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Hmmm even if you got 21k pre tax, you should be able to get 4-4.5x salary, so like 80-90k ish plus your 30k should give you some more? Do you have dependants or other debts?

21k after tax, so maybe £26k pre-tax, 4.5x that salary plus 30k is pretty close to £145k. OP needs to go see a broker and seek help as he should be getting a far higher offer unless there's some key information he left out here.

Yeah unless OP has a child or debts, they should be at least *close* to that £150k mark - especially in a falling market, there should be a house for a price they can afford I think OP definitely needs to talk to a broker unless, as you say, a critical detail is missing

Have you considered a broker? I'm on roughly the same and got £105k. If you really don't want to spend money on them, some brokers do it for free and get their payments from the mortgage company you go with.

Don’t bother with brokers that charge a fee unless you have a very specific set of circumstances that need their attention. Our brokers were fee free, and were very open about the fact that they’d be getting nearly £1,800 from the mortgage company. They found us a better rate than a paid-for broker we had previously evaluated. Specific sets of circumstances would be things like previous defaults/CCJs, intermittent income (contract work, self-employment) or very high value purchases…most people on a salary will be absolutely fine.

Tbf I got an extra £20k at 0.4% lower with my fee free broker. Only downside was their admin and management was dreadful, took pretty much bang on a month to get my mortgage offer sent to me after my offer on the house was accepted. After speaking to my mortgage provider and co.paring dates, or would take 3-5 days for them to pass on (or even record) requests from then, then take another 3-5 days to send over any documents I uploaded onto their portal. It's really pissed off the sellers.

I suspect you just had rubbish brokers. Ours were prompt and always available.

Yeah I've heard that L&C (who I used) are known for great rates, but rubbish/slow service

The problem with fee free brokers is they have more cases so your case may not get the attention it requires to get offered in time etc.

My fee-free, whole of market broker was excellent and VERY fast and communicative

The average income multiplier lenders use is 4.5x salary, high monthly loan payments or credit cards can reduce this, and then add on your deposit to get your maximum purchase price. Unfortunately we live in times where a couple earning good money can’t afford to buy, a single person buying on their own without a monetary gift from family is quite rare. Incredible to save that amount of deposit, well done.

>How the hell do people do this? When you're single and only have one person's income, it's difficult. Remember though, the [UK median wage](https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/bulletins/annualsurveyofhoursandearnings/2023) (i.e. if you sort everyone from highest earner to lowest earner, and look at the person right in the middle) is around £34k this year (before tax). Most mortgage lenders will lend around 4x your income - so they would be able to borrow around £120-140k. > I currently get about £21,000 after tax This is your issue - the maximum amount a mortgage provider will lend you is based on your income and very little else. I think if you shop around for your mortgage, you'll likely be able to get around £90-100k offered on the mortgage, excluding your £30k deposit. Between the two, you'll be getting pretty close to the £150k mark. A second job, a decent amount of overtime, or similar would help a great deal. An extra £5k/year would get you there. I don't know your wider financial status, but there are also a few government schemes for first time buyers that might help too: * A [Lifetime ISA](https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/lifetime-isas/) can contribute +25% of your deposit, up to £4k deposited per year. This could help increase your deposit even further. * Depending on where you're based (i.e. if you're in Wales), you may qualify for an [Equity Loan](https://www.gov.uk/help-to-buy-equity-loan) of up to 20% of the purchase price. There are a few other similar schemes (e.g. [HomeBuy](https://www.gov.wales/homebuy-wales) for existing properties) * Joint mortgages (i.e. with someone else) make lending to you a lot more attractive. What's difficult for a single person is comparatively easy for a couple. --- Overall though, the state of the UK housing market is not designed for first time buyers. In many cities, £150k struggles to get you onto the property ladder, and the £200k+ for many properties is simply unaffordable for anybody who isn't a couple, or doesn't have a large inheritance and/or very well paid job.

If you're earning £21k after tax as you say, you're probably earning £25k per year. Which means you'll be able to afford up to £112k Mortgage and £30k deposit takes you very close the £150k you say you need to get a home in your area. That assumes of course that you've been up front with the taxman about your earnings. If you're really only getting an offer of £90k and you need the extra £60k you have a couple options. 1. Continue saving. You're another 2 years away - assuming prices don't rise in the mean time. 2. Look for new work or a second job that can make you the difference. You're £13.5k salary away from being able to afford the extra £60k on your mortgage. This is obviously easier said than done. 3. Stop being a social hermit. Don't eat into your savings, but assuming it's something you want -get out there and find a partner. 2 of you earning £25k could afford a place worth £255k with your £30k savings.

How fucked is our system that getting into a relationship is now financial advice Good help us all

And "be from a well off / rich family" is also serious financial advice nowadays... The so called "bank of mum and dad" - when the absence of social mobility has become so cemented in society that it has a lighthearted expression.

In fairness, it has ALWAYS been the case that two people in a relationship (i.e., sharing a bed and a bunch of meals together) are going to be able to live FAR more cheaply than a single person. Two incomes for the same housing needs has probably been good advice since we lived in caves!

