Source: London Evening Standard. Date 27 April 2011
Loretta Carr and Andrew Lobo, both 27, met at the University of Southampton. After graduating in 2007 they moved back in with their parents, in Billericay and Enfield respectively, and began saving furiously.
"We lived apart and rented between 2006 and 2009, which was hard," says Loretta, who works for a pharmaceutical company. "It just didn't make sense to rent when we wanted to save money so we both moved home ad paid a minimal rent. Our parents were really good about it."
When the pair graduated the property market was on fire and they couldn't afford to buy, event with a joint income of about £70,000. Loretta says: "I gave up shopping, and we didn't go on holiday for about two years. It was hard, but it is amazing how much you can save if there are two of you."
Despite their Herculean efforts to scrape together a deposit, sales fell through time after time, with vendors changing their minds or going for higher offers. It took 20 months to find their two-bedroom house on the Galleries development in Brentwood, Essex.
The scheme, by City & Country Group, is in the grounds of a Grade II-listed former Victorian hospital, and an easy commute to London for Andrew's job as an odds compiler for a high street chain of bookmakers.
The couple paid £330,000 for the house, put up a 25 per cent deposit of £80,000 and moved in October 2009. "If you don't have a 25 per cent deposit, interest rates are shocking," says Loretta, who found a four per cent fixed-rate mortgage costing £1,000 a month.
Home ownership has been a dream come true for them - and the market crash and lower prices of 2007 actually worked in their favour. "People should not get disheartened," adds Loretta. "It is a bit of a national obession to buy a home, but it feels really good to have a place of our own".