How do single people buy homes?

frillyleaf

Genuinely asking how people are managing to do this. I’m currently renting and am constantly nervous of being given notice. Any time something is wrong with house I pay for it to be fixed unless it is to do with water or electricity. Rent privately but don’t I feel secure. Any time a letter comes in post I’m nervous it is an eviction notice. Have had to move house a few times now and want to get out of rent trap.

Long term I would like to buy but I just can’t see how this is ever going to be a possibility with current rental market and cost of living. I’m starting to become anxious about my future and children’s future.

How do people manage to buy as single applicants? Ideally I would like to stay in my area as children are in school here. I don’t live in an “affluent” area but can’t afford to buy. What are the options for single people to buy?

I feel quite disheartened and negative so I’m hoping there will be some positive feedback

Seanachai

frillyleaf wrote: »

Genuinely asking how people are managing to do this. I’m currently renting and am constantly nervous of being given notice. Any time something is wrong with house I pay for it to be fixed unless it is to do with water or electricity. Rent privately but don’t I feel secure. Any time a letter comes in post I’m nervous it is an eviction notice. Have had to move house a few times now and want to get out of rent trap.

Long term I would like to buy but I just can’t see how this is ever going to be a possibility with current rental market and cost of living. I’m starting to become anxious about my future and children’s future.

How do people manage to buy as single applicants? Ideally I would like to stay in my area as children are in school here. I don’t live in an “affluent” area but can’t afford to buy. What are the options for single people to buy?

I feel quite disheartened and negative so I’m hoping there will be some positive feedback

I'm in the same position, my landlord has sold two of his other houses in the area, he's elderly and I don't think his children have any interest in being landlords. I have no single relatives or friends that own their own home, the only way that I could see myself buying or building my own place would be to move to my home parish and get the rebuilding Ireland or Credit Union mortgage. Ideally get a half decent site and put a wood cabin on it, it would have to be out of the way though for the council to approve this.

Creamy Goodness

Single buyer here; The answer is super hard work and support from my parents. I know early on what I wanted to do with my life, parent's supported this and supported me through college. It turned out I picked a great career (Software) but it wasn't for the money I picked it, it's a bonus.

I've made some sacrifices in the last five years to be able to afford a house (relationships have suffered, friendships have as well) but in the end they were ones I was willing to make to be able to put a roof over my head.

OP have a look at some of the schemes available to help people buy, there are a few out there but I'm not familiar with the specifics.

Salary Negotiator

I bought as a single person; my commute has gone from a 21km cycle 5 days a week to a 100km each way drive 3 times a week.

I moved out of Dublin and back to where I grew up and quite a few friends have done the same over the last 2 years.

Being from the area I'm quite happy here and know a lot of people but if I was from Dublin and had been priced out of there I'm not sure I'd like it as much.

gigantic09

I'm in the same situation as you and fully empathise. Up until the last couple of years I was happy enough to remain renting. About a year ago I got notice that the apt I was in was being sold and was given notice to move out again.This is the 4th time this happened in last 10 years so this time I said to myself enough is enough. Sick of the uncertainty, sub standard living conditions and spiraling rents.
Was lucky enough to be able to move into the mother's house in Feb when lease was terminated and this year have done any overtime going at work. Now have a deposit together to buy something at the low end of the market.ie wouldn't have thought this was possible before and sorry I didn't do it a few years ago when prices were a lot lower. Best of luck in your endeavours.

Plumbthedepths

Seanachai wrote: »

I'm in the same position, my landlord has sold two of his other houses in the area, he's elderly and I don't think his children have any interest in being landlords. I have no single relatives or friends that own their own home, the only way that I could see myself buying or building my own place would be to move to my home parish and get the rebuilding Ireland or Credit Union mortgage. Ideally get a half decent site and put a wood cabin on it, it would have to be out of the way though for the council to approve this.

You won't get permission for a log cabins that are sold here as a permanent dwelling. For a log cabin to meet regulations the cost is similar to a traditional build.