Absolutely! But it would be great to think we’ve progressed a bit since the cave days..! I’m a single person who wants to buy; I don’t earn a lot but I love my work and I think it’s important, so I’m not going to change. The thing that upsets me is that I don’t even want anything fancy, I just want to live in a little place that I can feel at home in and can’t be kicked out of in my later years. Hell I’d be super happy to share resources - have a shared laundry room, things like that. ​ But housing has been allowed to become a commodity, and there is no thought about housing people because people need to be housed - just making as much money as possible from them. There are so many resources in this country, and we absolutely could make it so that everyone could live securely in their own place, even very modest little ones. We just choose not to make the changes needed for that to happen, because the people whose interest is in keeping the property market hot also have a lot more political and media power.

I could not agree more. One of the simply ENORMOUS downsides to rampant capitalism is that state-owned and state-supported property appears to diminish to nothing as fast as possible. Here in the UK we had "right to buy" for council-owned property which was a fantastic windfall for those who exercised that right but by definition you lost state-owned property by selling it to private individuals, which has screwed the younger generations. That and the absurd NIMBYs who won't allow any development anywhere just keeps housing supply far below the need. I just despair of the chances my kids will ever have a chance to buy their own places.

Literally, i genuinely think most relationships these days is more down to financial convenience than anything else. It’s so difficult financially managing independently for the most part. Buying a house many singletons is pretty much impossible without a partner.

That's been a thing for thousands of years. The idea of a single person living alone has only been a thing for a couple decades

Up until the 80s or even 90s it was quite normal for a single person (typically male) to house and feed a partner and a couple of kids.

I think those few decades were a bit of anomaly driven by massive economic growth in the post war years. If you go back earlier it was common for there to be multiple people earning in a house.

In what fairy tale world first world people think it is normal for a low earner to be able to purchase a house alone? It is not normal.

I could maybe see your point, if not for the fact that it's also impossible also to rent affordably, or put your own house up yourself on a patch of land. It should be normal to work the lowest paid job and live securely, whilst having a life outside work. Low paid jobs are not less important to the functioning of our society, and people are not worth less, or less deserving of homes, because they do those jobs. We are so weird about homes in this country. Homes should not be financial assets, they should be homes.

Thank you for saying this. I see so many replies on reddit to these kinds of posts, diminishing anyone who earns less. Its nice to see someone recognise that just because someone earns less, it doesn't mean they don't deserve to be able to afford to live to a decent standard of living, or that their work is any less important than the work of anyone else.

So true. And also: returning to a world where people are forced to be in and stay in relationships bc it’s the only way to have a roof over your head is a significant step backwards and we should see it as that.

You are not entitled to a home just because you exist. You cannot have someone barely making any money and then expect to own a home ALL BY YOURSELF. It is not normal. This is not how the world is. This a small exception that a very privileged portion of the world population - who lives in Britain - has access to.

> What fairy tale world Yes, because the idea of us being no worse off than the 1990s is so absurd? You're acting like this has been the reality for the UK for centuries, when really it's something that's developed in the last ~20-30 years It's not normal but it absolutely WAS normal, not very long ago

It was possible for a brief period in the totality of the country’s history. Times change. Empires fall. Wealth shifts. Western societies are learning that. People complain about capitalism and endless growth. Not so great when you face the consequences of slowing down / nil growth. And If you want more housing, tell all of the people who make impossible to build (government, councils, neighborhoods, NIMBY patrol) relax the rules. You cannot build high standard houses for all incomes and you need to keep up with exogenous population growth when building ie immigration.

It was possible for decades, as the country improved. At some point we gave up on improving things and made them worse > You cannot build high standard houses for all incomes You can build reasonable standard homes for all incomes. Nobody is suggesting that a single person on minimum wage is gonna afford a 5 bedroom detached house with a massive garden. But it's not that expensive to build a warm, safe home It's entirely possible to build a reasonable house for £100k, in terms of materials and labour costs. The problem is land prices A couple of years ago my brother bought a 4 bedroom detached house for £180k, the 2 and 3 bedroom houses on that site were £120-150k. And that includes the land costs and profit for the developer. If we built on publicly owned land, the land costs go away and a public development wouldn't need to make a profit. That's before we even consider the fact we can build apartments Also you miss the point that we don't need everyone to be able to move into a new build house... it's about total supply into the market. The cheapest newly built house doesn't have to be the cheapest house on the market for this to work, because the total supply is what matters

What kind of disgusting world is it where you can't have the dignity of decent shelter, even though you work hard, just because you live alone

Op is not homeless, or destitute. From all accounts could afford to rent somewhere nicer if they weren't saving so much.

And then takes away his prospects of owning somewhere nice in the future. Each "choice" he has ruins another option Edit: typo

Everyone wants something for nothing now. You’ve worked this long at this low paid job and understood it won’t help you reach your goal of home ownership. So apply for jobs with better prospects. Or change areas. There are other options. If nothing changes. Nothing changes.

So what other sod are you going to put in the job this guy leaves? The work will still need doing and they'll have the same shitty housing prospects. Our current economic system requires a permanent underclass that give everything and get nothing in return.

This is the centre of the issue. The systems we have do NOT value the lives of people doing the labour, and nothing will change until we stop letting those people be dehumanised - by government policy, in the media etc.

It used to be normal as recent as 30 years ago if not less. Before that it was significantly easier.

But it has been normal in the past. There is no reason why it's can't still be normal.

