It isn't so much about the profit from sale, but about being able to buy in the first place. 10 years after graduation, she bought a two-bed flat in Herne Hill

It isn't so much about the profit from sale, but about being able to buy in the first place. 10 years after graduation, she bought a two-bed flat in Herne Hill. Such a place wouldn't leave much change from £600K today. For context. Assuming a 3-year course and no gap year, that would make her 31 when she bought. Were she in the same position today, she'd need to have saved up at least £60K for a deposit (90% LTV) and have a salary of £135K (4x is a common salary multiplier). Given that that's more than a top decile _couple_ in London currently earns, that's not likely. The average salary today for her job at the time, is less than £24K, less than a fifth of what she would need. Given the high cost of private rent, and the fact that social housing is only available for existing tenants and people who _really_ need it, saving up that much in only 9 years is difficult. Meanwhile, house prices continue to rise faster than incomes, the longer you wait, hoping for a crash, the less likely it looks that you'll be able to afford a place even after the crash happens. Even as a direct response to your point, moving out of London makes your money go much further. With that money, you could get a pretty nice house even as close to London as Reading, Maidenhead or even the outer London Boroughs. Not to mention what you could do with the money if you moved away from the south east entirely. At an estimated 61 years old, she's in a position to think about retiring soon, and considering she's not from London, she might well be considering moving away when she no longer needs to be here for work. http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/property/london/dulwich-road/ http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/property/london/dulwich-roa... http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/mar/25/uk-incomes-how-salary-compare http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/mar/25/uk-incomes-how-... http://www.payscale.com/research/UK/Job=Communications_Officer/Salary http://www.payscale.com/research/UK/Job=Communications_Offic...