ELM327

I bought a 3 bed in Athboy as a single applicant.
It's not the pinnacle of properties but I couldnt afford Dublin without overstretching and/or living in a bad area.

I work in a Fintech MNC as a risk analyst.

frillyleaf

Seanachai wrote: »

I'm in the same position, my landlord has sold two of his other houses in the area, he's elderly and I don't think his children have any interest in being landlords. I have no single relatives or friends that own their own home, the only way that I could see myself buying or building my own place would be to move to my home parish and get the rebuilding Ireland or Credit Union mortgage. Ideally get a half decent site and put a wood cabin on it, it would have to be out of the way though for the council to approve this.

Do you have children too? It’s very unsettling. I usually try not to think about it too much but am starting to get more and more anxious. I have priced log cabins too and would love to go that route but I don’t have anywhere that I can build it. I priced one and in desperation when I was evicted from a house a few years ago. I asked if I could build it on old family land that isn’t used to tie me over for a few years and was told this wasn’t an option.

I try to be optimistic but I was speaking with someone the other day and feel negative. She and her partner both work full time and have two kids and can’t afford to get a mortgage or save. I try to be positive but when I hear stories from dual income homes not being able to buy it scares me as I don’t have someone to buy with.

gigantic09

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

OP have a look at some of the schemes available to help people buy, there are a few out there but I'm not familiar with the specifics.

Unfortunately apart from new builds there's not alot of incentives out there for a person looking to buy. In fact its the opposite as you have to pay stamp duty.

frillyleaf

gigantic09 wrote: »

I'm in the same situation as you and fully empathise. Up until the last couple of years I was happy enough to remain renting. About a year ago I got notice that the apt I was in was being sold and was given notice to move out again.This is the 4th time this happened in last 10 years so this time I said to myself enough is enough. Sick of the uncertainty, sub standard living conditions and spiraling rents.
Was lucky enough to be able to move into the mother's house in Feb when lease was terminated and this year have done any overtime going at work. Now have a deposit together to buy something at the low end of the market.ie wouldn't have thought this was possible before and sorry I didn't do it a few years ago when prices were a lot lower. Best of luck in your endeavours.

I’ve noticed a few apartments going for sale in my block too. It is absolutely terrifying to see dual income families with children scrambling to find places to rent and I’m worrying it will be me next.

Well done on saving up for deposit. That is great news and I wish you all the best with your new home.

We built a house on a single income with a family.

For me a big difference was getting a site for free - we couldn't have bought the equivalent finished house.
Other big factors were:
Lots of savings built up over years.
Receiving a redundancy payment but thankfully not being out of work for long.
Relatively good salary to borrow against.

If we weren't able to build and had to buy we would have had to sacrifice somewhat on size and/or location but it would still have been possible.

No easy answer I'm afraid - mostly just a combination of factors mostly beyond my control.

My car is 12 years old and I dont like it but I keep driving it because it is cheap. I would like a newer/bigger/nicer one but I can't justify it at the moment.

Biggest step would be to buy outside Dublin.

Zulu

Single income with family.
Bought through hard work and frugality. Very hard work and a very tight budget for more years than I cared for, but that's in the past now. If you really want something, you'd be surprised how much you can save.

We bought 2 years ago (for context) and needed to save a 20% deposit.

lawred2

frillyleaf wrote: »

Genuinely asking how people are managing to do this. I’m currently renting and am constantly nervous of being given notice. Any time something is wrong with house I pay for it to be fixed unless it is to do with water or electricity. Rent privately but don’t I feel secure. Any time a letter comes in post I’m nervous it is an eviction notice. Have had to move house a few times now and want to get out of rent trap.

Long term I would like to buy but I just can’t see how this is ever going to be a possibility with current rental market and cost of living. I’m starting to become anxious about my future and children’s future.

How do people manage to buy as single applicants? Ideally I would like to stay in my area as children are in school here. I don’t live in an “affluent” area but can’t afford to buy. What are the options for single people to buy?

