Alternative ways of housing / living

Move.  

There are plenty parts of the country or Wales or Scotland that are much cheaper than Gloucestershire.  For example there are/were programmes in/near Newcastle where houses were being sold by councils for £1 if you were willing to do them up.  In my home county of Fife there is some of the cheapest housing in the UK - in an old mining area.  Similarly in the Welsh valleys (not that far from Gloucester) the old mining areas have great deals on housing.

But….and it’s a big but….

do you want a great house in a poor area away from what you know (but where you can find new friends and a real sense of community) or a poor house in a wealthy (relatively) area that you know and have deep roots in?  Difficult choice but a real and valid one.

I chose the former to get myself on the housing ladder and never looked back.  But then I’m an ‘anywhere’ with a peripatetic family always seeking the better opportunities always willing to move to secure them and no roots in any particular community.   This is as opposed to a ‘somewhere’ with all family within 10miles of where you were born - like the majority of people the UK.

Edited by Carlos

Buy a canal or river boat & live on the canal/river?

There are places for permanent moorings, plus you also get to travel up & down the country.

Failing that save £500/month (£250/each) over 6 years & you'll have your deposit £36.000. It's a long term goal, but there are no shortcuts to the current housing market.

Sadly at my age I can't get a mortgage, but in the last 6 years I have paid enough rent to buy half a house & in the last 12 years I have paid enough rent to buy a whole one :(

Move. Newcastle looks reasonably affordable at the moment.

Good morning Emma,

 I don’t envy anyone in your position, especially as you are in a quite expensive region.  It’s not an easy situation to extract yourself from when renting is more expensive than a mortgage.

When Mrs E worked for a housing association they had a scheme where you could buy a property on a shared ownership scheme and they took a chunk of the profits when the property was sold.

 Outside of that there is certainly very cheap property available in some areas of the country.  Up here in Scotland you can buy a decent flat for £50k if you look outside of Glasgow and Edinburgh.  Flats that need work can be as low as £30k.  It could be a good way to get on the ladder and do a few up whilst moving up the ladder.

 I would also recommend waiting a year or so because I think the bubble is about to burst.

I lived on a 32ft sail boat in a marina for a few years. Lovely in Summer, but a bit of a drag in Winter. Mooring fees were considerably cheaper than rent.

The pandemic spoiled everything for me. Marinas aren't so welcoming to liveaboards now, and boat prices have gone up. But if you can find a cheap boat and a nice marina, it really is a nice way of life.

Unfortunately move is the obvious answer. Its easier if you don't have specific ties to an area. As DJ200 suggested, the North East is a beautiful part of the country, County Durham, Northumberland, North Yorkshire is very affordable, the people are also great. I'd be looking at places that are structurally fine but need everything else doing to them, new kitchen, bathroom, windows, boiler, complete redecoration and plan to make the updates over 5+ years. If you end up with a spare room, rent it out to cover some of the renovation costs. 

A Motorhome.

Though UK house prices are crazy in some areas - I couldn't afford to live where I am now if I was buying today, I always remember a radio interview back in the 90s on where to buy. The expert was asked where, he suggested Clapham, Hackney to which the presenter commented "why would you want to live there, they're horrible" - now look at them.

The expert replied it's the cheaper less appealing areas that attract the creatives & young professionals that then become the "good areas"

Several people "in the know" are now looking at Ramsgate with the easy access to London by train.

Another option a friend of mine has just gone for is a narrowboat on a permanent mooring.

Happychipmunk said

Unfortunately move is the obvious answer. Its easier if you don't have specific ties to an area. As DJ200 suggested, the North East is a beautiful part of the country, County Durham, Northumberland, North Yorkshire is very affordable, the people are also great. I'd be looking at places that are structurally fine but need everything else doing to them, new kitchen, bathroom, windows, boiler, complete redecoration and plan to make the updates over 5+ years. If you end up with a spare room, rent it out to cover some of the renovation costs. 

I'll endorse that. I know Northumberland fairly well and I love the place. Nice towns, lovely countryside, magnificent coast and beaches, super-friendly people. And cheaper property. Only downside for a Southern softie like me is that it can be a bit nippy at times.    

Spike said

Though UK house prices are crazy in some areas - I couldn't afford to live where I am now if I was buying today, I always remember a radio interview back in the 90s on where to buy. The expert was asked where, he suggested Clapham, Hackney to which the presenter commented "why would you want to live there, they're horrible" - now look at them.

The expert replied it's the cheaper less appealing areas that attract the creatives & young professionals that then become the "good areas"

Several people "in the know" are now looking at Ramsgate with the easy access to London by train.

Another option a friend of mine has just gone for is a narrowboat on a permanent mooring.

I understand from a mate of mine that if you have a narrowboat and move every fortnight to a nearby mooring ….and then back again after a fortnight, you can avoid mooring fees altogether.  Just a thought.

Happychipmunk mmmmmm North Yorkshire isn't that affordable. Many of the beautiful small villages have very hefty price tags to go with it!

Saying that there are some cheaper areas of North Yorkshire like Malton, Selby, Pocklington, Kirbymoorside, Scarborough which can give you great value for money but anywhere in the countryside or the North York Moors and you're gonna struggle.

And York is obviously a total bust. What we paid for a small 2 bed semi within 10 minutes drive of York City centre, we could have got a spacious detached 4 bed house elsewhere 🙈 lol

I am in the process of moving out of London and heading North to an old cottage. Countryside, history and twice the space for a lot less money.

No brainer.

B.

My brother lives in a converted horse lorry and loves it. He's currently on a site in Somerset which charges him £200 per month and that includes all electricity and water he uses. He has a house which he owns but he rents that out, preferring to live as a kind of nomad - there seems to be a surprisingly large numbers of people doing the same. The horse lorry has both an upstairs and a downstairs at one end, bedroom above with bathroom/utility below. The other end is the living area/kitchen. It's like walking into the Tardis. If I needed to save money fast for a deposit this is what I'd do.

If you have an opportunity to get on the home ownership ladder I'd do it sooner rather than later. People constantly predict that the house price bubble is about to burst, but even if it does it's unlikely you'll move into negative equity for any appreciable length of time given the size of deposits lenders require, and prices will inevitably recover given the massive under investment in housing stock. I bought a place 18 months ago and within 6 months the estate agent was on the phone offering me £200k more than I paid for it, and this isn't uncommon especially for rural properties now people have figured out that they can work remotely.

Sis Benedict , Agreed, small beautiful villages are always going to be expensive. As you said, its the smaller towns that offer better value for money, it just depends on what you want to compromise on, places that are a 15/20 minute drive from Hull/Middlesbrough/Sunderland etc. You could get lucky with a terrace house in Darlington for the same price as a KIA Sorento. Stockton on Tees would be somewhere I would look at given the regeneration plans that are in place for the area.

Another option and its a bit radical perhaps, but consider joining the armed forces, army, navy or RAF.

 Why?

Because while you are earning a decent wage and paying a very minimum for accommodation, you can easily afford a mortgage on a property. Rent out the property at the same time as living in married quarters, and let someone else pay your mortgage for you. If you do this in the first couple of years of joining the armed forces, over a period of 22 years..... or longer, you can either build up a property portfolio  or keep making your current property larger, or more affluent in a nicer area, increasing your capital.

Its something I suggest to my army students i teach who range in age from 17 -  32 male and female. Some of them listen, some don't but a lot of guys my age when we served, wished we had been given advice like this at the beginning.

Its not for everyone, but it would definitely work. :)