Originally Posted by
RetiredBA/BY
Originally Posted by
BEagle
So-called 'starter homes' in Witney, near Brize, are roughly three times the price they should be if inflation is taken into account. Service pay most definitely hasn't kept pace, I'm sorry to say.....
The 2-bed box with garage I bought in 1983 should now cost £109K. However, similar homes are currenty advertised at £365K, usually without garages. How the heck would a newly promoted single aircrew Flt Lt, let alone a married airman (or whatever the latest woke word is) afford that??
Work for it !
So, a single Flt Lt teams up with his mate, or two, buys a dero, spends their otherwise spare tine refurbishing it, learns DIY as they go, sells for a profit and repeats and moves on!
Been there, done that!
Ahh cute, all that time that front line pilots have to do DIY between op tours.... Whilst demonstrably not earning as much (reduction in flying pay to pittance in years 1-6) as in the past and houses costing substantially more. In addition to that lending power is typically reduced when to unrelated persons take out a mortgage, not to mention the complications when it comes to moving out/moving on time (one person gets posted, the others don't...).
Seriously, it's fine to say it's possible (it is, technically) but quality of life when you're spending 60%+ of your pay on just your mortgage (before energy bills which are, of course, interesting just now) does not quality of life make. I scrimped and saved and lived on pasta and sauce the first year I had my first place, but I was a flying officer on pittance and managed it 20+ years ago, no way someone in the same boat would manage that now - you'd need to be a mid-band flt Lt with actual flying pay to get the same place I bought with a 10% deposit.