I feel quite disheartened and negative so I’m hoping there will be some positive feedback

They have incomes/inheritance/parents etc that facilitate such purchases

Nothing cryptic about it

James Bond Junior

I bought by myself in 2015. Sold assets eg nice car, took on extra work and saved my butt off. Bought a very modest place in Limerick city in a decent area which is bordered by a very rough area and a very good area on each side. My wife and I are currently working abroad to gather the deposit for the next place and I so I hopefully won't need to sell the first place. You need to make sacrifices, which is easier outside Dublin admittedly but look at your options and evaluate what you can do to increase income or decrease outgoings.

Bass Reeves

It mostly a Dublin area issue.in most other cities houses/Apartment sub 200k are available. There are still houses and apartments available sun 100k in smaller villages and towns within 50 km of cities other than Dublin. However there are fewer and fewer in this bracket.

terrydel

lawred2 wrote: »

They have incomes/inheritance/parents etc that facilitate such purchases

Nothing cryptic about it

Pretty sad that that is whats its come to in this country. Owning a home is fast becoming an aspiration only for the well off.

Plumbthedepths

Zulu wrote: »

We bought 2 years ago (for context) and needed to save a 20% deposit.

20 per cent? So not a first time buyer.

lawred2

terrydel wrote: »

Pretty sad that that is whats its come to in this country. Owning a home is fast becoming an aspiration only for the well off.

Was there a time where that wasn't the case?

Were houses and land handed out to Irish people?

And I'm don't mean through plantations.

terrydel

James Bond Junior wrote: »

I bought by myself in 2015. Sold assets eg nice car, took on extra work and saved my butt off. Bought a very modest place in Limerick city in a decent area which is bordered by a very rough area and a very good area on each side. My wife and I are currently working abroad to gather the deposit for the next place and I so I hopefully won't need to sell the first place. You need to make sacrifices, which is easier outside Dublin admittedly but look at your options and evaluate what you can do to increase income or decrease outgoings.

I think the vast majority know they have to make sacrifices and are willing to and actually doing so.
The is a narrative now that the current generation are not willing to do so and want to have their cake and eat it. Imho, this is very unfair. There will always be a small % who have this mindset but for the most part, this generation and those who suffered most during the recession, are no different to those that came before. They want the same things, a secure roof over their head somewhere that allows them a decent life.
But thru mostly no fault of their own, our society is now structured to make that extremely difficult and in many cases impossible.

The log cabins you reference come up here and in the building forum regularly - you are unlikely to get planning permission for one and if you did they probably wouldn't meet building requirements.

Edit: once we had kids and went to one income and rented a bigger place it was much harder to save. The bulk of savings were from before then.

machaseh

It depends entirely on your circumstances and your income level. With my specific circumstances, I will never ever be able to buy a home until I win the lottery or something (not that I participate in that but you know what I mean).

- I am medically unable to drive a car, meaning I have to live in larger cities with public transportation. The rent is then obviously a lot higher. If I would live in a small town my freedom of movement would be severely restricted, I might not be able to go anywhere if the bus doesnt run on sunday for example, and that would severely impact my quality of life. How would I shop, how would I travel to work? Etc.

- I don't earn that much money, I just have about a median salary or so. Of course as my career progresses I'll be earning more, but so will the house and rent prices.

- I don't have a partner and don't see any relationship happening soon. Of course this might change but one can never know.

- I am not from a rich family and I have a lot of problems with the relationship with my father. I might receive not a single penny of inheritance at all, they sure as hell don't support me now anyway, I'm on me own feet.

I simply don't see me ever being able to purchase a house where I come from (netherlands) let alone here in Ireland.

frillyleaf

frillyleaf wrote: »

I’ve noticed a few apartments going for sale in my block too. It is absolutely terrifying to see dual income families with children scrambling to find places to rent and I’m worrying it will be me next.

Well done on saving up for deposit. That is great news and I wish you all the best with your new home.