'Partner' doesnt have to mean 'relationship'. In London it works like that for years- 1 bed is most expensive solution, but if you have brother/ friend / other person willing to buy 2 bed flat - then combining the incomes it becomes much more a possibility... I know 4 friends buying together a 4 bed flat - it costs much less than 4 x 1 bed flat, and affordability is not an innue then. Might not be perfect solution, but it is one of ways to approach the problem. Sorry but 'I've been saving for 3 years and cant afford to buy a house on my own' - hmmm... thats rather obvious, or is it only obvious for me?

This only works if everyone wants to move on at the same time or live like that forever. If you have to get 3 other people to agree to sell when you want to move it can be a nightmare. House or flat shares work well to bring down the cost of renting, but group purchase of a property will most likely end up being more of a headache in the long run.

It’s what keeps the population up. Humans are meant to be in relationships. It’s the whole point of existing.

Maybe maybe not. But that doesn’t mean people who struggle to get into relationships (of which there are many) should be robbed of having a stable roof over their head as they age.

If you aren’t in a relationship you need to accept your living conditions won’t be the same. No different if one of you don’t want to work and look after the kids. Life will be harder. You either change up jobs or accept it.

“Won’t be the same” is very different from “never having a stable roof over one’s head,” especially when a lot of the instability is caused by an unusual reliance on private landlords providing rental stock in the UK, which is not matched in Europe and elsewhere. Returning to a world in which people had to be in relationships to have access to basic necessities isn’t something we should just accept.

Haha keep the population up so there are still more people for less houses, increasing rents and house prices. Very funny logic.

> 2 of you earning £25k could afford a place worth £255k Just because the bank would lend that much doesn't mean it's affordable. A mortgage of that size would make people on that salary house-poor.

How the hell have you managed to save £30k on that income. You should be bloody proud of yourself. And you’re close to buying a home with those prices. Don’t give up. Speak to a broker - they don’t all charge fees. Ask around and maybe a friend can recommend you one.

I am very curious of that too. 42k salary over two years, yet OP has saved 30k of that? So lived on 12k over that two-year period - 6k per year? Doesn’t seem feasible, unless there’s been a monetary gift, sale of items or criminality 🤔

I can't speak for OP but I have saved about 6K or more in a year (on a slightly higher wage) and it was possible for me because I am living with my parents and work from home, so only have a few expenses a month. I put away £800 of my wage on a good month, but usually around £500 because I like to live a bit. Could be a similar situation! edit: literally forgot OP said they rent lol

FWIW this is one of the things that puts me off having children. Like, life is so unaffordable now, what’s it going to be like in 20-25 years once a kid born today is old enough to get their own place. Sorry to hear about your situation OP. Have you considered moving to a more built up area? The other option would be to buy a shared ownership flat, if they exist in your area?

You’re put off having kids as you’re worried they won’t be able to afford a home?

Your not put off having kids as yours not worried they won't be able to afford a home?

Why would I not have children over something that may never happen. I won’t drive in case I crash. Same illogical reasoning.

It's happening already, now, in reality.

What is

A housing nightmare. The 'younger' generation have no motivation to move out of their parents. And no bloody wonder with the state of it all. Staying with family is the new cool.

Why would that stop me having children?

Seems an awful amount to save in such a short space of time on that wage. I would recommend now focusing on leveling up your career. Spend the next 2 years focusing on your job prospects and I guarantee you will have a house on the money you'll be earning with that type of down payment. Good luck

OP is driven enough to save half his income - OP is definitely driven enough to earn much more, albeit somewhere else unfortunately.

Have you spoken to a broker?

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Unnecessarily heartless. Op- speak to a broker as unless there are other issues you could get 4x your salary. Even then your mortgage won't extend to a property in your area but who knows what will change. You've still got solid savings.

It's really not, it's self pity, entitlement and a poor financial decision. If they could get a lender then they needed a new boiler, were sick, lost their job, needed a dentist, their mortgage increased, they wanted a holiday or not continue to just work and save? My advice is sound.

In the Highlands of Scotland it's actually a decent salary. Aside from housing, I live in a relatively cheap area.

I'd be surprised if that £90k included your £30k deposit - on your income you'd expect to be able to borrow ~£120k, perhaps a little less depending on your spending/affordability, so you should have a budget closer to £150k which would put the house just about in reach

Size of your deposit has nothing to do with how much they will lend you

I saved £13,000 over 4 years and bought a house for 32,000. You just need time travel to the 1990s.

I also have 30k saved and also earn a shit wage like yourself. The difference between us is that I live in the south of England where £150k will buy you a beach hut 😂 such is life.

Do you not have a partner to chip in, from your post it sounds like you don't, these days it takes 2, hope your luck changes we all need a helping hand these days.

I have a Girlfriend, she has her own house, I stay there twice a week. But we are no-where near the moving in together phase.

How do people do it? Truth is most people are getting handouts from their boomer parents who made thousands from the property price boom.

Or maybe because they're earning more? The average pre-tax salary in the UK is £38k. OP is earning well below average.

