I’m 24 and it looks like it’s going to take 3-4 years to even just save a deposit. Feeling a little worried about being older and getting a mortgage. Also feeling stressed at the thought of trying to save 15k odd which will take 4 years alone. Hoping to buy in England and right now my hope is a 150k house but who knows what the market will be like in 4 years! Just looking to see what age others were in the uk when they first purchased a house?
30 comments
28, so same sort of position as you (two of us saving, £225k)
I was 29 – bought it back in 2008.
72 – Hopefully 🤞
26, in 2006 with girlfriend who was 25. I’d been saving for the deposit from the age of 23. Bought a 2 bed terrace for £200K.
21 but it was a tiny place in the north east so about as cheap as you can get and on a 5% mortgage
30. Bought it with my fiancee.
We saved up over a few years, zero outside help.
We were renting a tiny flat in a roughish part of Manchester in order to help save.
House was 150k and we scraped a 10% deposit.
28.
I’d been renting before then since I was 17.
28 was when I got a job I was sure I’d stick with.
23 – but that was because I was married. I wouldn’t have been earning enough to even think about buying on my own for many years after that. That flat sold last year for around £130k, fwiw.
The single people I knew who were buying before their thirties either used Bank Of Mum And Dad, or bought jointly with friends.
26, back in 2015. My then girlfriend now wife and I paid 123K for a 2 bed flat.
The local market tanked the following year and now we are trying to claw back our massive negative equity before we can move on.
Mid 20’s and bought 3 bed semi in 1999 for the huge sum of £45k. I was earning £10k per year.
We could only afford to buy in a shitty area.
They are going for over 200k
I was 29. It was 1999 and I’d worked full-time since I was 18, including when studying for my degree and was actively saving for a deposit for 3 years before moving in.
When I moved in i couldn’t afford furniture. I had an inflatable chair, 14 inch TV and a mattress on the floor. I loved the place though.
Took me over 6 months to get a bed!
34 so I wouldn’t worry lucky you’re so young!
Um. I was 25 I think.
This was back in the 1980s though
39 but I wasnt looking to buy a house, just saw one we liked and was a decent price for London so put in an offer.
I’ve only just done it and I’m 36.
215k house with a 36k deposit.
Don’t feel bad if you can’t make it happen right away. These days a lot of people will never make it. As you get older and hopefully your income increases you might find you can still pay off your mortgage in a reasonable time frame.
31, no mortgage.
Plan to get one in about 3 years (will be about 75k deposit on a 250k mortgage).
Current savings: £0.
Don’t compare yourself to others. Comparison is the thief of joy.
24 bought it for 282K on a mortgage with a low apr, especially compared to nower days rates. Think a mixture of luck and hard work is what made it possible.
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Am 25 now, so bought in 2021.
I was 35 years old (last year). You’re still young – don’t rush or get into stress, just make a plan and buy when you’re ready.
I’m 34, husband 36 and we’re so far off 😂 house prices in Bristol are fucking insane.
34…so from my perspective you’re not really an “older buyer” if you’re looking to buy at 28. I know loads of people older than me who are renting, and also people who bought in their very early 20’s (although they all had help from mum and dad with either cash deposits or living at home for free). My husband has a coworker in his early 50’s who has just bought his first house.
I was 28 when I got my first one. But I’d never have managed that if prices had been as ridiculous as they are today. Back in the early 1980s, you could get a 100% mortgage so didn’t even need a deposit. And my first house (admittedly in a shithole town, which made it cheaper) only cost £15800.
I look at what people have to pay now and it scares the crap out of me even though it doesn’t directly affect me. Still, at least Daily Heil readers can continue to get that warm feeling of their houses being worth progressively more and more…
Aged 35, back in 2017. Bought alone. 2 bed semi in a suburban town in Scotland. Took about 6 years to save the deposit, no bank of mum and dad for me.
It is possible.
22 with an ex. Relationship ended and we sold the house after a few months.
26 on my own. Got a good job, saved up for a year.
20, but it was 1988 the house was £11500 and I got a 100% mortgage. I sold 8 months later for £28000, 1991 bought a house for £39000 with a 105% mortgage… it used to be easier, but I got paid peanuts and had only the stuff people gave me, and less to spend it on than the expectation is today.
30, it was 1999 and I didn’t even have a job, you could self certify, or lie as it’s generally known, back in those days and just say you earned enough, it seems crazy now.
Rented for 5 years and bought my first house at 25 (2017) with my wife. Took 4 years of saving for deposit + fees. People always forget about the astronomical estate agent / conveyancing fees.
House prices where marginally cheaper then and 115k bought a decent 1930’s two bed semi detached.
19, but it was in 1989 and the deposit was paid by the seller. An amazing 2-up, 2-down that was originally 2 back-to-backs so the rooms were pretty big. Also had a cellar (although we didnt use it).
Cost me £37,500. Sold it 3 years later for a tidy profit.
21. 2005. Saved a £50k deposit (lied about my age and landed a high commission sales job straight from uni). Bought a 2 bedroom terraced house for £170k. Was the first in my friendship group, i think 27/28 is doing really well to buy a first house.
30 but my grandpa passed away and left me money, if he hadn’t kicked it I would have been on track to buy a tiny flat by 33.
24 I bought my first house when single.
Don’t rush as your first house won’t be your last.
I regret buying so early if I’m honest, it tied me down too young.