Money related - Home Deposit - Bank of Mum and Dad/ self-earned/ inheritance

[Freebies_come2me]

Admittedly, I am damn nosy. I live in London, I am curious to know how couples saved up for house deposit when the price of a 3 bedroom Victorian terrace can start from 550k at least (zone 4./fixed upper).

Not too sure if this topic feeds into Tattle Life haha

We bought a 1 bed flat in London with Help 2 Buy, we paid for the deposit with our own money, 2 years of saving and managed to do it quickly because I received a good bonus from my tit job at the end of 2nd year.
Deposit: 18k

 

[Gggshh]

We saved 16k together over a couple of years whilst renting. We live on south coast. However the house we bought needed new roof and new windows so MIL gifted us/paid for this before we completed- it was her old house! We would never have been able to do it without this help!

 

[Mickybrowneyes]

I haven’t bought my own house as I’m a solo so will need at least a $80k deposit (I’m Australian) most of my friends have rich parents and I laugh at them when they say they bought their own house. Actually their mum and dad did

 

[bellinibobble]

This kind of stuff fascinates me! I have a family member the same age as me who's just bought a house 4 x the value of mine (admittedly London v up North). Last year had a wedding, the cost of which I dread to think.. I would love to know how they afforded all of it.. I reckon some help from parents plus London wages but it's not the sort of thing you can ask is it? Or expect an honest answer if you do..

Is it typical to buy a house in London with a 10% deposit or are there different LTV ratios that are more popular with first time buyers getting more expensive properties?

 

[Gembo]

I consider us very lucky, my father in law purchased our first house cash, it was £86k and an absolute wreck. He bought it to renovate and sell but then let us do that, once we finished we took out a mortgage to pay off the cost of renovation and to pay him back. We sold it a few years later and made about £100k which then went towards the next house. Like I say we were very lucky and we never asked him to do this, he was just happy for us to take over the renovation and let us move into it. I am always grateful I think we may have struggled otherwise

 

[kev1974]

I bought my London flat in 2000. No help from my parents towards it. Saved like a bastard for years beforehand barely going out, then to actually buy it had to max out several credit cards and then probably 5 years of living frugally until I got back on top of them. These days they ask you about credit card debt so you can't do that so easily (luckily). I remember that I paid an extra £1000 on the flat (which the owner kindly let me pay 3 months later) for all the crappy furniture in it that he'd been renting it out with. Wasn't until about 2016 that I finally got a new bed frame and new sofa.

Apart from being able to borrow a little extra on credit cards back then, it was just as hard a battle for us to buy something in 2000 as it is for people today. You just have to stop buying £3.50 artisan coffees several times a day and do without the fancy but pricey gins in the pub every weekend!

 

[Pixipoppy]

I am always curious too! I’ve been saving for about 3 years and have just under £7k saved, my partner has about £3k - My parents are going to lend us £10k for a deposit when the time comes. We will probably do help to buy unless 5/10% mortgages come back soon. Prices of older houses in our area we have looked at were £180k - £220k but they would need quite a bit of work doing to them. We’re some of the last of our friendship group to get on the ladder, most of the others either had generous donations from parents or had some sort of inheritance.

 

[Freebies_come2me]

It just fascinates me, the houses in my area cost 550k at least, a 10% deposit is 55k and that is without stamp duty etc. How do people afford it, and how much do they actually need to earn per month.

We are earning 90k annually combined, I don't see how we can ever save up 55k at least

This is not realistic (i know), on insta, I constantly see people buy a house, reno, host wedding and go honeymoon, in the span of 2 years, how the duck do you afford that. I need some tips haha!

The future is bleak

 

[Ups27]

My boyfriend and I saved 35k for a deposit for our house. We lived with his parents (paying them rent) and were very disciplined. Im really proud that we saved every penny

 

[super grateful]

This fascinates me too! A lot of my friends have bigger and more expensive houses then I do... but then you delve into it and mum and dad bought it for them or in one case, it’s the gamekeeper’s cottage on mum and dad’s land that they were given as a Christmas present. Lovely eh!

Our house is a Victorian 3 bed semi detached, it needed *some* work doing to it (walls knocking down to create kitchen/diner, new kitchen/bathroom, brick work fixing up, plastering, new drive etc) but not a complete reno job (no new windows and roof etc, thank god) but this is what we needed to buy in order to afford anything half decent in our area!

It cost us £250k and we put down 10%, which I am embarrassed to say was mostly my partner’s money. We bought it just after I finished my Nursing degree (I had some savings from my job before uni which I used but it was difficult to work through uni and save more for a deposit). Anyway now we split everything for the house 50/50 despite him earning triple what I do haha, just makes me feel more comfortable!

 

[Lumpfish]

Love this thread! I am constantly on RightMove looking for houses and then wondering how people ever afford them! Crazy prices in my area minimum 400k for a run down 3 bed in a bad area

 

[Mickybrowneyes]

I bought my London flat in 2000. No help from my parents towards it. Saved like a bastard for years beforehand barely going out, then to actually buy it had to max out several credit cards and then probably 5 years of living frugally until I got back on top of them. These days they ask you about credit card debt so you can't do that so easily (luckily). I remember that I paid an extra £1000 on the flat (which the owner kindly let me pay 3 months later) for all the crappy furniture in it that he'd been renting it out with. Wasn't until about 2016 that I finally got a new bed frame and new sofa.

