‘I was in shock that I’d managed to buy my first home – but finally felt that I’d made it’

Anyone who has tried to get a foot on the property ladder knows what a challenge it can be. For Grace Başçi, it’s a milestone that at times she wondered if she’d ever achieve. But in 2020, aged 31, she completed on a two-bedroom house in Halesowen, West Midlands.

“Houses near Birmingham were expensive and I wasn’t earning a huge salary at the time,” recalls Başçi, who works as an estates manager. “My mum didn’t have any spare money to lend me, and – being single at the time – I had no partner to buy jointly with.”