Go on... sell me 2 bed+ flat in East Dulwich for dirt cheap???

[MattOliver]

26 year old resident... just dawned on myself and my girlfriend that after the recent boom in prices we will be renting forever. Would anyone like to sell/give us their flat in East Dulwich. You will have to move out obviously.

Thanks.

[Louisa]

I would love to but unfortunately it's paying for my retirement bungalow and Spanish holiday home. Sorry.

Louisa.

[uncleglen]

What about shared ownership?

[Rolo Tomasi]

http://www.camberwellfields.com/

[MrBen]

MattOliver Wrote:

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> 26 year old resident... just dawned on myself and

> my girlfriend that after the recent boom in prices

> we will be renting forever.

I get your drift but whilst its harder than ever to get on the ladder at 26 years old, back in 2001 I couldn't either. Even with a second similar income. And at that time ED was much more affordable and not the area it is now.

You can get bitter about it or if it really matters to you to be able to buy here, work out a way of earning more money than you are at present. At 26 your income will rise for sure....or start a business....there are ways and means if you really want it and are motivated to get there.

Or move to an area thats like how ED was to me when I bought here ten years ago? Penge is your friend and offers similar value.

Edit: 2001 I couldnt...2002 prices ran away from me....2004 I could finally.....but only after moving jobs

[Jeremy]

Yeah... do what almost everyone else does, and find an area you can afford!

That's how I ended up in ED back when I was your age. Nobody else my age wanted to live here at the time, but it worked out OK.

[red devil]

You're well below the age of the average first time buyer for London... http://www.mortgageintroducer.com/mortgages/246147/5/Industry_in_depth/First_time_buyer_average_age_is_now_37.htm

[StraferJack]

.

[Salsaboy]

I hear Penge is nice.

[KidKruger]

Same here - moved here and bought at 27 as it was cheapest place in London I could find.

Looks like I started a propa fashion, place has gone mad with house prices.

[Pickle]

We bought in East Dulwich in our late 20s, and like others it was because it was more affordable than other areas at the time. Brockley, Penge, Catford, even parts of Forest Hill are cheaper and bound to be a good investment in the long run.

[Otta]

I think the dude was jesting.

[DaveR]

"I think the dude was jesting."

Yeah, he was, but it's extraordinary how often on here people say 'it's not fair, I can't afford to buy a house' when what they mean is 'can't afford to buy a house where I want one'.

[Jeremy]

Well... yes and no. I'm sure lots of people could probably stretch to a flat in an unloved area a bit further out of London if they were willing to, but there are also lots of people that couldn't...

[miga]

.

[Jeremy]

Of course everything's got harder, but it's a similar principle, surely? I appreciate a one bedroom flat in Catford isn't what most people dream of, but the same time, probably attainable for most young professionals living as a couple.

[miga]

.

[StraferJack]

How do people who get enough for a flat In catford move on to buy a house

The complacency of SOME of the already purchased is what's astonishing. The principle isn't what it was ten years ago

Just sit down and do the sums. Give yourself a decent ish family income. Buy the flat in undesirable part of London and then what? You think your income will rise enough to buy a house, as it has done in the past? Dreeeeeeaming

Mrben suggests there are ways. And of course there are a few ways. But not open to general, salaried families. Not every can or should become entrepreneurs

[DaveR]

"It's also extraordinary how often people on here that got on the housing ladder an aeon ago sow seeds of wisdom, wisdom won by (essentially) their good fortune to be born earlier. "Hey, I couldn't afford Wandsworth in 1998, so I bought in East Dulwich, what's the problem with living in a shoe, the old lady did"."

You're missing the point. Property in London has got proportionately more expensive because of rising demand and static supply, and inner London even more so because demand for the 'urban' life has outstripped that for the 'suburban'. What is stopping people (on even pretty good incomes) from buying in places like ED is people with even more money stumping up for houses, not people who bought years ago when it was cheaper. It may be an unpleasant fact to face when you're 26 and looking for urban cool but affordable places now are not ED, nor even Catford, but Ilford, or Bexleyheath, for example. It might not seem fair, but until we start building (maybe in some ED back gardens?) that's the way it is.

[Jeremy]

miga - apology not necessary... I guess I agree with bits of what both you and DaveR say. Most of us have to compromise when buying somewhere, it was the case 10-15 years ago and it's still the case now. But the compromises you might have to make these days might be a little less palatable, and the level of earnings you need to buy anything at all is dangerously high.

SJ - I'd suggest the move from the one bed flat in Catford to a family home would probbaly have to be something along the lines a move out to Essex or North Kent... and I'm not saying that's all fine and dandy... but people on a reasonable household income should still be able find a way..

[Otta]

RE Income increasing.

Between 25 - 30, my income did go up by about ?11k. It's barely moved in the last 5 or 6 years, and that ain't gonna change anytime soon.

At the same time we've had kids, so my wife's income has halved.

We've got a fingernail hold on the bottom of the ladder only because my father in law helped up with a deposit and because of the help to by scheme (which came with SHIT mortgage deal).

Without our parents dying and leaving stuff to us, we will never afford anything else in London.

And we live in Penge, which is comparable to Catford price wise.

[miga]

.

[????]

It's not all just 'luck' If you were brave you could get a deal in the not so distant past of 2009ish but most people didn't want to. Ditto 1991-95 for the older ones (or mid/late 70s for the even older). Where we are sitting now most non-owners looking to buy in SE22 need a big salary job or parental help or on a macro-level some decent general inflation or a crash or ...neither of which look especially likely in the short to medium term. But those of us who sat in unsellable flats that at halved in value in a year in 1991 do remember something very different.......

[DaveR]

"But it seems that we agree that options for young people in terms of affordability in (very, very loosely) central London are bloody awful, in a way that is very different to even a decade ago."

I definitely agree with that, but one of the reasons for it is just that London appears to keep on getting more desirable and (in aggregate, and comparatively) richer, whilst not really increasing the density of population in the most popular bit i.e. Inner London.. My comment about building in back gardens was only partly tongue in cheek - there is a thread on that topic where someone says 'what we love about this area is the space, and peace and quiet etc." Well, fair enough, but that comes at a cost.

[MrBen]

???? Wrote:

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> It's not all just 'luck' If you were brave you

> could get a deal in the not so distant past of

> 2009ish but most people didn't want to. Ditto

> 1991-95 for the older ones (or mid/late 70s for

> the even older). Where we are sitting now most

> non-owners looking to buy in SE22 need a big

> salary job or parental help or on a macro-level

> some decent general inflation or a crash or

> ...neither of which look especially likely in the

> short to medium term.

This. I said as much on one of the property threads and got shot down by frustrated sheep buyers in 2014 lamenting the crazy prices. I argued that many of those who were lucky enough to have the means to buy in 2009-2011 didn't through fear.

I wont be popular for saying this but surely we're all ultimately responsible for the choices we make in life, whether it's career (and salary), timing of a house purchase whatever. That's not to say that the current situation isn't messed up, inequitable and out of kilter for people on average salaries - it clearly is.

But luck you cant do much about, personal choices you can. And the implications of the choices we make often last a lifetime....