I live in a small corner apartment. I have just enough room for my stuff and I live alone. Opposite me is another corner apartment there is a family of four. I honestly can't imagine what it must be like for them. They own it but can't afford anything larger currently.

I'm in a similar boat OP. Trying to save but my rent sucks so much money, saving anything substantial is slow. No chance of help from parents. No chance of a free site. Just keep saving and watch it slowly add up. I reckon I need at least 30, if not 35k for a deposit.

I went to a mortgage advisor. There was a free clinic in my local bank branch. The advice was ridiculous.

-Don't buy daily cups of coffee(I don't any way)
-Bring lunch to work (I do that already)
-Reign back on holidays(I had my first holiday this year in 3 years)
-Consider down sizing your car(I don't have one)

The advice was one step up from cancel your sky and stop eating avocado toast.:pac:

Wayne Jarvis

I recently bought an apartment by myself with no help from anybody. I don't know what you're exact situation is OP but I started my job 13 years ago and only earned 18K a year. Now I'm on somewhere between 32-35k depending on bonuses. I moved out of my parents house about 10 years ago and have been renting with others since then. The way I did it was to just be frugal really, I shop in Aldi or Lidl, don't go out drinking 3-4 nights a week , don't order takeaways 2-3 times a week, don't buy the latest "must have thing" like a slightly updated iPad, I don't know what version of iPad I have but it works grand still so no need to change!, I don't buy lunches/coffee in work in Starbucks or similar every week, I make my own lunches. I still do most of those things but just not every single week. Two people I know do most of that stuff every week and then complain that they "barely get by", when it's pointed out to them how they can save money they get mad and blame the government!
I do also spend money sometimes too :P
Since I started this job I have bought 3 cars, nothing too new or fancy but they get me around, I have had a good few holidays but have had to put work into finding good deals on them, I have an iPad, laptop, iPod, still socialise etc...
I was able to pay for half of the property price myself with my savings and still have a sizeable amount left over and now half a small enough mortgage (less that 100k).
Again I'm not saying you spend too much, I'm just giving my take on my own experience. Good luck to you frillyleaf!

sportsfan90

Deleted User wrote: »

I went to a mortgage advisor. There was a free clinic in my local bank branch. The advice was ridiculous.

-Don't buy daily cups of coffee(I don't any way)
-Bring lunch to work (I do that already)
-Reign back on holidays(I had my first holiday this year in 3 years)
-Consider down sizing your car(I don't have one)

The advice was one step up from cancel your sky and stop eating avocado toast.:pac:

Just because those things don't apply to you doesn't make them bad advice. Several people I know waste ridiculous amounts of money on those things without thinking what it all adds up to.

If you want a more in-dept personalised savings plan, pay a financial advisor rather relying on a free clinic.

evillive

Single buyer here - my experience was I went to a mortgage broker with my details, savings/earnings, they came back with suggested limits/availability of mortgage products, I eventually found a property within the limit and the small detail got set/approved then. I'd certainly recommend that route as an option for you, let the experts do that work, just make sure yourself then you're happy with the finer detail/costs etc if it comes to getting the loan

Creamy Goodness

gigantic09 wrote: »

Unfortunately apart from new builds there's not alot of incentives out there for a person looking to buy. In fact its the opposite as you have to pay stamp duty.

There's the rebuilding Ireland scheme https://rebuildingireland.ie not sure how feasible this is for the OP.

New builds require paying stamp duty as well, no one gets away from paying stamp duty. Unless you mean LPT? Which is true there's no LPT on new builds at the moment, LPT is a bit of a small fish though it's not causing people to not be able to afford a home.

Plumbthedepths

Plumbthedepths wrote: »

20 per cent? So not a first time buyer.

We were 1st time buyers but couldn't get a mortgage for what we wanted so had to save around 20% also.

Saving as a single applicant isn't the biggest hurdle its the 3.5times salary cap that will get you.

frillyleaf

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I live in a small corner apartment. I have just enough room for my stuff and I live alone. Opposite me is another corner apartment there is a family of four. I honestly can't imagine what it must be like for them. They own it but can't afford anything larger currently.

