very unfortunate position of being unable to afford to buy a house (even a one bedroom house is out of my reach). Around ten years ago I was able to buy a house all on my own, but after a relationship break up I had to sell the house. Now whilst I was left with a fair amount of money after the sale, it was still not enough to buy a house on my own so unfortunately I had to rent a property instead.
I am actually still renting that same house with my new husband. We both work and earn decent salaries, yet we still cannot afford to buy a house together because of the current state of the housing market. We are on the council housing register, but predictably our application is rated as Low Band which means we have no hope at all of ever being allocated a council property.
We have been accepted by a housing association on one of their Shared Ownership Schemes, but the problem with this s the lack of properties that they actually build for people to own! For example, in the last five years they have only built around six one to two bedroom flats in our area which is no where near enough for the demand. Because there were so few properties to go around, naturally we were never offered one.
I was very hopeful that we might be eligible for the new extended Open Market Homebuy Scheme. This turned out to be wishful thinking as well because our rating on the council housing register is low and we were therefore not eligible.
So who exactly does affordable housing help? As far as I can see it is just key workers in specific industries and people lucky enough to have a council house or be in dire need of one. Maybe I should give up my career and become a prison officer at the local prison. That seems to be my only hope of ever getting help to buy a house the way things are at the moment.
By: The Unhappy Renter
Comments from visitors
@The Unhappy Renter: you could always try what so many people in a similar situation do these days...have babies! It's a sure-fire, quick way of getting a free house, paid for by your ever-trustworthy tax payer!!
@Anergo-Political + Scholar: I totally agree with what you both say.
@Anergo-Political + Scholar: I totally agree with what you both say.
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If your grammar betrays you, you the TV programme maker should be living in a subprime existence. You're not fit to be a communicator. You, like half the rest of the nation, are an ignorant illiterate, Start by squatting underneath your TV camera. Count up to 12 in a Baker's Dozen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wdqbi66oNuI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wdqbi66oNuI
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Dan Quayle's Potatoe - 16-Jun-11 19:24
Hi
I work on a new TV documentary which is trying to find solutions to housing problems. I'd be interested to hear from people who can't afford to get on the housing ladder, is living in cramped conditions or with friends, has been on a waiting list for years or anyone effected by similar housing issues.
Please get in touch if you'd like to know more: paulmorten@tigeraspect.co.uk
I work on a new TV documentary which is trying to find solutions to housing problems. I'd be interested to hear from people who can't afford to get on the housing ladder, is living in cramped conditions or with friends, has been on a waiting list for years or anyone effected by similar housing issues.
Please get in touch if you'd like to know more: paulmorten@tigeraspect.co.uk
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Can't afford to buy a house? Don't worry soon all houses will only be worth one third of what they were quoted at 3 years ago. Yes, there will be a total house price crash. It's on the cards and in the detail of the population statistics. Unless Britain continues to import more people house prices will drop further and further. The birth rate is too low.
Anyway by the time you might expect to be "afford" a house, you won't want it anymore. It will be and seem a "bad" investment. The price will drop even further.
Some houses in Britain will be given away when that happens.
We have had the rust-belt of industry, now we will have the rust-belt of the commuter belts and suburbs. No one will be able to afford to travel far, and most housing will be deemed energy-inefficient and need total demolition. The cost of energy will determine the price of your house.
Anyway by the time you might expect to be "afford" a house, you won't want it anymore. It will be and seem a "bad" investment. The price will drop even further.
Some houses in Britain will be given away when that happens.
We have had the rust-belt of industry, now we will have the rust-belt of the commuter belts and suburbs. No one will be able to afford to travel far, and most housing will be deemed energy-inefficient and need total demolition. The cost of energy will determine the price of your house.
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Anergo-Political - 24-Apr-11 07:21
There is one reason and one reason only for anyone not being able to afford to buy their own home. It is because the prices are approx. two and half times what they should be in comparison to the average wage. Over the last twenty years or so there has been a great deal of profiteering going on with house building and the so called nest egg for the future syndrome. How gullible people have been, to be taken in by the greed of others and the quite stupid notion of investment for the future. Years ago a house could have bought for approx. three times the average yearly wage and now it is more like eight times....click, click...we are all being ripped off!
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I feel exactly the same. For the last five years me and my husband have struggled to secure a mortgage even thoygh we have good salaries. We just two months ago entered a rent to buy scheme with a house builder and yesterday we learned the builder has went into administration and we have no idea where we stand. The scheme stated that we would be paying £1000 per month and we would get all this back after twelve months to put towards our deposit which sounded good to us - getting to stay in the house we wanted and getting this money back for a deposit.
But the way it sounds now we will lose all our money. I'm sick of the state of this country. Why are we all suffering for the bad decisions made by others. I never thought I would say it but me and my family are going to leave this country if we lose all the money we put into this house. it is truly heart breaking.
But the way it sounds now we will lose all our money. I'm sick of the state of this country. Why are we all suffering for the bad decisions made by others. I never thought I would say it but me and my family are going to leave this country if we lose all the money we put into this house. it is truly heart breaking.
