Man can't save for home despite having two jobs

Jordan Edwards says he does not know how long he will be renting for before he can afford his own home

A 21-year-old has said he does not know when he will be able to achieve his dream of owning his own home, despite having two jobs.

Jordan Edwards, from Cardiff, works in a school in the daytime and at a youth centre three evenings a week, but after paying rent and bills, there is not much left to save towards a house.

He said: "I feel like I’m doing everything I can. But the amount you have to spend compared to what you make is not really helping."

On Thursday, the Bank of England held interest rates at 5.25%, meaning mortgages remain more expensive.

Jordan believes he will be able afford his own place one day, but feels it will take a long time.

"I don’t know how anyone expects people at our age to try to get a house or a mortgage within a realistic time span," he said.

He rents with a housemate to keep costs down but "it’s still a struggle".

According to the Office for National Statistics, rent in Wales rose by 4.4% in the year to 2023, the highest annual percentage change since 2010.

"A lot of my friends are still living at home because they won’t even move out to rent because it’s just that expensive," added Jordan.

On Wednesday, new inflation figures suggested the cost of living was continuing to ease.

Inflation measures the rate at which prices are rising and, in the year to February, they rose by 3.4%.

The Bank of England uses interest rates to control inflation and has been keeping rates higher to bring inflation down to its target of 2%.

Higher interest rates make borrowing, including mortgages, more expensive but they benefit savers who get paid a better rate of interest from banks.

Mortgage advisor Samantha James is hoping interest rates will come down this year

In the past couple of years many people have faced coming off ultra-low fixed rate mortgage deals to much more expensive ones.

Samantha James, from Pontyates in Carmarthenshire, is one of them.

The 36-year-old mortgage advisor and her husband pay about £150 a month more than they were on their previous deal.

But Ms James decided not to head into a new deal straight away and is now on her bank's variable mortgage, which is more expensive than a fixed rate deal.

She is expecting the Bank of England to start reducing rates later this year and is "holding out" for a better deal over the next six months.

"Hopefully rates are potentially coming down," she said.

"We'll make a decision then about what to do. Whether to switch lenders or pick a new fixed rate."

But she would not necessarily advise clients to take the same approach.

A fixed rate gives you the "security of knowing how much the mortgage payment is per month" which can be important for budgeting when money is tight, she said.

Cardiff estate agent David Ricketts said the housing market was "optimistic" about the year ahead, but higher interest rates have seen a shift towards "a buyer's market".

But, with rising household costs and council tax going up across Wales he warned people to "live within your means".

"You don't want to be stretching yourself."