How I’m saving to buy an apartment in my 20s [in LONDON]

✨ Socials

✨ Who am I
My name is Madeleine or Maddie for short, I'm a 23-year-old Norwegian in London. I make videos about interior design, lifestyle, and London life.

MUSIC

[danica]

This is the type of people who deserve to be called influencers. They influence you to do your best but even if you are not best at it no need to worry because they can be your friend your big sister and even your mentor and give you their piece of advice and share their knowledge for us to win together ❤️ So glad to find Maddie channel. Everytime i watch her vlogs i do feel satisfied and doesn’t feel guilty using my phone. And even if i am older than her i still learned so much from her. Thank you for that.

[djjs]

These are some great tips for saving up. But I think the biggest reason why it’s unrealistic for most people in their 20s to buy in London is not the ability to save, it’s that most people’s jobs don’t pay enough for them to obtain a sufficient mortgage (eg 3-4x your salary), as house prices are so high. Even if someone saves a 50k or 100k, if they don’t have a high salary they won’t be able to buy anything decent (I agree with previous comments that help to buy, shared ownership, leasehold etc are all best avoided).

[LlewellynTravel]

Another super helpful thing I have found is the ‘save the change’ option with my bank. So every transaction I make with my debit card, my bank automatically rounds up the amount to the next pound and transfers the difference to a savings account. It’s small amounts at a time, but all accumulates to a larger sum over the course of a year, without you even noticing. 😊

[sweetygirl]

Something to consider as someone who spent my 20s in London and didn’t buy, and has now bought in Stockholm: if you think you might want kids and use a daycare center, this might change your finances quite a bit. Several friends with babies have also now left London because they don’t have the £2000 per month this often costs.
Good luck to you! ☺️

[midmD]

Being such a cryptic topic, thank you so much for taking the time and preparing a clear briefing on how savings actually work! Very useful!

[Angelic]

Random but I would recommend changing the yellow pillows on your sofa to navy blue . Would complement better the painting on the wall rather than having a matchy matchy feel 😅

[acd]

An important point about the Lifetime ISA (or its predecessor the Help to buy ISA) firstly I’m fairly sure you CAN use the money saved in them for property more than £450k, you just wouldn’t get the government bonus, which is pretty hefty. But more importantly- when you do come to buy, make sure you let both your bank and your solicitor know early, because there is a lot of paperwork both will need to do to claim the bonus from the government, and if you leave it too late, there might not be time for the bank to release your bonus to you before the sale! We had this problem last year, where my bank was pretty speedy and released the bonus within days, but my partner’s bank told him it would take weeks, and so we’d miss the deadline that the seller wanted to exchange. Luckily my partner didn’t have so much in there so it didn’t make a huge difference, but I had saved the maximum so it would have been £££ problem if my bank had been so slow.

[FalcomScott]

I love watching your videos, Maddie, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

[Sof_rha]

takk for at du lager undeholdende og lærerike videoer. Ønsker deg en god sommer og masse lykke til med å kjøpe en leilighet i London når den tid kommer❤

[maxisaccharide]

I really love watching your financial videos! I always learn so much and I always apply what you teach in my daily life.

[beatrizcascelli]

Loved the video, you are so mature and disciplined! Congratulations!

[daqueenphoebe]

I love how you explained this that seems so complicated with such simple words! I'm from Argentina, the situation is veeeery different from yours jaja but anyhow I think it's important to still try and save money, even if you feel like you aren't earning enough. Lovee<3

[cassie.minimalist]

I wish you all the best in your savings and buying your home one day. I'm 29 and have almost zero savings... but that's due to my medical expenses :(

[preetphoenix]

Wow.. you said that out loud. You're really courageous to think and execute it. Can you share how come you decided to decide London is the the place you wanna be living in future too ?

[ajb]

It's not hard to save up when you have a significant other to split the bills and rent with, where it's difficult is when you're single.

[MarkelBay]

I'd love a video on why you are looking to buy in London and not Oslo - perhaps you could do a comparison of the two.
Having lived in Oslo for several years, it seems way nicer - never once was I ever concerned for my safety, whilst the UK seems like it's in a death spiral.

[marcobranco]

I think the first question one must ask is "Why?" Why do you think you need to own a property?

[gz]

Wow, i was sooo late in life with all if that. I love that you are so young and ahead in that game!! Good Job and cant wait to see a Video of when you bought your first house/apartment❤

[garethsmith]

Don't buy leasehold, don't buy shared ownership and don't buy help to buy. Those would be my tips

[lissadotelle]

as someone who is born n bred in London and single, decent job and grown up in zone 2, this is absolutely impossible for me