Living in London

jay · Wed 18 Jan, 2006 22.48

Buerkmania wrote:Quote Aston :'Ealing is a very nice place, we're lucky - I think we've got something of a good deal: 4 double bedroomed house about 10mins walk from tube for about £420/month. Then you have to add on council tax & bills unfortunately, so it comes to over £515 usually. Most places would be another £100 or more I reckon...'

Sorry if this is a stupid question - I'm a bit out of touch. Is that for all 4 of you. Here in Southampton, which I would have expected to be cheaper than many places in London, there are five of us who pay £260 each a month. That is quite similar to many of our friends as well so it isn't a case of us being massively ripped off for the area. Maybe Southampton is just more expensive than I thought?!

He's on about per person...

Buerkmania · Wed 18 Jan, 2006 23.02

jay wrote:
Buerkmania wrote:Quote Aston :'Ealing is a very nice place, we're lucky - I think we've got something of a good deal: 4 double bedroomed house about 10mins walk from tube for about £420/month. Then you have to add on council tax & bills unfortunately, so it comes to over £515 usually. Most places would be another £100 or more I reckon...'

Sorry if this is a stupid question - I'm a bit out of touch. Is that for all 4 of you. Here in Southampton, which I would have expected to be cheaper than many places in London, there are five of us who pay £260 each a month. That is quite similar to many of our friends as well so it isn't a case of us being massively ripped off for the area. Maybe Southampton is just more expensive than I thought?!
He's on about per person...

Yeah - sorry just realised its quite obvious actually!

In terms of the actual issue, I can understand a certain amount of trepidation about moving in with people that you don't know and sort of understand what you mean about students (although I don't agree). However, I know four or five people who have moved into such setups (i.e. with students that they didn't know) in London and not had any problems at all. As another example of costs, my sister and her partner live in a one bedroom flat in a not-overwhelmingly-beautiful part of South London in one of the outer tube zones and still pay £780.

PutneyMatt · Thu 19 Jan, 2006 00.30

Sput wrote:
PutneyMatt wrote:Buy somewhere. A mortgage is often cheaper than renting and at least you have something to show for it.
A huge gaping hole where his money and all worldly possessions used to be?

My mortgage is £330 per month for a two bedroom house in W10

OK I brought it 10 yeas ago, but I've saved a fortune in rent over the years.

jay · Thu 19 Jan, 2006 00.48

PutneyMatt wrote:
Sput wrote:
PutneyMatt wrote:Buy somewhere. A mortgage is often cheaper than renting and at least you have something to show for it.
A huge gaping hole where his money and all worldly possessions used to be?
My mortgage is £330 per month for a two bedroom house in W10

OK I brought it 10 yeas ago, but I've saved a fortune in rent over the years.

Is that really all it costs?!

i might have to look into this!

DAS · Thu 19 Jan, 2006 00.52

jay wrote:
PutneyMatt wrote:
Sput wrote: A huge gaping hole where his money and all worldly possessions used to be?
My mortgage is £330 per month for a two bedroom house in W10

OK I brought it 10 yeas ago, but I've saved a fortune in rent over the years.
Is that really all it costs?!

i might have to look into this!

Certainly puts it into perspective: I'm currently paying an outrageous and should-be-illegal £300 a month for a student hovel in Canterbury.

Only problem is that a mortgage is rather "final".

James Hatts · Thu 19 Jan, 2006 00.52

jay wrote:Is that really all it costs?!

i might have to look into this!

Remember he took out his mortgage 10 years ago.

Jamez · Thu 19 Jan, 2006 00.56

Apparently you need to work solidly for at least a year and have a certain percentage of the houseprice as a deposit before u can apply for a mortgage too.

Thats why its so damn hard to get on the property ladder, unless you happen to have Richard Branson as your dad or we elect a Conservative government.

jay · Thu 19 Jan, 2006 01.00

Jamez wrote:Apparently you need to work solidly for at least a year and have a certain percentage of the houseprice as a deposit before u can apply for a mortgage too.

Thats why its so damn hard to get on the property ladder, unless you happen to have Richard Branson as your dad or we elect a Conservative government.

Oh, to have a rich daddy!!

I'll never be able to build up enough money to have a certain pecentage of any houseprice at the minute!

PutneyMatt · Thu 19 Jan, 2006 01.18

Jamez wrote:Apparently you need to work solidly for at least a year and have a certain percentage of the houseprice as a deposit before u can apply for a mortgage too.

Thats why its so damn hard to get on the property ladder, unless you happen to have Richard Branson as your dad or we elect a Conservative government.

Actually Jamez I had my first mortgage under a Conservative Government and I was paying 15% interest.

They then caused a massive housing crash and I was left with a debt much higher than the value of my flat.
Don't talk to me about Conservative Governments.

PutneyMatt · Thu 19 Jan, 2006 01.29

jay wrote:
Jamez wrote:Apparently you need to work solidly for at least a year and have a certain percentage of the houseprice as a deposit before u can apply for a mortgage too.

Thats why its so damn hard to get on the property ladder, unless you happen to have Richard Branson as your dad or we elect a Conservative government.
Oh, to have a rich daddy!!

I'll never be able to build up enough money to have a certain percentage of any houseprice at the minute!

The thing about a Mortgage is that it starts off as a massive debt that stretches 25 years into the future. But after a very few years the payment diminishes as your salary goes up with inflation but the debt stays the same.

As long as you don't overreach yourself and buy something way about your league, it's a wise investment. You do however need some savings to act as a deposit.

Dr Lobster* · Thu 19 Jan, 2006 12.05

me and my gf brought a house last august - we were both first time buyers too our monthy repayment is £610 and when we rented another place accross town it was about £550 (which is why we brought). despite only costing us £60 extra a month, our house is brand new, has 3 floors and is in a fairly quiet little village a couple of miles out from the main town. the builder did a really good offer on trying to flog off the last few houses on the development, which is why we got the house so cheap with all the carpets and fittings thrown in for free. i think our council tax as a little bit more expensive but not hugely.