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I feel sorry for people that are going into home ownership these days. To get that first step on the ladder is almost impossible now. I bought back in the 1990's when the market bottomed out. It was still tough then as my wife and I were on low salaries at the time. We struggled for a long time and are now comfortable. But, if I had my time again I don't think I would bother buying at all. I look at the costs associated to it and wonder where the value is. Okay, our house is now worth 3 times what we paid but we'll never see that because if we move all other prices have inflated similarly. So these people that brag about their house value are full of it as it's not real money anyway (unless they sell it and rent instead of course). Every repair/maintenance seems to cost the earth whereas in rental it is free to the tenant etc.
It only really appears to be a few nations where the people are intent on buying. I believe that much of Europe rent their homes instead. What is our pre-occupation with owning?
It only really appears to be a few nations where the people are intent on buying. I believe that much of Europe rent their homes instead. What is our pre-occupation with owning?
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Have you looked into shared ownership? My partner and I are selling ours at the moment as we have managed to save enough to buy on our own now. Dont know where you live, but www.southwesthomes.org.uk is a good website with shared ownership properties for sale or try rightmove
Hope this helps
Hope this helps
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Are there any rent to buy properties in your area? Buying a house is made simple when you can use a rent to buy system. They usually don't need as much upfront money to get started. As you both earn a good salary rent to buy should be a good option for you.
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Hi. My family and I are in the exact same boat. I am 35 and my husband is 37 and we moved up here from London and currently rent a 3 bed house in Suffolk and the 2 times the council have offered us a home in the 15 years we've lived in this county were a 1 bed flat in a council shelter place above a chipshop and Indian take-away in the centre of the high street (totally inadequate) or a 2 bed house in Ipswich - over an hour away! This was utterly inappropriate as our daughter was setteled in school. We have been lucky in the respect that we've been able to rent our current house for almost 10 years now but the rent is crippling us. We have NO spare money at all so its impossible to save up for a deposit, especially as the going rate is about 15%. We have friends who have their own home and moan about their mortgage payments of £350 per month saying its gone up too much. OMG if they new we were paying well over double that to live in a smaller, less desirable area I think they'd die on the spot! If general people don't get it, what chance is there for any government official to understand our situation? I sometimes think we would of stood a better chance of getting o place if we'd stayed in London. Well my heart goes out to you and I wish you well in the future, whatever it may hold.
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Judge , eeekkkk
Please don't put ideas into their heads. We only just got the place back to ourselves!
Please don't put ideas into their heads. We only just got the place back to ourselves!
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Me and my partner did get a mortgage quote once over on a property worth £135,000 and the Monthly amount was horrific! It would cost his whole salary plus a third of mine to make the repayments. Also my parents sold their ex council house 4years back for £85,000, they didn't make much on it even after 20-25 years of paying mortgage but they are so much happier renting. So yes I still believe renting is great and I wouldn't have it any other way.
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Renting is for people who do not want a long term commitment. Who cares about old age, or whether the landlord may put the rent up or does not fix things or the services charges go up.
Living in a rented house is actually very limiting. Furnished properties (perhaps with an old bed or settee) - you cannot put shelves up. You cannot put pictures up. The cost is as much as a mortgage and is never yours.
Flats are never in a good condition. If they are, the rent and service charges are sky high - higher than a mortgage rate.
You cannot compare it to France or any other European country. It is so different renting here in the UK.
Living in a rented house is actually very limiting. Furnished properties (perhaps with an old bed or settee) - you cannot put shelves up. You cannot put pictures up. The cost is as much as a mortgage and is never yours.
Flats are never in a good condition. If they are, the rent and service charges are sky high - higher than a mortgage rate.
You cannot compare it to France or any other European country. It is so different renting here in the UK.
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Renting is great! I'm 24 and my partner is 30 and we've rented our house for almost 3years now and wouldn't have it any other way. We don't care if we don't own anything. We are in fact planning a year long round the world trip backpacking next year and we were only saying last night that if we did own a house then we'd have to sell up before we considered it. With renting we can give notice, sell the cars and off we go. When we return we find another place to rent whilst crashing at my sisters. I see mortgage as a huge weight around ones neck, renting the way forward! Wrenta is correct, More money for holidays and iPods!
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Renting is pretty normal in France. There is no need to own, in fact if more people rent then house prices will not be so volatile and all that tied up money can be spent on iPods and holidays.
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I feel sorry for all those who will never be able to own a home of their own, but we are now entering a new phase where the ordinary working person will be obliged to rent, probably for their entire lives.
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Thank you:o)
I have just seen on the news that those over 50 are having a hard time making their money stretch, however the majority of these people have paid off their mortgages at least they have the security of their home. I just can't see where we will all be in the next 30/40 years time, if we haven't paid off mortgages and we haven't had the extra money to put into a pension plan because we are paying such high rents. Where will it all lead?
