{"id":513752,"date":"2025-10-20T06:53:44","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T06:53:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/513752\/"},"modified":"2025-10-20T06:53:44","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T06:53:44","slug":"i-didnt-think-i-could-afford-to-buy-a-home-for-another-10-years-now-im-a-homeowner-at-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/513752\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I didn’t think I could afford to buy a home for another 10 years – now I’m a homeowner at 25’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Midwife Steph managed to step onto the property ladder much sooner than expected and is now living in a stylish two-bed apartment in Salford QuaysSteph managed to buy her own home much sooner than expected(Image: Media Mavericks)<\/p>\n

Owning a home can feel like a distant dream for many people today, especially those who are trying to buy solo.<\/p>\n

Soaring house prices<\/a> and high mortgage<\/a> rates, coupled with rising household bills<\/a> and rent<\/a> costs, make it extremely difficult for first-time buyers to save up a reasonable deposit and take the first step onto the property <\/a>ladder.<\/p>\n

Midwife Steph, 25, aspired to buy her own home from a young age, but thought that it would take her ‘another 10 years’ to be able to afford to do so.<\/p>\n

The key worker was renting a one-bed apartment in her hometown Leigh<\/a>, but after struggling to save money for a deposit, she moved in with her friend who owned a duplex apartment in Salford Quays<\/a> in a bid to cut costs.<\/p>\n

Join the Manchester Evening News WhatsApp group <\/strong>HERE<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

It was then when she realised that buying her own home wasn’t so far out of reach, and that she could do so much sooner than expected with the help of a government-backed scheme.<\/p>\n

Steph spoke to the Manchester Evening News as part of our Where I Live<\/a> series, where we chat to different homeowners about their journey onto or up the property ladder, whilst taking a look inside their home.<\/p>\n

The midwife bought her home through the Shared Ownership scheme(Image: Media Mavericks)<\/p>\n

\u201cI rented in Leigh for a little bit which was a means to an end. I couldn\u2019t afford to buy at the time,” Steph told the M.E.N.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy friend bought an apartment at Furness Quay in Salford<\/a> Quays so I moved in with him for a little bit so that I could save up for a deposit.<\/p>\n

\u201cLiving together and sharing the cost of bills meant that we could both reduce our living expenses. His apartment was closer to where I work too, so I could save on fuel costs.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs well as rent and bills being cheaper, I was a lot stricter with my outgoings. I\u2019m a bit of a spender so I cut back on a lot to save for a deposit.”<\/p>\n

Whilst living with her friend, Steph fell in love with the canal-side location and decided to look into buying her own place.<\/p>\n

Furness Quay has move-in ready two-bed apartments available to buy through Shared Ownership(Image: Media Mavericks)<\/p>\n

She came across the option of Shared Ownership – a government scheme that allows people who can’t afford to buy a home on the traditional market to buy a share in a property, and pay rent on the remaining portion, with the option to purchase additional shares at any time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to buy my own place. I loved living here so I decided to looking into buying my own apartment,” Steph said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d heard of Shared Ownership before but I didn\u2019t really know anything about it. I think it’s cropped up quite a bit in the last couple of years because it’s probably the only way a lot of people can afford to buy.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy friend bought his apartment on Shared Ownership so I looked into it a bit more and realised I actually could afford to buy my own home. I was so excited.”<\/p>\n

After saving up, Steph was able to put down a deposit of \u00a35,000, purchasing a 30 percent share of her two-bed apartment at Furness Quay, with the share valued at \u00a373,050.<\/p>\n

Steph in the living area of her apartment (Image: Media Mavericks)<\/p>\n

\u201cI was going to look at other places but I just love the area so it just made sense to stay here really,” Steph said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI work in Manchester and it is just a ten-minute drive to work, or twenty in rush hour. As a midwife, I can be called in at any time, and being able to get to work quickly is important for me.<\/p>\n

“I also go to the gym on the Quays and love to walk around the canal and Media City after work. The tram stop right outside takes me into central Manchester in 20 minutes too, so I get a lot of value from living here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steph managed to snap up the show home which was ready to move straight into.<\/p>\n

“They were moving the show home to a different apartment, so put the original one on the market,” she explained.<\/p>\n

“I looked around it the day it went up for sale and fell totally in love with it. I was then in a mad rush to get my offer in before anyone else snapped it up.<\/p>\n

“No one’s lived in it before, so it was all ready to move into which made the process really quick.”<\/p>\n

Steph’s apartment has two bedrooms(Image: Media Mavericks)<\/p>\n

Steph was able to buy her dream apartment within two months. Her reservation was approved in February 2025 and she moved in mid-April.<\/p>\n

“Because it was a show home, nothing needed doing to it. It had already been painted and I liked the colours that they\u2019d used so I didn\u2019t need to do anything which was great. It came with the flooring and all appliances too,” she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a two bed on the corner of the building. When you walk through the front door on your left there’s the bathroom and then straight ahead there’s the main bedroom which has an en-suite.<\/p>\n

“Then on your right is the second bedroom which is also a double bedroom. Then if you turn you can see the open-plan kitchen dining area.<\/p>\n

“The kitchen is along one wall and then there\u2019s huge floor to ceiling windows all the way around, and it\u2019s got a Juliet balcony as well with nice views over the Quays.”<\/p>\n

The communal rooftop terrace (Image: Media Mavericks)<\/p>\n

The building boasts a communal rooftop terrace with city skyline views, and all residents have access to an on-site concierge.<\/p>\n

Steph, who has plans to live in her apartment long-term, says: \u201cI feel privileged that I can afford it because I have friends the same age who still live at home.<\/p>\n

“It’s just such a nice feeling to know that I own it, especially with the renting market at the minute, it\u2019s just nice to have the security that it is mine.”<\/p>\n

Speaking about the benefits of Shared Ownership, Steph said: “I think it is a great idea because it’s hard to even think about buying outright, whereas with Shared Ownership, you can buy parts back as you go along.<\/p>\n

“I probably wouldn\u2019t be able to afford a house for another 10 years if I didn’t do Shared Ownership, and it means that I could buy it on my own, which can be a difficult thing to do if you’re not buying with anyone.<\/p>\n

“Anyone with a small deposit should look into Shared Ownership.”<\/p>\n

Sign up to our Manchester property newsletter <\/strong>here<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Midwife Steph managed to step onto the property ladder much sooner than expected and is now living in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":513753,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,393,4884,42532,1269,2465,6792,10003,1270,30580,16,15,167923],"class_list":{"0":"post-513752","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-home-design-diy","12":"tag-house-prices","13":"tag-manchester","14":"tag-mortgages","15":"tag-property-news","16":"tag-renting","17":"tag-salford-quays","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom","20":"tag-where-i-live"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115405181549001108","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=513752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/513753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=513752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=513752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=513752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}