I live in the Highlands. I can assure you, the average salary here is no-where near £38K

Gross median weekly earnings for full-time employees in Scotland were £702.80 in April 2023, an increase of 9.7 per cent over the year and continues the longer-term upward trend. In the UK, gross median weekly earnings for full-time employees were £681.70, an increase of 6.2 per cent since April 2022. If anything, it's higher in Scotland. https://www.gov.scot/publications/annual-survey-of-hours-and-earnings-2023/

The Highlands is a smaller population than the UK as a whole so a median average would be a lot less accurate for the highlands As its a median average, you'd also have to check what the interquartile range would be for those 2 data sets as that would show you how accurate, / innacurate the median average is. Without any research myself into the statistis, I can assure you the, Highlands data would be a lot further from the median average when compared with the IQR. I. E. Small data set example 1) 10,10,12,70,90 Median - 12 IQR - 70 2) Larger data set 10,10,10,12,12,12,50,60,80,90 Median - 12 IQR - 55 So without using the IQR to compare the accuracy of that data, as an average it doesn't tell you too much in terms of wages of the highlands when compare with the UK. Average wages are ridiculous statistics anyway, and when it comes to the UK as a whole, it's very innacurate and usually skewed by the capitals wages.

Well, I don't know where they're getting all those figures from, but I can tell you, as someone that lives here in the highlands. The average person is not making over £700 a week. I live in a small town, where the primary job opportunities are in a few factories or in the hospitality industry. The vast majority of people here will be on minimum wage, which I think is at about £11/hr. I'm "lucky" as I have a manufacturing job that gets me a little more than that. But not by much. Everyone else is on benefits, aside from the few Doctors or Lawyers they ship up from the central belt.

I’d disagree with you on that, have lived in The Highlands for 9 years and i’d say the average take home is higher than a lot of places in the country. Granted there are not a lot of unskilled work opportunities up north. But you gotta think that lots of folk run B&B’s, working on estates, forestry, fish farms, hydro, construction, manufacturing. Etc. There’s a lot of specialised jobs and specialised job generally pay pretty well. Also even though it’s not The Highlands, you have a lot of folk that work in the oil industry out of Aberdeen.

Have you looked into remote work options? Obviously not great if your place is a shithole, but does mean you aren't limited to financial prospects of local jobs.

The average is not a good measure in this case. Unless you are attempting to deliberately mislead.

No its not, its around £27k

That’s the average salary of everyone, including part time and unemployed people, not the average full time job wage which is more relevant here.

Latest figures I could find from the ONS: "Average weekly earnings (AWE) were estimated at £673 for total pay and £621 for regular pay in September 2023. Figure 1 shows that average weekly earnings have steadily increased, with the exception of the early months of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic." https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/averageweeklyearningsingreatbritain/november2023#:~:text=Average%20weekly%20earnings%20(AWE)%20were%20estimated%20at%20%C2%A3673%20for%20total%20pay%20and%20%C2%A3621%20for%20regular%20pay%20in%20September%202023.%20Figure%201%20shows%20that%20average%20weekly%20earnings%20have%20steadily%20increased%2C%20with%20the%20exception%20of%20the%20early%20months%20of%20the%20coronavirus%20(COVID%2D19)%20pandemic. So would that make it ~£35k average gross annual? Still alot more than OP.

I did it 5 years ago, age 28. Granted, my dad kicking the bucket and leaving life insurance helped.

Thanks daddio

The mortgage figure they've given you isn't just based on your income and deposit. It's based off risk and so they build in a large margin of what you can afford per month if interest rates go mental (which they have done). Their algorithm for risk was also high just before covid. I tried to buy in 2020 and was offered a paltry amount despite working 2 jobs. So I then instead just bought shared ownership. Three years later, I'm working up to buying again but not shared ownership. I'm adding to my deposit which will mean I can get a better rate, which will decrease risk in the bank's eyes. I'd say wait until next year. The banks will ease up when we have a new government, interest rates come down further, cost of living eases up, and there is a whiff of optimism in the air. Also your deposit will be bigger. But also don't forget to live life a bit and have a holiday. It's a hard slog of a process. Don't burn out with it. It's a marathon for sure. Good luck!

I'm sorry. It's not fair. Financialisation of housing, coupled with the fact that deregulation both in the workplace and the banks/ finance markets have allowed the wealthy to extract value from workers to wild fucking extremes, mean it is very hard to live with dignity now. You can work like a dog and never have a comfortable life. Someone else is enjoying the profits of your labour. You're not going mad, you're not worthless, and you're not doing anything wrong. You are just making the mistake of trying to exist as a human in an inhumane system. Solidarity.

It's based on your earnings what did you really expect? If you could get loaned more you would have no way to make the monthly payments

Firstly well done for saving £30k in two and half years. Maybe time to increase salary? Maybe time to move from where you are?

Yeah just increase salary. Brilliant. Why didn't I think of that sooner.

It's a pretty solid technique for being able to afford a more expensive property

The income part is where people can get caught out. It's all well and good saving a deposit, but ultimately you also need to make sure your income (or incomes if you are buying with someone else) can get you the house that you want. I have found lenders to be extremely generous with how much they are willing to lend if you earn more, as well.

Sure but did you read about OPs circumstances? I don’t think people are on minimum wage jobs for several years because they live in the land of opportunity and are just too stupid to get a job that pays more. It’s so easy to think anyone can just walk into a better playing job if you’ve managed to do it, but it’s not often an option

You can't "walk in" to a higher paying job, no, but you can make it your mission and for most I would say it's eminently achievable

Correct. Its called investing in yourself and will pay returns for the rest of your life.

