‘Most people my age have written off buying a home’
asserted
people → write → home
Louie, 24, a chef living in London, says a lot of people have “written off the idea of even considering getting a property” in their 20s.
asserted
lot → live → 20s
He is optimistic about the government’s new Your First Home scheme, which will enable people to buy a new-build property with a deposit of just 2.5%, supported by an interest-free equity loan.
asserted
which → enable → loan
But he says a smaller deposit alone will not be enough for him.
asserted
deposit → say → him
“I’ve found hospitality wages to be far too volatile to even consider saving for a property,” he says.
asserted
he → find → property
As a result, he is studying an access course with plans to start a physiotherapy degree next year.
asserted
he → study → degree
He hopes that by the time he graduates and gains some experience, he will have a stable enough income and sufficient savings to put down a deposit.
asserted
he → hop → deposit
He says the new scheme “should encourage a lot of young people to buy earlier” and adds: “We are moving in a good direction, but I’ll still save and wait until around late 20s to early 30s to start [thinking about buying], just due to how much it may cost me.”
Louie earns between £37,000 and £40,000 a year and shares a three-bedroom rented property with two friends.
uncertain
Louie → say → friends
But rent and bills take up an increasingly large proportion of his income, leaving little room to save towards buying a home.
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rent → take → home
“I was always told that a third of your salary should go towards rent and bills, but it’s coming up to about half now, which is a little bit mental,” he says.
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he → tell → half
His landlord recently informed the household that their rent would increase by £200 a month in November.
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rent → inform → November
He has managed to build up some savings.
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He → manage → savings
Since he was 18, he has put between 5% and 10% of his earnings into a stocks and shares investment account, and over the past year has also started making regular contributions to an Isa specifically for a house deposit.
asserted
he → put → deposit
“Nobody really wants to be spending all their money on rent,” he says.
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he → want → rent
“But with the amount of money we make, you kind of have to.
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you → make → money
‘I earned £126,000 last year – but still have nothing at the end of the month’
Graham Robinson is a business owner from Timperley, Greater Manchester, who runs the company KeySim.
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who → earn → KeySim
He earned £126,000 last year, but says that despite his six-figure income, he has virtually nothing left in his bank account at the end of each month.
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he → earn → month
Graham says he was “hoping for real help with the cost of employing people” from the budget.
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he → say → budget
“Instead, the employment allowance stays at £10,500, while employers pick up the rising wage bill.”
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employers → stay → bill
He adds: “The minimum wage increase is welcome for workers, but the government gets the headline, businesses get the bill and the Treasury recoups some through tax and national insurance.”
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Treasury → add → tax
The 45-year-old lives alone and shares care of his 10-year-old autistic son with his ex, covering all childcare costs himself.
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old → live → costs
“I know £126,000 sounds like an enormous amount of money, but after tax it works out at broadly £6,500 a month, and that really doesn’t go as far as people might think,” he says.
uncertain
he → know → 6,500
“I don’t have expensive cars, I don’t go on extravagant holidays.
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I → have → holidays
I don’t really do anything particularly lavish, but at the end of the month it’s all gone.
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it → do → month
His mortgage payments have risen from about £900 a month to £1,300, while council tax, food, energy and other everyday expenses have also increased.
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tax → rise → 1,300
Normally earning approximately £100,000 a year, he has increasingly relied on additional dividends from his business to cover rising costs.
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he → earn → costs
He is frustrated by the effective 60% income tax rate on earnings caused by the gradual withdrawal of the personal allowance on income over £100,000, which reaches zero when earnings reach £125,140.
asserted
earnings → frustrate → 125,140
“To put an extra £1,000 a month in my take-home pay, my salary would need to rise from £100,000 to £129,757 a year,” he says.
asserted
he → put → 129,757
‘Our mortgage has increased by more than £600 a month’
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mortgage → increase → 600
Helen, 40, lives in south-west London with her husband and two children, aged eight and five.
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Helen → live → husband
She is the main breadwinner, working in communications, while her husband runs his own architectural practice.
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husband → work → practice
Her house is in council tax band D, which means she will get a £100 energy payment this winter.
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she → mean → payment
She welcomed the extra money, but found the way it was being distributed strange, based on bands rather than financial need.
She says the change offering self-employed people paternity pay was “great”, though now her children are older it would not benefit her family.
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it → welcome → family
She adds: “It was lovely to hear Dolly Parton’s book scheme mentioned, as encouraging education for all is key.”
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encouraging → add → all
Her family’s biggest monthly expense is their mortgage, which increased by more than £600 a month when interest rates rose.
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rates → increase → 600
They have now fixed it until 2028.
asserted
They → fix → 2028
Helen says frozen income tax thresholds are one of her biggest concerns, alongside getting the economy growing and the pressures facing small businesses.
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economy → say → businesses
Her husband’s architectural practice is less than four years old and has struggled with the rising costs of building and a wider slowdown in construction.
asserted
practice → struggle → construction
“The challenge comes down to the price of energy; for example, the cost of steel, transporting materials and building homes,” she says.
asserted
she → come → homes
“It impacts everything we make, build and buy.”
asserted
we → impact → everything
…and 44 more, not listed.
The Aporia