I'm in a similar boat OP. Trying to save but my rent sucks so much money, saving anything substantial is slow. No chance of help from parents. No chance of a free site. Just keep saving and watch it slowly add up. I reckon I need at least 30, if not 35k for a deposit.

I went to a mortgage advisor. There was a free clinic in my local bank branch. The advice was ridiculous.

-Don't buy daily cups of coffee(I don't any way)
-Bring lunch to work (I do that already)
-Reign back on holidays(I had my first holiday this year in 3 years)
-Consider down sizing your car(I don't have one)

The advice was one step up from cancel your sky and stop eating avocado toast.:pac:

Well done for trying to get deposit together.

I don’t buy cups of coffee and don’t eat out. All food is made. I don’t go on holidays and I definitely don’t own a car that is large enough to downsize. I live quite frugally as it is even. I don’t have sky or any unnecessary items that would be considered a luxury. In terms of clothes it is the bare minimum that I have and only buy clothes when needed. Even without all of these things owning a house seems out of reach long term. In terms of size, I would happily live in a small two bed apartment but prices are still out of reach even outside Dublin so it’s not that I’m being unrealistic and wanting to buy close to the city centre. Maybe it’s common now for people not to be able to afford to buy a home but I’m trying to be positive.

Bass Reeves

An issue is the cashless society. Because now loads of people buy with a card they have lost the perception of money and saving. One bit of advice is to get a book and write down you daily expenditure for 6-8 weeks. It easier for a cashless person than one that deals in cash. If cashless you need to go through your account every evening and note every transaction.

However single people always struggled to buy houses even 20-30+ years ago. Most that did were in there 40's before buying. In Dublin no matter what you do it will be impossible unless you are on an exceptional income.

But elsewhere in the country for someone on an average industrial wage the purchaser of a 150 k apartment or house is possible.Assuming 3.5X wages a mortgage of 125k is possible and that would indicate savings of 30-35k.
It's a matter of researching your options. However most look at it as a 3-3 year as opposed to 5-10 year project

Plumbthedepths

BrownFinger wrote: »

We were 1st time buyers but couldn't get a mortgage for what we wanted so had to save around 20% also.

Saving as a single applicant isn't the biggest hurdle its the 3.5times salary cap that will get you.

On the upside if the economy tanks you may escape negative equity.
The 3.5 is there for good reason, despite what has gone before people would behave in the exact same manner as the property bubble of the early 2000's if the rules weren't in place. I know that is of small comfort but amazingly adults have to be protected from themselves.
Best of luck in your home.

Creamy Goodness

Plumbthedepths wrote: »

20 per cent? So not a first time buyer.

You'll find the majority of FTB's need to save 20% because there's a shortfall between 3.5 times their salary and the cost of a house in the majority of areas people want to live in. I hate the term the squeezed middle but there's a certain section of workers in Ireland that are stuck in a never ending cycle atm. 3.5 times is not enough so they need to save more, time passes, house price rises to another value they can't get quite yet, so they need to save more again and repeat.

FWIW I was a FTB and had 25% deposit.

frillyleaf

BrownFinger wrote: »

We were 1st time buyers but couldn't get a mortgage for what we wanted so had to save around 20% also.

Saving as a single applicant isn't the biggest hurdle its the 3.5times salary cap that will get you.

Yes this is definitely a hurdle for me. Even looking at very small houses in the area I can’t afford them with the 3.5 times salary on a single income household. Even on an average income the smallest and oldest houses in my area are out of reach. To move down the country would be very isolating, lonely and will have no support network at all.

frillyleaf

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

You'll find the majority of FTB's need to save 20% because there's a shortfall between 3.5 times their salary and the cost of a house in the majority of areas people want to live in.

FWIW I was a FTB and had 25% deposit.

Wow well done! That’s incredible

Wayne Jarvis

BrownFinger wrote: »

We were 1st time buyers but couldn't get a mortgage for what we wanted so had to save around 20% also.

