I agree £4K isn't peanuts, but it's only one month's wage. In that scheme of things, it is peanuts. Why a house? A 2 bed flat would do as a temp measure, surely?
For six months before moving into a longer term property, I'd be happy to live pretty much anywhere if I could save a few quid. A roof, heating, hot and cold running water: Pretty much all you need.
Try telling that to my Mrs!
Flats don't really do it for me (We currently have a ground floor flat) we need a garden as my daughter loves being outside - Which is better for me as shes then not inside bugging me
I just can not justify paying rent any longer no matter how much it is, its complete dead money and I would rather my money pay off my own mortgage.
Swings and roundabouts I guess - I can see from a lenders point of view that they need to be able to make sure you can pay the money they lend you back.
The only thing I like about our flat is that we have an underground compound for the Zed