(posted 7881 days ago)The Times
September 22, 2002Starting out: Sophie Hollow and her brother James
Graham NorwoodSophie Hollow, 25, a PR manager, felt she was wasting money by paying rent on a flat in London. Her brother James, 23, was finishing university and wanted to live in the capital. But despite each inheriting enough money for a deposit on a home, they could not afford mortgages on individual properties. What could they do?
"I was spending £440 a month on a shared flat in Kennington. I'd calculated that in two years I'd paid £10,000 and that was really a waste of money. James knew he wanted to live in London so we thought we'd buy a place jointly," says Sophie.
The siblings made an offer on a flat in Clapham, in south London, but were gazumped after paying for a survey. Then they found a two-bed flat two miles away, in a house in a Grade II-listed Georgian terrace near the Oval cricket ground."It was like a grotty rental flat when we first saw it but there was potential. It had been on sale for more than £180,000 but we got it for £178,500. Since moving in, we've stripped the floorboards, redecorated and moved the kitchen from the ground floor to the basement, where French doors lead out to a garden," says Sophie.
The pair put down the £20,000 they had inherited as a deposit. But because James had no paid employment record when leaving university, and because they both still had student loans to pay off, they had to get the £158,500 repayment mortgage from Barclays guaranteed by their parents.
"I'm paying the same amount each month as when I shared a rented flat, but I'm paying directly to my mother and after two years the mortgage will be transferred to my brother and myself," she says.
The siblings say their chance to own a flat is thanks to their parents. James, who is likely to work in Japan next year, is preparing to rent out his room to cover his mortgage repayments. "We always said we wouldn't let the responsibility of a mortgage rule our lives — but it is important to own and not rent," says Sophie.