Saving as a single applicant isn't the biggest hurdle its the 3.5times salary cap that will get you.

Yeah that's why it took me so long to buy, I had to wait until I was earning at least 30k despite my excellent savings record (if I do say so myself :P).


Another thing I forgot to mention in my earlier post was I had to give up the idea of buying my "dream home". I'm sure one exists for me but I'm also sure it would be well out of my price range by a huge margin.

gigantic09

frillyleaf wrote: »

I’ve noticed a few apartments going for sale in my block too. It is absolutely terrifying to see dual income families with children scrambling to find places to rent and I’m worrying it will be me next.

Well done on saving up for deposit. That is great news and I wish you all the best with your new home.

Cheers but still only at the stage of pre mortgage approval. While it is very difficult for a single person it's probably equally difficult for families on average incomes especially with childcare costs etc. Another option for you might be to house share for a period until you can get a deposit together. Set yourself a date to have your savings goal reached.

Hunnybunny100

Single buyer here, finally managed to buy at the start of this year, no help from parents. No big suggestions here , it took 3 years of saving, clearing a loan and credit card and making sure I had a clean current account and then went through a broker who did all the work for me.

frillyleaf

Bass Reeves wrote: »

An issue is the cashless society. Because now loads of people buy with a card they have lost the perception of money and saving. One bit of advice is to get a book and write down you daily expenditure for 6-8 weeks. It easier for a cashless person than one that deals in cash. If cashless you need to go through your account every evening and note every transaction.

However single people always struggled to buy houses even 20-30+ years ago. Most that did were in there 40's before buying. In Dublin no matter what you do it will be impossible unless you are on an exceptional income.

But elsewhere in the country for someone on an average industrial wage the purchaser of a 150 k apartment or house is possible.Assuming 3.5X wages a mortgage of 125k is possible and that would indicate savings of 30-35k.
It's a matter of researching your options. However most look at it as a 3-3 year as opposed to 5-10 year project

I understand that this is the case with some people however everything I spend is accounted for. I am very frugal with what I spend and even on an average salary small old houses outside of Dublin are out of my reach. It’s quite scary but more so because the rental market is as bad as it is......it’s the constant worry of being served notice and the panic of finding somewhere to live within a reasonable distance to schools.

frillyleaf

Hunnybunny100 wrote: »

Single buyer here, finally managed to buy at the start of this year, no help from parents. No big suggestions here , it took 3 years of saving, clearing a loan and credit card and making sure I had a clean current account and then went through a broker who did all the work for me.

Well done for buying your own place. I must find out how much salary is stress tested and deducted for children. Someone told me that it reduces the capacity to borrow the 3.5 times of salary

duffman3833

I managed to buy a house at the start of the year through the rebuiling ireland home scheme
banks were offering me feck all so going through this scheme i was able to get a house to the value of €150k including my deposit
It was tough, luckily, i got a house for that amount and my monthly payments are low, worth looking into

frillyleaf

gigantic09 wrote: »

Cheers but still only at the stage of pre mortgage approval. While it is very difficult for a single person it's probably equally difficult for families on average incomes especially with childcare costs etc. Another option for you might be to house share for a period until you can get a deposit together. Set yourself a date to have your savings goal reached.

Yes that is a good suggestion but it is not possible for me to house share. I have two children and live in a small house as it is. I think I’ll go back to looking at the log cabin route and see if there is any way to do this.

frillyleaf

duffman3833 wrote: »

I managed to buy a house at the start of the year through the rebuiling ireland home scheme
banks were offering me feck all so going through this scheme i was able to get a house to the value of €150k including my deposit
It was tough, luckily, i got a house for that amount and my monthly payments are low, worth looking into

Thank you. I will look into this. Is there a limit on how much the houses can be worth for the rebuilding Ireland scheme?

