I just exchanged contracts on a 2 bed flat in zone 4 that will leave me and my gf with a 300k debt.
If it wasn't for her stable job in town I would think about going somewhere else.
And we know that we will probably never be able to upgrade to a bigger place if prices keep rising at this rate since our income will not increase at the same speed.
I wonder if London will become a boring rich people playground.
Sounds like you got lucky then.
You have a mortgage for around 1.5k for the next 25 years, shared between you and your gf for a flat with a spare bedroom close to the centre of London ?
Sounds rather affordable, what am I missing ?
So realistically you need to earn £3000 after tax to be able to afford it, which translates to a pre-tax salary of £50k.
We are lucky to earn more than that but the vast majority of people I know would not be able to do it.
We barely feel middle class here, I don't even own a car.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_in_the_United_Kingdom
Also, interest rates are extremely low at the moment and we will be paying only around 4%.
I prefer not to think what will happen if the BOE needs to raise interest rates.
Additionally if we want to have kids, that's another £12k per year per kid for a nursery if my gf wants to keep her job.
I never earned this much in my life and I never felt to financially insecure at the same time.