This week I’ve been considering how difficult it is for first time buyers to get a foot on the property ladder. I got my first mortgage in 1991 and at the time the house I was buying was for sale at around £35000. I needed a deposit of something like £8000 and then had to submit the normal payslips and proof of who I was to the building society.
I chose to use a building society rather than a bank because some of the lenders I approached were not interested in lending me money. I couldn’t understand why at the time: I was 22, had a very good and secure job, yet some banks would not lend me the money I needed to get on the housing ladder.
In the end I chose the offer made to me by the Skipton building society. The house I wished to buy was in Monton / Winton, which is a part of Eccles in Greater Manchester. The property was situated on Parrin Lane – a main road and when my parents saw the house they weren’t too delighted.
A friend would tell me, several years later that “you only live on a main road once”, and she was right. Parrin Lane was busy as it connected Eccles with Worsley and was also great for access to the M60/62 and the Trafford Centre which had not yet been built.
Over 25 years later the prices of houses that are suitable for first time buyers have skyrocketed. Personally I’m glad that I’m not trying to buy my first house as the deposits required these days are much more considerable than they were in my day
I stayed on Parrin Lane for 11 years before I moved away from Eccles and relocated to Ramsbottom, a nice place north of Manchester and out of the city. Needless to say, I no longer live on a main road