Apart from being able to borrow a little extra on credit cards back then, it was just as hard a battle for us to buy something in 2000 as it is for people today. You just have to stop buying £3.50 artisan coffees several times a day and do without the fancy but pricey gins in the pub every weekend!

I love reading these types of stories, thank you for giving me hope that I can do it on my ownxx

 

[Bubble And Squeak]

My gran left me and my brother her bank account balance which we split! I have spent some but have kept 30k and also adding my own savings to this. My boyfriend’s dad has been saving for him since he was born and said he will match what I have in my bank. I don’t think I’ll spend anymore than 80-100k which we will put a 50% deposit down and keep the rest for furniture, decorating and anything else that may need done, we will be first time buyers - not looking to buy for another 3 years though

 

[Gggshh]

I do think a lot more people have help from parents than let on! My parents are great and help us out in so many ways but I would never have expected them to gift us a house deposit! Their money is theirs and they need it to enjoy their retirement

there is nothing wrong with parents helping their children though, not like they can take the money with them and if they’re in a position to do so why not! Just feels rubbish when you feel like you’re not getting anywhere with saving and all you see on insta is people’s perfect new builds they’ve bought...

 

[Mickybrowneyes]

I do think a lot more people have help from parents than let on! My parents are great and help us out in so many ways but I would never have expected them to gift us a house deposit! Their money is theirs and they need it to enjoy their retirement

there is nothing wrong with parents helping their children though, not like they can take the money with them and if they’re in a position to do so why not! Just feels rubbish when you feel like you’re not getting anywhere with saving and all you see on insta is people’s perfect new builds they’ve bought...

couldn’t agree more with this... I struggle very much to be happy for my friends who were given everything from their parents... I know it’s not their fault but they truly need to put their hands together and thank the lord that they had such a helping hand

 

[hnoz]

You buy a flat rather than straight into a family house first of all, and hope it increases in value so you build equity to buy a house. Also you buy something that needs work, rather than the top end.
In London I would say 9/10 couples who buy under the age of 30 or even 35 have family help. I have friends who were gifted 50, 70, even 200k to buy. Some people live in another world and have crazy money.
My husband and I saved 35k over about 2 and a bit years while renting. His parents gave us 20k which went on making it liveable as it was a wreck and we bought just as stamp duty relief for FTB started so we had saved that money and were able to put it towards a new kitchen instead. We also both had a HTB ISA which built up a nice bonus after 2.5 years. We were only earning about 60k combined when we were saving and when we completed so I think we did an amazing job to save that much.
It wasn't easy, we were incredibly lucky to be given 20 grand but we still had to slog it out for nearly 3 years spending nothing on clothes, going out etc. It was a sacrifice for us to save that amount and we were the only couple we knew saving.

 

[Caffeine Fiend]

We are up north so houses are a lot cheaper. We both worked and saved to buy our place. Our mortgage payment was half what our rent was for a very similar house when we first moved in, 4 years later our mortgage payment is really quite low. Deposit was £13k.

Things were more difficult as we had a child in childcare while we were saving. We lived with a Parent for 12 months but we only had one v average income at the time (£24k) Once we were both working, we had rent to pay and a full time child care place.

For us it was just about cutting back, no nights out, no takeaways, doing a meal plan and doing a weekly shop at Aldi or Lidl. Buying stuff 2nd hand for our child. It was worth the hardship though as now ironically our income is a lot higher and our house outgoings less.

I will say though we were used to living frugally, when we had our first child, we survived only due to tax credits. I had moved country to live with my partner and subsequently quit my job then found out I was expecting, my OH was still in uni. So I’ve gone through periods where I didn’t eat to feed my child. So I feel so grateful now to be where we are and both lucky to have stable secure jobs.

 

[Freebies_come2me]

couldn’t agree more with this... I struggle very much to be happy for my friends who were given everything from their parents... I know it’s not their fault but they truly need to put their hands together and thank the lord that they had such a helping hand

I get what you mean. I think is okay when people get help from their parents. The issue I have is when people think the rest of us did not work as 'hard' or as 'aspired' as them.
A 10k help is still massive, I know people are saying quit the avocado/ fancy coffee but that is such a tiny proportion of spending VS what we needed to save

 

[kev1974]

It just fascinates me, the houses in my area cost 550k at least, a 10% deposit is 55k and that is without stamp duty etc. How do people afford it, and how much do they actually need to earn per month.

We are earning 90k annually combined, I don't see how we can ever save up 55k at least

This is not realistic (i know), on insta, I constantly see people buy a house, reno, host wedding and go honeymoon, in the span of 2 years, how the duck do you afford that. I need some tips haha!

The future is bleak

Well you will have to look at what exactly you're managing to burn through £90k a year on, whilst also considering if the £550k area is where you really need to be and can you start with a place a bit cheaper in a lesser area down the road a bit I guess!

 

[Freebies_come2me]

Well you will have to look at what exactly you're managing to burn through £90k a year on, whilst also considering if the £550k area is where you really need to be and can you start with a place a bit cheaper in a lesser area down the road a bit I guess!

90k just kicks in literally half a year ago, we were not on 90k until Feb 2020.