Case studies: the property ladder |
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| Is
housing over our heads? |
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It's
one of the biggest issues facing 18-40 year olds today. Getting on
the property ladder and then moving up it! We asked people all over
Beds, Herts and Bucks about their experiences. |
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When
chatting in the office we discovered that whether you bought your
house 20 years ago, ten years ago or were just looking to buy your
first home now, the property ladder was neither easy to get a foot
on nor to move up!
And
even when you felt you had your optimum property, your position
could be precarious.
Basically,
it seems that everybody can have a problem!
We
spoke to people all over Beds, Herts and Bucks to find out their
situation, and what they planned to do about it.
Stuck
at home
| Caught
in a trap .... |
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| ANDY:
Andy,
25, lives in London Colney with his parents - and despite looking
at all the options, can see little chance of his situation changing.
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| Meet
my parents |
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| DAVE:
Despite
landing a decent job in London, Dave, 26, still has to live
with his parents in Hertfordshire.
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| Thirty
.... and still at home |
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| MATT:
At
30, Matt knows that living with his parents is not ideal. But
the unpredictable nature of his job makes it hard to get his
own place.
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| Forced
to return... |
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| ANGELA:
Angela is from Welwyn Garden City and has been forced to
move back home with her parents after splitting with her partner. |
| Hi
Mummy I'm home... |
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| CLAIRE:
Having recently graduated Claire, 22, from Luton has been
forced to return to the family home and now is wondering what
to do next. |
First
time buyer
| First
foot on the ladder |
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| KAREN:
Karen
is in her mid 20s and lives in a two bedroom house in Milton
Keynes. Buying the house was only possible with some financial
help from her parents. Even now, a housemate is needed to help
pay the mortgage. |
| What
lies beneath? Big bills... |
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| KATHERINE:
Katherine
has recently managed to move into her first flat, but only after
getting a very expensive shock. While her quest to leave home
has been fulfilled, the decline in her bank balance has been
monumental. |
| So
near, yet so far... |
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| JASON:
Jason and his partner live in Bedford they are currently
waiting to move into their first house. While the hassle of
finding a suitable property is over, the wait to move in has
only just begun. |
| Shared
ownership, at a premium... |
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| Mr G and his partner are both graduates with average
salaries but their attempts to buy shared ownership properties
on the open market have been met with steep demands for 'premiums',
leaving them both unsure what to do next? |
| No
premiums allowed! |
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Lee, moved into shared ownership in Milton Keynes, but had
to pay a premium to secure his house. However, when he came
to sell his stake he discovered he was no longer allowed to
charge a premium, leaving him out of pocket. |
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Renting
| The
shared option? |
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| MISS
MK: Miss
MK and her partner were hoping to buy a property in Milton keynes
but when prices proved to high they responded to a small advert
in the paper, with amazing results. |
| The
rent trap |
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| KATHERINE
AND DARREN: Katherine
and her fiance Darren wonder what they are doing wrong. They
work hard and don't live extravagantly, but a house to call
their own is still out of reach. |
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What
next?
| The
next move? |
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| KATY:
Even
though the value of Katy's flat has gone up around 200 per cent
in 11 years, she's now found that if she wants to upgrade, she'll
have to move away. |
| Gone
north! |
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| SIMON
AND CLARE: Five years ago, Simon and Clare took the
plunge, and moved from a flat in St Albans to a four bedroom
house just outside Houghton Regis. They've never looked back! |
| Mortgage
misery |
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| JANE
AND PAUL: Thousands
of people who took out endowments to pay off their mortgages
are finding that their policies are not performing anything
like as well as they had hoped or were led to believe. |
Have
you had problems getting on the property ladder?
Have
you just got on it? If so, how did you manage it?
Do
you want to upgrade but will have to move away from the area to
do so?
Tell
us your experiences using the form below.
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| Tracey,
Aylesbury |
Tuesday,
28-Jun-2005 10:47:08 BST |
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| I'm
totally confused by this whole shared ownership thing.
My husband and I currently own (via mortgage of course)
an ex local authority 3 bed house. We have 3 children,
the situation is that we desperately need a 4 bed, currently
my 8yr old son and 2 yrs old daughter share a room which
isn't ideal, it isn't possible for my eldest daughter
who's 17 to share with the younger girl purely cos of
the age difference etc. We cannot get a mortgage for more
than £122000 on our income and have about £50k equity
on this house. Does anyone know if in my situation I could
even get on a list for instance? There's no way we can
even consider a 4bed outright purchase in our area as
the cheapest one we've seen is £245000 - way beyone our
price range. It's so confusing!! |
| Tim,
Stevenage |
Wednesday,
15-Jun-2005 01:30:35 BST |
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| i
really don't understand all the hype about how difficult
it is for "young people to get on the property ladder
nowadays". What's wrong with you? It's ALWAYS been like
this. Why do people think it SHOULD be easy? My great-grandparents
(my father's paternal and maternal) NEVER could afford
their own house. My grandparents couldn't afford to buy
until they were in their forties, and i finally bought
my first house eight years ago, at the age of 35. i.e.
when i could afford it. The only time in recent history
it's been easier to buy a home was in Thatcher's 80's,
and we're still trying to correct the consequences of
that little debacle. Britain is just about the only place
where ownership has any cachet anyway. And the incessant
background clamour from the press (including the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½)
just increases the imaginary pressure on people too short-sighted
to think for themselves. If you're in your twenties and
can't afford to buy then rent, like the rest of us had
to. Nobody owes you anything, so stop whining. |
| JULIE,
MILTON KEYNES |
Wednesday,
03-Nov-2004 12:44:08 GMT |
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| I
brought a shared owner ship property 10 years ago and
managed through the big rise in mortgage interest rates
but I now find myself needing a larger property but I'm
stuck although my property is worth more it doesn't give
me enough of a come back for a deposit to meet today's
house prices and also find that my husband and I wouldn't
even get offered a mortgage for more than 150 thousand.
We don't have any children and live in a two bed bungalow
so we wouldn't be able to go on the waiting list for another
shared ownership for a larger property we could only apply
for another two bed and we also wouldn't have any chance
of getting any of these new affordable houses which are
for key workers. I think it's so unfair for people like
ourselves that only do ordinary jobs have no children
yet have to struggle more than anyone as we get no help
from the government at all. The only hope we have of moving
is if the house prices drop enough for us to move on or
I have a child and then maybe I would get considered for
another shared ownership and get more money when I go
back to work from the government as an insensitive for
working mothers |
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