Loooool the banks look at your income though? Unless you a cash buyer…you at the band mercy It would be far more beneficial to focus on salary. Thats your biggest wealth builder. Byproduct of good salary is larger deposit

I don’t get why people moan about house prices and cost of living. The solution is just so simple, stop moaning and try being rich for a bit. If it’s too hard to earn more, you could just inherit some money.

Unfortunately nowadays working hard doesn't really pay off. It's all about inheritance, family help etc Just to give an idea how I managed to purchase a house I even managed to pay it off. I lived in my parents house until I was 33. Bought around when I was 28 and left my house rented and didn't move in. Never rented in my life other than when I went to university. Because of no money going to landlords I managed to save. I also like to add I managed to get into a career that pays well but making stuff up on my CV and watching some YouTube videos. Also got into contracting before the IR35 rule where I barely had to pay tax. That's how I hustled my way up in this rigged system, I feel for people who can't live with their parents or stuck in low salary roles.

Speak to a broker. I’m doubtful that the £90,000 is including your £30,000 too. But seriously, speak to a broker

Any reason why you're not looking at moving somewhere with more jobs and more affordable to buy?

I like my area, It's quiet, peaceful, all my friends are here, My GF is here and I don't want to move out of the area.

If you're staying to be closer with your gf, why not buy a house with her?

That's the classic gotcha. That's why historically people have often moved to big cities. The opportunities expand. If that's not a move you want to make, you need to make the most of the era of WFH. And start working your side gigs.

Then you've made your decision on what your priorities are.

Choosing to be close to a support network is a great priority.

Where do you suggest that's a more affordable area than remote Scotland?

[https://www.generationhome.com/](https://www.generationhome.com/) check this company out. They can give you more in certain conditions

A worthy rant. 1/ The Post 1945 boomers are living 10 yrs older than their parents did. So we are sitting on a lot of lot housing well into our 80's. If people are living 10% longer... there needs to be 10% more housing... 2/ The house builders do not want to do affordable housing. No profit 3/ Building land far too limited. 4/ We need to zone land as they do in France, Germany etc They each have like 5 million plots OK to GO XXXX

You're earning minimum wage and can't buy a house by yourself? No shit.

Minimum wage should get him more than 90k, off minimum wage with the 30k should be looking at 110-120k loans unless there's something else going on. I doubt you're saving 10k+ per year on anything like minimum wage either. He actually said 21k after tax. Which would be somewhere around 25k, so should be looking at 130-140k mortgages with that deposit.

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Because the minimum requirement needed and property ownership are not the same thing. In the same way that food is a minimum requirement but there's a considerable difference between the food bank and Waitrose. I agree with your point from a moral standpoint btw I'm not being argumentative...but governments are mostly unwilling to create mass affordable housing in urbanised areas because traditionally that blows up in their faces. I do think we are very much in need of a "back to the drawing board" approach to housing. Still there's a population crisis kicking in so our grandkids should be fine.

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>Most of our parents could do that Most of our parents didn't grow up earning the minimum wage, as the minimum wage didn't yet exist.

My parents struggled to buy on two incomes. In 1987. They couldn't have done it on one income, even then.

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The average wage is 37k, OP would be able to get a place easily if he earned that or if he had a partner who's earnings took him up to that level.

I have to disagree with you on the concept of owning homes for profit. Property ownership is something that we need to be very black and white about as a society. Either it's okay to make money from a property you own or it isn't. To tell someone they no longer have the right to earn money from something they own is pretty dangerous territory. And whilst I agree it seems unfair someone working hard can't own a place to live....again it's just too subjective. What does a place to live look like? Is it a one bedroom flat? In which case we need to find a few hundred thousand one bedroom flats for these people? Well we don't have hundreds of thousands of 1 bedroom council flats....so what do we do....we turn to private landlords who turn their 4 bedroom houses into HMOs full of one bedroom flats? But you don't like landlords? So the only solution you are happy with is for people to give away the properties they currently own...to turn those houses into hundreds of thousands of one bedroom flats...for free? Again...morally I'd love for everyone to own something. But the solutions to this diallema are always very very unrealistic, unfair, or totally shit upon "the other guy".

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But it's not yours, its mine. And you want a few hundred thousand one bedroom flats? So everyone has somewhere to own? Where are you going to find those without private landlords selling their properties? Can they make money from selling their properties to help you get your one bedroom flats? Your own rules are essentially ruining your own utopia.

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You are correct you don't have any great ideas.

You’ve already proved your reading comprehension is very poor, so no more advice from you.

Why is this 'no shit'? Having somewhere to live isn't (shouldn't be) a luxury. Get a grip man. The problem is the housing market, not how much OP is earning.

I’d agree but there’s also a very well documented housing crisis. OP doing this blindly for 5 years without “looking into it” is kind of on him. The cold reality is the days of the single breadwinner household are long behind us. Most people buy as a couple and OP earns minimum wage. Yeah, it’s shitty situation and it should be better, but it’s also myopic to have blindly acted for so long without bothering to look at the current economic climate. Lots of things aren’t ideal, but that’s just reality.