Creamy Goodness

frillyleaf wrote: »

Well done for buying your own place. I must find out how much salary is stress tested and deducted for children. Someone told me that it reduces the capacity to borrow the 3.5 times of salary

generally they stress test the current rate + 2% and for each child they deduct €250 from your discretionary income.

dvdman1

Hunnybunny100 wrote: »

Single buyer here, finally managed to buy at the start of this year, no help from parents. No big suggestions here , it took 3 years of saving, clearing a loan and credit card and making sure I had a clean current account and then went through a broker who did all the work for me.

Are you earning above the so called avg industrial wage of 39k?

gigantic09

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

There's the rebuilding Ireland scheme https://rebuildingireland.ie not sure how feasible this is for the OP.

New builds require paying stamp duty as well, no one gets away from paying stamp duty. Unless you mean LPT? Which is true there's no LPT on new builds at the moment, LPT is a bit of a small fish though it's not causing people to not be able to afford a home.

But with new builds or self builds there you can claim tax back of up to 20000 over 3 or 4 years if I remember correctly. The help to buy scheme looks good on paper but you still need to have a deposit together although they will accept a 'gift payment' to cover a substantial part of this. Also I heard anecdotally that here in mayo they have only given out a handful to date and its not as straight forward as appears on the website.

Geuze

dvdman1 wrote: »

Are you earning above the so called avg industrial wage of 39k?

Average earnings of FT workers, incl overtime and irregular earnings, are 46k approx.

Let me check - actually 47,596.


Note that the average earnings of mortgage applicants will exceed this.

Creamy Goodness

gigantic09 wrote: »

But with new builds or self builds there you can claim tax back of up to 20000 over 3 or 4 years if I remember correctly. The help to buy scheme looks good on paper but you still need to have a deposit together although they will accept a 'gift payment' to cover a substantial part of this. Also I heard anecdotally that here in mayo they have only given out a handful to date and its not as straight forward as appears on the website.

yup you can use 4 years of your tax payments to apply for 5% of the purchase price as a help to bolster your deposit. Of course you still need a deposit to go along with this as the clue is in the 'help to buy'. There's limits in place in this scheme as the house can't be over 500k, you have to have a minimum 5% deposit yourself and no more than 30% including the HTB. It's not for everyone but if it's for you it helps.

The submission and claiming process is fairly straight forward provided you're a PAYE worker, self employed is a little more involved.

HotMama89

Bought in 2015 as a single parent (in a city but outside of Dublin). Basic 3 bed that needed a bit of work but in nice area. I was fortunate I could move back to my parents for 1.5 years (still paid rent just lower) and between frugality and being able to work for myself on the side I got there. Ironically my salary is now twice what it was back then and if I was buying this year Id just about be able to afford my own house!! It was all about the timing.

Geuze

The average income of FTB mortgage applicants is 75k.

https://www.centralbank.ie/financial-system/financial-stability/macro-prudential-policy/mortgage-measures/new-mortgage-lending-data-and-commentary

Seanachai

Plumbthedepths wrote: »

You won't get permission for a log cabins that are sold here as a permanent dwelling. For a log cabin to meet regulations the cost is similar to a traditional build.

There's a few down my way off the beaten track, I better not dox them in that case

TitianGerm

frillyleaf wrote: »

Genuinely asking how people are managing to do this. I’m currently renting and am constantly nervous of being given notice. Any time something is wrong with house I pay for it to be fixed unless it is to do with water or electricity. Rent privately but don’t I feel secure. Any time a letter comes in post I’m nervous it is an eviction notice. Have had to move house a few times now and want to get out of rent trap.

Long term I would like to buy but I just can’t see how this is ever going to be a possibility with current rental market and cost of living. I’m starting to become anxious about my future and children’s future.

How do people manage to buy as single applicants? Ideally I would like to stay in my area as children are in school here. I don’t live in an “affluent” area but can’t afford to buy. What are the options for single people to buy?

I feel quite disheartened and negative so I’m hoping there will be some positive feedback

What do you work as OP and what sort of salary do you bring in each month? As you have two kids they will be taken into account when applying for a mortgage.