“That’s not enough.” There’s nothing else to say when the mortgage adviser is presented with my house-hunting budget. Skimping and saving with hopes of buying my first home, I thought my efforts would at least be rewarded with the option of an ageing shell. I have a good job and decent deposit thanks to inheritance from four relatives and half a decade of saving, but the bank won’t budge. I can’t afford anything. “It’s because you’re doing it alone.”
It’s a sinking feeling increasing