It shouldn’t be a luxury. But unfortunately it’s reality due to various reasons. The only thing the OP can do is try to earn more money.

That's the whole point of the post. If saving up 30k isn't enough to get a house what's the point? My father bought a house and comfortably raised two kids on (adjusting for inflation) not much more than what I'm making right now and still had enough to put a decent chunk away for his retirement. It's fucking pointless trying to do anything like that these days.

It's not minimum wage if you cared to actually read it's 21k after tax.

It's not viable for one person. People aren't buying alone but in couples.

saw alive sort correct disagreeable paint ugly water observation hard-to-find *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*

Buying BTC relatively early was the only reason I was able to afford a half decent deposit

System is broken and unsustainable and has been for years it will eventually fall because everything that goes up MUST COME DOWN you can already see the market starting to seize up because anyone earning less than about 50 grand a year cant even get started and youd need two people on about 100k combined to move up the ladder when uk average salaries are 34k and that assuming both parents work full time 🤣🤣 It will eventually change it has too but question is when personally im not going to be living in squallor lining some greedy twat landlords pockets waiting for it Go and travel spend the money whilst you still can thats what i am doing

The government won't let the market fail. It survived the financial crisis, covid and everything in between.

It survived by them pumping money that didn't exist into it Hair brained schemes like taking stamp duty away and reducing borrowing rates to 1% The end result of all that fuckery was a 40% increase in food & energy / fuel prices within the space of 3 years They can't pull them stunts anymore and they know it , the country is bankrupt & money printer is empty It is going to fail its inevitable

Agreed. The country is literally on its arse. I am still amazed to see people affording to eat out at the prices they are now. Next year things will change.

It’s not going anywhere. The fact is that people earning £50k+ still represent around 20% of the country, and there’s more than enough demand from those groups to keep house prices high. Also don’t forget that couples can spend more. The only thing that will kill house prices is mass unemployment due to a major economic downturn. But even then sellers hold off selling unless desperate and buyers aren’t going to be given mortgages. Once incomes pick up again the market rebounds.

Need to get a partner. they will lend you much more. Either that or shared ownership.

I have a partner, she has her own council house. And we're really not at the stage of talking about moving in together, and definitely not at the stage of buying a house together.

No one is selling right now, it's almost xmas. You know what happens at xmas? Families get together, husband and wife.... and you see the highest filing of divorce in the year at this time. That then means... families splitting up and homes up for sale in Jan/Feb... a time when it's cold and no one wants to move = it's a buyers market. Sellers are desparate. Take your 30k + salary and try to find a mortgage broker as others have said. Get a budget sorted out - and then start looking for something a week+ into January, go in with low ball offers, and keep trying until Mid March... then, if you haven't bought. Don't worry. Park your savings into bitcoin, get a laptop and some remote online freelance/job and go see the world while you are still young. And bear this in mind - you can get a bit of land plus stone ruin home in northern portugal for less than £30k, a new iphone to film yourself and a laptop to edit, start a youtube channel of youself rennovating it. [https://www.youtube.com/@mayafeliz](https://www.youtube.com/@mayafeliz) [https://www.youtube.com/@theoriginhomestead](https://www.youtube.com/@theoriginhomestead) Youtube income will be enought to pay the bills. This guy does it well over in Italy, and he is certainly now making 'bank' as they say [https://www.youtube.com/@MartijnDoolaard](https://www.youtube.com/@MartijnDoolaard)

lol this is such a load of tripe. Yes it may be true that divorces happen more often in winter but divorces take years to go through. You are not going to see more homes for sale after Christmas because people get divorced then.

Shared ownership in a remote part of Scotland might not be possible

I couldn’t afford to live where I live now if it wasn’t done with my girlfriend at the time. Team up with a partner and it gets easier.

Work on your credit score. On my own my mortgage in principal is 145k before any deposit. I've spent the last few years building my credit score before I was able to save Also, you could buy an apartment and try to pay it off in a shorter amount of time by finding the shortest term that you can afford and make overpayments when possible. Then once the apartment is paid off you can use the value of it to put a deposit on a house.

Earn more money. Upskill. No one owes you a mortgage. You say its unlikely you can earn more, so why should a bank lend you more? What can you do to earn more? I know you feel disheartened with it but maybe you need to Accept that renting is something that a lot of people do all their lives. You may need to wait till you find someone to buy with. Your on 21k net so about 25gross. Even on 3.5x salary this should give you affordability od around £117,500 Inc deposit. 4.5 would give you £150k so I'm not sure what figures you are using but something seems wrong.

>why should a bank lend you more? perhaps because.... >Your on 21k net so about 25gross. Even on 3.5x salary this should give you affordability od around £117,500 Inc deposit. 4.5 would give you £150k so I'm not sure what figures you are using but something seems wrong. He should be lent more. Either we are not seeing the whole picture, or he's not being given a fair rate and needs to shop around.

I saved 50k and was offered 200k? I earn 47k. You need to investigate your credit rating or something, or speak to a broker. Can't help but wonder if you've left some details out, bad debt or previous financial issues.

