How We Fund This: A paraplanner moving up the property ladder
We meet a paraplanner from Bristol who is hoping to buy in her preferred area before she gets priced out of the market.
How We Fund This looks at how real people across the globe manage and spend their money. We’re kickstarting the year by putting a spotlight on five people with different goals for 2025. We’ll dive into their ambition and their current circumstances before checking in on their progress at six months and at the end of the year.
Meet the 36 year old paraplanner from Bristol hoping to sell her flat and buy a home with her fiancé this year.
Occupation: Paraplanner
Age: 36
Location: Bristol
Salary: £40,000
Living circumstances: I live with my partner and we split all bills 50/50, although the flat is in my name only.
Tell us about the flat you currently own.
I’ve lived in my flat for nearly 8 years, mostly with my now fiance who I met not long after purchasing the flat. I was earning a lot less at the time of purchasing so I bought the property on a help to buy basis which allowed me to own 80% of the property. I had received an inheritance when I turned 21 of around £30k which I had largely left untouched as I wanted to save it for my first home which I then purchased at 29.
At the time, I was earning a lot less and was initially refused my mortgage, however my dad had coincidentally come into money from a distant aunt, and he gifted me £15k which allowed me to purchase my flat. I was gradually able to reduce my mortgage with overpayments, and also managed to increase my salary over the last few years which eventually allowed me to purchase the remaining 20% of the property.
For context, my family is very much ‘working class’ and my parents would never have been able to give this money to me were it not for inheritance from distant relatives who had no children. I am incredibly grateful and conscious of this fact as without that I think I would have definitely struggled to purchase property in Bristol!
Why are you focusing on this goal, and why now?
We have put the flat on the market over Christmas so we are hoping to sell/buy ASAP. I would love to be in a new place by the summer but I am realistic about the fact that house purchases rarely run smoothly.
A lot of our friends are starting to move on to larger homes and I think I initially felt a fear of being left behind, that combined with the fact that I’ve lived in a flat without a garden for almost eight years makes it feel like the right time. My fiance has a Lifetime ISA, therefore we are capped at £450k, which sounds generous but really isn’t in Bristol and we are likely to have to move out of our preferred areas, especially if we leave it much longer!
Are you intending to buy with someone else?
I will be buying with my fiance who earns roughly the same amount as me. He has managed to save around £25k in his LISA over the last few years, and we have some other smaller savings alongside this which will be used towards moving costs.
You mention that you’ve been saving for your next property for years. How much do you have saved?
Our bills and outgoings are fairly modest which has allowed us to save a healthy amount. I have made overpayments into my mortgage of around £25k (some of this was from my fiance too, however it was only a small amount as we didn’t want to muddy the water, so to speak), my fiance has his LISA (£25k) and I also have around £21k saved into a S&S ISA (this is made up of £16,700 savings, and the rest is investment growth) We have a few other smaller pots. I would say a huge chunk of this was due to barely spending anything through the lockdowns and being lucky enough to remain working which really helped us both.
What has been your biggest challenge with saving?
I don’t really struggle saving, I think my problem is spending at times. I think I have a bit of a scarcity mindset so my struggle is sometimes comparing myself to others and thinking I should have more. I'm trying to work on this as I think it's important to recognise what I’ve achieved. I’m from a pretty humble background and grew up in a different part of the country so when I moved to Bristol it was a bit of a shock to the system as it's a much wealthier city and my friends are often from much more comfortable settings. That said, this has given me an appetite for nicer things in life but I’m always on the hunt for a discount or second hand wins! My fiance is much more of a spender. I think keeping him focussed can be a struggle but I think we both work well when there is a tangible goal in place.
What do you think will be the biggest challenges you face in reaching your goal?
Realistically, my goal is to stay in my preferred areas of Bristol and I think my challenges are going to be the house prices which are completely out of my control. I’ve been driven to pay down my mortgage as much as possible over the last few years so to increase that as well as my outgoings will be a real adjustment for me mentally. I completely appreciate that I am in an incredibly fortunate position, but either way it will be a challenge for me. I also think I need to accept that the next 12 months are completely out of my control and I’m just going to have to see what happens and cough up the money as and when it is required!
Where are you hoping to be by the end of 2025 with your goal?
I am hoping to be in a new home, fairly settled and hopefully have some of my savings intact! I don’t want to sell myself short on things that I want but I’m also conscious that if things go wrong I have to be self-reliant which I’ve worked hard to achieve so far, so I don’t want to jeopardise that by overstretching myself!
We’ll be catching up with all five people halfway through the year to see how they’re getting on. If you’ve got an interesting money story to share, I’d love to hear from you. Reach out on jessie@howifundthis.com.