Why My Elusive Dream May Soon Be A Reality

Just a couple of months ago, buying a home was as abstract to me as flying to the moon. Today, it looks like this elusive dream may soon be a reality.

What has taken me from despairing that we will never have a home of our own, to awaiting a house sale to go through? A lot of hard saving and a shift in perspective, yes. But more than that I’ve had a whole lot of luck in the lottery of life.

House prices are spiralling further and further beyond the grasp of the average aspiring first-time buyer. There are endless dispiriting statistics, but one that particularly strikes me is that it would take the average British couple 24 years to get together a standard deposit for their first home by putting away five per cent of their wages each month – compared with just three years in the 1990s.

We talk about building ‘affordable’ housing; but we don’t say exactly what this means. The ‘affordable’ new-builds I’ve seen in our area required deposits almost as high as their older counterparts on the market, even with shared ownership. I assume their brand newness came with a premium.

Little makes young adults more furious than hearing out-of-touch commentators tell us that there isn’t a problem – we just need to work harder and spend less. It feels even more infuriating when it comes from a smug young person who has managed to buy a home.

Media coverage of the issue often follows a familiar pattern. We hear all about the dire circumstances and then, as if to balance this with a note of hope, we meet one young couple who have bought a house. It might be that they went straight into decent-paying jobs rather than going to university followed by low-paid graduate jobs. This is a trade-off that can leave you better off in the short-term, but it is not the best life plan for everyone. Nevertheless, the message comes across clear; if we really want it enough, we will get there.

But strive as we might, not everyone will manage to buy a home. Many of us who do, probably have some kind of advantage beyond our own doing, whether we acknowledge it or not.

Although the concept of me approaching the bank of Mum and Dad to buy a house is laughable – especially with four other siblings – that doesn’t mean the accident of birth and circumstance hasn’t been in my favour.

For me, the crux of this advantage has been being able to live rent-free for a period. The crippling burden of rent rising fast, while wages do not, traps low-earners in a cycle that feels impossible to break. How single people manage without a double income is beyond me. Having a family who is able to support you financially makes all the difference – and this is certainly not something everybody has.

To get to this point, I’ve come to terms with buying with just a five percent deposit with high interest (something I assume you’d struggle to do if you hadn’t managed to work up a good credit rating). This goes against my deeply-embedded instinct of not over-borrowing.

So, if we do manage to buy a house, (and as yet, this is uncertain) it won’t be because:

- I’ve never bought smashed avocado (although this happens to be true – smashed potato tastes much better).

- I’m less ‘entitled’ or ‘lazy’ than other young people who haven’t bought a house.

- I’ve just gone out and got myself a high-paying job. (I work at a small newspaper – that says it all, but thanks Australian politicians for repeating this super helpful advice.)

Quite simply it will be because we’ve accepted far less than ideal borrowing and had familial help and a whole lot of luck. Forgive me, I’m no financial policy expert, but this hardly seems like a sound, equitable housing policy.

And buying a house in this way will fly in the face of the wider conservative message we constantly receive of ‘living within our means.’ If buying with only a five percent deposit gets us into trouble somehow, we will be blamed for being irresponsible – even when we were left with essentially no other choice.

If I am a bit smug – and let’s face it, it’s hard not to be when you are very pleased with your good fortune – please do feel free to hate me a little bit for it.