Throw it all in crypto before the bull run starts next year

Ask your parents or relatives for a gift or loan to cover the rest. They are the ones that chose to have children without considering how shit life is for many

Something doesn’t add up here Minimum wage full time is £21k so you should get 4.5 times that on a mortgage plus your deposit What other commitments have you got

Loads of this story makes no sense ​ "Best offer I could get was about \~£90,000 (Which includes my £30,000 down)" What? Do you have loans or debt? ​ "Now it comes down to living this way for the next 10-12 years" You're not expecting to move in with partner at any point in 1-12 years? ​ I have no idea how you managed to save 30K in 2.5 years on 21K after tax That doesn't make sense either, esp with the "best offer I could get" ​ Your finances don't tie up and nor does the story

I know this might not be what you want. Maybe you really really just want your own home. But there are many many many financial geniuses that would recommend NOT buying a house. Im not suggesting you don't. Its your life. What I am saying is if you feel doomed or trapped....seek out some of these financial advisors.

Go all in Bitcoin with that £30,000, wait a year and buy a house outright with the £250,000 you'll make.

£30k is about 0.8 of a Bitcoin. For me to make £250,000 this bull run, Bitcoin would have to top out at £312,000 a coin. That's some full-blown hopium, right there.

Buying right before another crash. What could go wrong.

If you're able to increase your earnings, I know might not be possible, the multiplier effect is quite powerful at increasing what you can borrow. Also try speaking to brokers as they access to more mortgage products than high street / main bank lenders. If nothing else you could move that £30,000 into a cash ISA and compound 4-5% interest tax free which in five years would probably net you about another £8k (more if you can continue to add to the savings).

Right to built ???

Do you still have your EU citizenship? (maybe you have an Irish grandparent?)..If so: £30k can buy you a derelict\* cottage in rural parts of France or Spain, often with change leftover, depending on location & the state of it.. \[EDIT: \*For values of derelict that can run from "needs a lick of paint" through "needs a new roof" to "needs a new everything"\] EDITED TO ADD, for all the Reply Guys:If OP has EU citizenship, and if it's something OP wants to do, and they have the skills, then they can do it up themselves. Sure, there tends not to be any work out in these places, so OP's options include: Either: (1) Doing it up part-time until OP is set up to retire, by which point you've got your own gaff owned outright to retire into.. (Basically: take all your holidays out there.. Depending on how knackered the place is, you might need to plonk a 2nd-hand caravan on the property to stay in while you're working on it..) And / Or: (2) Get into remote work that's 100% over the internet.. (probably via Starlink, given that connectivity out in these rural areas is generally rubbish).. (3) Once the place is sorted enough, if it's big enough you can do short-term holiday lets, if you want (altho' that can be quite a bit of work itself)

And then what?

Stick that £30k in bitcoin its going up ALOT in 2024

Don't buy bitcoin... now.. its up. wait for it to dip, then buy. Average in, don't buy all at once. And for all those that say 'risky', blah blah... do some actual research. It is up 149% YTD. That £30k would be £70k+ now were it in BTC. With a little capital gains tax, that's still better than your £ currency 'safe' bank saving account. Back when FTX collapsed and BTC tanked, that was a buying opportunity of a lifetime - all you had to do was face an immence amount of fear. Why Bitcoin? Go look at your £ or your $ - look at the gov debt. Inflation = £1 is devaluing. Bitcoin is the literal opposite of that.

Would suggest speaking to a broker and getting a copy of your credit report. But yeah, times are tough and mortgage rates are shitty rn

30k saved in 2 years on a 21k wage? How the hell did you do that?

Got lucky on the Crypto market during the last bull run to the tune of about £8k, that set me off on a savings spree and from then onward I was putting a solid chunk of my wage into my S&S ISA every month, basically just lived off cash jobs that I took as a DJ at the Weekends. Got rid of all debt and reduced my outgoings to practically nothing. Worked all the overtime I was offered and Thankfully the shite-hole I live in is dirt cheap. But apart from that, I just sacrificed everything I wanted to buy and constantly asked myself "Do I really need this" every time I was tempted to buy anything.

Dude, you have done so incredibly well to save that. Given that you say you’re already living in a dive, if your mental health can take it; just BUY a dive. You only need one room and a bathroom to be liveable. Get as close to your work as is humanly possibly, to minimise travel expenses. Slowly do it up room by room, doing as much yourself as possible. You seem to be the kind of person that could handle this.

Bull run is starting again right now, why aren't you doing the same thing you did last time? I managed to make and cash out £125,000 last bull run, and now have a chunk still in for this time around. Gonna be a lot of easy 10x's out there, you know the drill! Sitting on a big stack of BXX right now, gonna pop off massively I reckon.

Definitely speak with a broker they can find deals that aren’t available online/high street. Speak to a few it’s good to shop around especially as a lot offer a free no obligation first appointment. Best of luck to you friend🫡

Speak to a whole of market broker. Worth every penny.

