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[expatinuk]

Will we ever afford a house in SE England?

Do you have something to sell? Do you have family with money? Are you willing to live in a less than desirable area just to get on the housing ladder? Most people in the UK in your situation make all kinds of compromises in order to get that first step on the housing ladder.

[qrypt]

My uni publishes online the salaries. I am just done with my Ph.D. (<45days) and will make about 27k. Should I be in a panic? I certainly feel like I should. I will get married in March, he will be post-doc. I'm guessing he'll make 25k. Will we ever afford a house in SE England?

Where on earth are you set to make 27k? I thought salaries like that were no longer possible, with the "framework agreement".  I know you won't want to tell us the institution, but: is this as a lecturer??

Anyway with a combined income of ~50k, you should be able to get a mortgage of 200k - plenty for a decent house/flat in a decent area, though it won't be a leafy middle class suburb of the sort you could get in most American cities.  Of course, 200k would be hard for London, but you say SE England, which includes a lot of variety.  Remember that an income of 27k puts you above the median - tens of millions of people live on less. 

[sandgrounder]

c.27k is the bottom of the lecturer A (as was) scale, I think. I know a lot of institutions are appointing new PhDs at that level especially the more research intensive ones. I've just been at a conference and from what people were saying, it sounds like the more prestigious the university, the more mean they are with starting salary.

[august_leo]

it sounds like the more prestigious the university, the more mean they are with starting salary.

:) I do love everything else about the job and feel like my start-up package is good. Yes, it is Lecturer A.

Thanks for your comments. I do think I will see how it goes and if I can't stand the lack of leafy suburban streets will relocate back to the US. At least we are young and haven't ever had a house to completely know what we are missing. We have some saved up though.

Thanks for letting me hijack your thread! :)

[observer3]

I'm trying to figure out how much the property ladder thing is cultural...

Buying a house should be a financial decision based on a combination of factors and personal preferences, no? Why is it always assumed that one MUST buy a house in the UK? There is ongoing total hysteria over the property ladder, and some people are not making good financial decisions as a result (interest-only mortgages etc). Of course bad decisions have been made in the US, but renting is generally viewed as a perfectly reasonable decision in the US, quite different than in the UK.

Given that there was a UK housing crash in the early 90s (granted, probably unlikely now, but possible, that's how econ works), housing is an investment like any other, and some of us are just less comfortable with business risks. I find it surprising that such a personal decision as housebuying can easily become fodder for attack when UK culture is normally so nicely uninvasive... 

[doctorwho]

I couldn't agree more with observer3!  My family of four is supported exclusively by my Lecturer A income. Renting is the only serious option for us, if we want to live in a place that is near to good schools, shopping, and is relatively 'safe'.  Granted, we're in the SW and not the SE and the cost of living is slightly lower.  But, as others have said on this forum in regards to UK salaries and the like, if you are like me and from an American coastal city, the cost of housing in the UK is no more expensive than it is in LA or NYC.  Yes, jeans and TVs are more expensive, but bread, milk and housing isn't necessarily so.  Do I feel a touch of envy when my friends teaching at Small Midwestern Uni in Nowhere, MO can buy a 4 BR house on 3 acres on their salary of $45-55k whereas I'm renting a smallish 3 BR semi on my 30k GBP?  Sure.  But not when it's 110 degrees in Nowhere, MI or when I'm enjoying an Erasmus exchange to a University in Sweden.  Let them eat BBQ sandwiches!

[august_leo]

So, I've been paid by the University. Apparently, they changed something since I was hired and my annual salary will now be 30k.

Woo hoo! That helps and makes me feel like less of a loser.