It is so important for people to have a sense of security and self respect, this for me is having my own home where I can do what I like when I like with no threat of being asked to move so the landlord can sell what I have made my home.
We can't improve our rented home and there have always being issues no matter where we have lived, at the moment in the winter I have to sit with a duvet around me all the time as the temp gets as low 11 degrees, there are no laws for landlords to make sure a property can be heated properly but in the work place if the temp drops below 15 degrees you have to send your staff home. We could move to a more expensive rental but we are trying to save for a deposit plus we don't want to put more money in a landlords pocket than needed, however my health has now suffered and over the last year I have had a heart virus that can be triggered by damp amongst other things.
Landlords buying up all the cheap housing are taking our futures away from us, we all just watch as it is unlikely that any of us are going to be able to save a 20% to 40% desposit whilst paying such high rents, whilst those who do have the cheaper rental homes off the council don't want to move forward and just stay in those homes blocking up the spaces for those who want the opportunity to move forward using the opportunity to save money for their own home.
I have just seen on the news that those over 50 are having a hard time making their money stretch, however the majority of these people have paid off their mortgages at least they have the security of their home. I just can't see where we will all be in the next 30/40 years time, if we haven't paid off mortgages and we haven't had the extra money to put into a pension plan because we are paying such high rents. Where will it all lead?
It is so important for people to have a sense of security and self respect, this for me is having my own home where I can do what I like when I like with no threat of being asked to move so the landlord can sell what I have made my home.
We can't improve our rented home and there have always being issues no matter where we have lived, at the moment in the winter I have to sit with a duvet around me all the time as the temp gets as low 11 degrees, there are no laws for landlords to make sure a property can be heated properly but in the work place if the temp drops below 15 degrees you have to send your staff home. We could move to a more expensive rental but we are trying to save for a deposit plus we don't want to put more money in a landlords pocket than needed, however my health has now suffered and over the last year I have had a heart virus that can be triggered by damp amongst other things.
Landlords buying up all the cheap housing are taking our futures away from us, we all just watch as it is unlikely that any of us are going to be able to save a 20% to 40% desposit whilst paying such high rents, whilst those who do have the cheaper rental homes off the council don't want to move forward and just stay in those homes blocking up the spaces for those who want the opportunity to move forward using the opportunity to save money for their own home.
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Jo, I feel sorry for people like you. At 30 something, you would expect to have reached a stage in your life where you should get help in buying a house.
The mortgage and finance companies are loathed to hand over any money without a high criteria which make it impossible for many people.
The ridiculousness is that many people are paying sky high rent rates and are refused a Mortgage! Because, they either do not have enough savings, or never been in credit because of high bills, etc.
The mortgage system is very unfair. The buy to let system let us all down and now ordinary folk who once could get a mortgage are refused and yet a property developer will borrow to the hilt.
The mortgage and finance companies are loathed to hand over any money without a high criteria which make it impossible for many people.
The ridiculousness is that many people are paying sky high rent rates and are refused a Mortgage! Because, they either do not have enough savings, or never been in credit because of high bills, etc.
The mortgage system is very unfair. The buy to let system let us all down and now ordinary folk who once could get a mortgage are refused and yet a property developer will borrow to the hilt.
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I am in the same position, seems u need to be pregnant or not trying to achieve a better life for yourself to get help. It is so stupid when we pay rent and bills equal to a mortgage however we r told we can't afford one! How does that work? I have paid my landlord £24,000 in rent over the last three years for a cold property with a bad kitchen & bathroom, plus no sense of it being our home with our decor. I would love pets but can't have any cos we rent! What the banks and government don't see is it our sense of worth that is being taken away from us. I want kids and at 33 it is getting late but we wanted to be in our own place first. We looked at buying a 30% share in a property but due to only three banks doing mortgages on these types of deals the rates were higher and a 20% deposit was needed and then u have to pay rent on the rest anyway. It is so hard and I am getting very depressed with it all, we don't want help for life just the chance to get a HOME but people in high places will never understand how it feels so things are unlikely to change. I am going to play the lottery :o)
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Hi,
Your story is oh so familiar.
I am not offering a solution in your specific situation as it sounds as if you need to remain in your area but, I know there are many retirees facing the same scenario.
If you are willing to pack up and move I have a solution but only if you like living in the tropics.
I have built and continue to build residences with today's economic turmoil in mind.
I have 2 bedroom, 2 bath units of 102 mts at under $80k (U.S. $) and monthly fees of only $80 per month plus utilities (U.S) . Our location is in the VERY affordable country of Panama. If you have an interest please contact me.
Your story is oh so familiar.
I am not offering a solution in your specific situation as it sounds as if you need to remain in your area but, I know there are many retirees facing the same scenario.
If you are willing to pack up and move I have a solution but only if you like living in the tropics.
I have built and continue to build residences with today's economic turmoil in mind.
I have 2 bedroom, 2 bath units of 102 mts at under $80k (U.S. $) and monthly fees of only $80 per month plus utilities (U.S) . Our location is in the VERY affordable country of Panama. If you have an interest please contact me.
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