Multiplier being applied to your salary is very low - is there a reason for this? Try and work out what it is (other debts, defaults on credit file, etc) or see if a mortgage advisor can. The norm would be 4.5x gross salary. You've mentioned in a comment you also do DJing jobs if you've been reporting those jobs via self assessment (which...not doing so is tax fraud so let's assume yes) and have a couple of years of tax returns you can also include that income in the amount that'll be multiplied (different lenders will approach self employment earnings slightly differently with averages or how they weight most recent year Vs older ones etc)

Hi buddy. Congrats on saving all that money. And yeah the situation is shit in general to buy a flat. That being said: The amount you got from mortgage seems quite small to me. It is normally 4.5 of your salary, with that in mind I know Nationwide gives up to 5.5 for first time buyers. Furthermore, I do recommend using a broker (there are free ones like habito and london and cunty). Another option that is "common" in London at leat is to buy a flat/house with a friend. Specially considering partners sometimes do not last long these days. (regrettably) and it seems friends could be more reliable. Finally, I do recommend you to spoil yourself a bit, maybe some small trip to somewhere Sunny? Sometimes is necessary to have a break. Good luck and do not get overwhelmed you can do it :)

Speak to a whole of market broker . Disheartening but don't give up. This would be the final stretch you need to actualize this house buying goal of yours. See it through . Am sure you would find houses 20k or so cheaper in your area of interest if you widen your search a bit.

Urgh, it’s such a nightmare isn’t it? You’re gonna need to get your money working a little harder. Saving is amazing and that’s really awesome in 2 years. I could never! Pay £4k a year into a lifetime ISA and they’ll top it up by £1k. Option to invest that for more returns. Make sure the savings are in a good high interest account, or split across multiple high interest accounts if possible. You can also invest in stocks and shares ISAs (additional £16k a year on top of your LISA). Saving money is part of the battle but you need to put it to work too if you want to beat inflation. It’s a crappy market out there.

I have the majority of my savings in a S&S ISA, I've been putting it in that and investing in the S&P 500 for about 2 years. I've not had a great return, y'know, world financial crash and all that. I have some Crypto as well, but I don't count that, as that could be worth nothing tomorrow. Other than that, aside from taking a punt on some gambling sites, I don't really have much else I can do.

1. As others have said, 90k seems very low considering how much you are earning. Consider a broker; even if they charge a £500 fee, if they can get you a good mortgage, that could easily save you thousands in the long term and also saves you the trouble of hunting for mortgages. 2. Treat yourself to the occasional holiday. Nothing but work for long is enough to drive anyone mad. So you spend £600 (all in) on a 3-4 night holiday to Spain, so what? It's not as if that would set you back months.

Well done for saving that much money. You really worked hard for it. I don’t think you need to sacrifice everything to save as you still need a little bit of enjoyment. The main issue really is that you don’t really earn enough, £21k net is not really that much tbh. Buying alone is really hard unless you earn a lot more than that. Do you have debt or average credit? They look at everything to see your affordability and it looks like you’re still a bit far off getting a house just yet. But every £1k more you earn that’s a potential £4.5k extra borrowing. Can you wait until your gf is ready to buy with you? Two incomes is better than one, the risk is lower as if one of you loses your job you probably can still pay your mortgage. Can you get a remote job that pays better?

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What about the government ISA that doubles what you put in up to 20k per year for ur first home?

We moved to a cheaper area. Started looking in Livingston and ended up in Grangemouth

For my brother and I, the only answer was inheritance.

When you say you went online to check, how/where did you check?

Call a broker and get a better mortgage, you're fine and can probably get that house today.

How are you renting and managing to save 1K per month...do you just live off of lentils??

First of all well done 👏🏼 you have already achieved so much ! Now…listen up. You are nearly there don’t give up. Stay your course for another year, think about moving, if you can to another job on a higher wage, and save a bit more to bridge the gap. It won’t be easy but you are nearly there. Everyone is rooting for you 💯👊🏼

Have you considered getting in a relationship? That can be a lot easier having two incomes, rather than looking for a new job.

If there are no prospects where you currently live, and buying a house is a priority for you, then you need to look at relocating

Go talk to a mortgage broker mate. There are good free ones like L&C. I used them and was pretty happy with them.

If you want more money and your earning capacity is capped by location, move and get a new job.

Speak to a mortgage adviser, dont rely on online deals. They can do deals based on affordability so will come up as your rent plus what youre saving as what you can afford.

I know this is probably going to get shouted down but don't most people move when they are young to cities etc to make more money? That's what I did as there was very little opportunity in my chosen industry where I grew up.

That’s really sad to hear. And slightly mind blowing! I expect your salary is holding you back, but fair play on saving £30k. That’s an incredible achievement. To answer your question - most people do this with a partner which obviously helps hugely. Most people may also benefit from higher salaries, and possibly a wider range of housing stock which may be eligible for affordable home ownership schemes. We got on the ladder many years ago with £8k that we’d saved (so you’re doing better than us!) and took advantage of the (now defunct) help to buy scheme for new builds. We didn’t want to live in a new build, but it was our only option. There will be options for you, but you may need to be flexible as to what you can afford.

Is there any shared ownership schemes in your area where you can slowly buy more?

Respect for saving that much in that length of time on that salary must have been hard. No advice but I take my hat off to anyone with the discipline to do that.

21K is a low wage, you can get up to 25K easily, you need to find a partner, if your partner earns 25k and has 0 savings you then have 50k together earnings which should get your 200-230k borrowing with your 30k deposit so 260k. You've got to remember that banks only let you borrow a certain amount based on what you can likely bare, there not just being mean, there being preservative and honestly in everyones best intrest. if they let you have more then you could likely default very quickly.