A woman who bought her first house at the age of 22 has admitted that "young people don't want to make sacrifices" to secure their own home.
Georgina Carson, 25, has revealed how her and fiance Freddy Quinn, 27, saved nearly £1,000 a month in order to buy their first home in Wigan three years ago, which went on the market at £82,500.
This comes after TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp angered first-time buyers after claiming young adults can afford to own a home despite the ever-increasing house prices.
However, Ms Carson has proven that with budgeting and careful money management that young adults can secure their first property like she did when she bought her three-bedroom terraced house.
“Whilst saving for our first house my partner and I were both earning just over £20,000 a year, so not an extravagant wage," she said.
"We put away savings every month and managed to save about £1,000 per month between us.
“When we got the keys, we moved into the house straight away and lived in it whilst we were renovating.
"We didn’t even have a bed, we just had a mattress on the floor and were living very basic.
"We had to wait to get paid every month to buy things to renovate the house. So one month we’d do the tiling and another month we’d get all the paint to do the walls.
"This was all to save as much money as possible as that’s what you have to do."
The couple renovated the house during lockdown, spending between £6,000 and £7,000, before selling their first home for £115,000 - a profit of £32,500.
The TV host claimed young people should give up "coffee, gym memberships and Netflix" to get on the property ladder and Georgina agreed that other are not willing to make sacrifices.
"I think this is true, a lot of people don’t make sacrifices for what they really want," she added.
"A lot of young people don’t want to make these sacrifices which, each to their own, but if you want something that much you would do what you could to get it.
"I still enjoyed myself whilst saving, I always liked to make sure I have money saved to go on weekends away or to go abroad and that’s just because I manage my money well not because I come from a wealthy background."
Ms Carson and her fiance were able to live with her parents before buying their first home, which helped but was not the main reason behind their savings.
She said: "We just prioritised and made sure that the money we were spending was just on things that we needed.
"I think young people rush to move out so young, and then use most of their wages on rent.
"For some people that might work but then you are stuck in a trap of paying rent from a young age, which then makes it harder to save for a deposit for a house.
"I think it does help to try and stay at home with parents if you can, just so you can get yourself on track and save up a bit more money instead of moving out at 18."
She also gave tips to anyone looking to save money, whether renovating or buying their first home.
“Shop around and go to the clearance sections in supermarkets, and go on Facebook Marketplace to buy second hand things.
"All of our doors in the house were second hand and we just painted them.
"Try and learn DIY on YouTube as that’s really helpful. We got a quote to get a kitchen fitted which was £3,000, but because we did it ourselves it only cost £1,000.
"The more you can do for yourself the more money you can save - and the more you can make on it."
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