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Where did you live when you were newly weds?s

(138 Posts)
chicken Mon 03-May-21 11:12:07

Our first home was a flat in Leicester, the bottom half of an old terraced house opposite the blank brick wall at the rear of a garage business.The small living room had an old unusable kitchen range in it,and there was a tiny scullery with a deep stone sink and not much else.The lavatory was the second door along in the back yard, beyond the coal shed,and was shared with the tenants of the upstairs flats who had either to walk through our flat to get to it or go out of the front door and down a little alleyway between the houses. The only bathroom was in the upstairs flat with a hot water tank that took 24 hours to heat enough water for a bath. We were happy there for two years and thought ourselves lucky to have our own place.After two years we had saved up enough to pay the deposit on a detached house with a big garden which was on the market for £3750.How times have changed.

Yammy Thu 06-May-21 12:00:55

Half and half in a rented one bedroomed attic flat and a bedroom that came with DH job when he had to sleep in. We did this for four years but ran a mile when it was suggested we buy with parents.
DH was adamant that the first house was a"Box" we could easily sell and he proved right.

Gin Thu 06-May-21 12:05:43

A lovely three bedroomed bungalow in Salisbury S Rhodesia as it then was. Our honeymoon had been the voyage from Southampton to Cape Town. We spent three fantastic years there.

Barrygirl Thu 06-May-21 12:05:58

My first home with my (now ex) husband was on a Dutch Barge moored on an Island close to Hampton Court. Perfect (apart from the marriage grin

Hil1910 Thu 06-May-21 12:08:16

2 up 2 down terraced house in our Co Durham mining village, with kitchen and bathroom extension bought in 1977 for £4500 with a fixed rate mortgage of £37 pm from the District Council (an initiative from the then Labour Govt). Small yard, front garden, coal fires, no central heating and mostly secondhand furniture. Moved to a renovated pre-war semi 5 yrs later costing £21,500 with a monthly mortgage of £121 and only sold that 6 yrs ago. The couple who bought our first house in 1982 are still living in it

Namsnanny Thu 06-May-21 12:08:27

phoenix

Windsor Castle, yes, really.

King George 1V Lodge,
Lancaster Tower
Windsor Castle

Lovely view down the Long Walk from the dining room window. Sentry box (complete with occupant) beneath the sitting room window.

Sounds lovely Phoenix! Do you have any photos you can show us please?

Mishy Thu 06-May-21 12:13:41

I moved over 200 miles away to a 'tied cottage' on a farm, it was the shepherds old house so used to get phone calls about escaped sheep! still all the bills were paid including the oil for heating and saved up enough money to buy a new car and a large deposit for one of the old Doctors houses which went with the old Isolation Hospital in Altrincham Cheshire. Lived there 10 years, marriage split and moved around the country and abroad. Now in Blackpool and its a great place to live.

LJP1 Thu 06-May-21 12:15:12

We lived under the canvas cover of the engine we had put into our otherwise empty narrow boat. We both worked full time and continued the renovation at weekends.

We bought a derelict cottage five years later as the midwife refused to deliver our baby on the boat. We did, by that time, have running water and a functioning bathroom with loo but the cottage did not!.

JANH Thu 06-May-21 12:16:55

We lived with my in-laws for 18 months whilst we were doing up a terraced property ( husband was a builder). We paid £2,800 back in 1975 with either a 16% or 16.5% mortgage. We moved 5 years later to a large semi, where we still live. The mortgage rates then, were a killer. Thankfully the mortgage company used my wages as my husband being self-employed didn’t have enough years of accounts to really verify his earnings. Good times but hard times, too.

4allweknow Thu 06-May-21 12:17:56

3 bed semi provided by DHs employment in 1960s

Lizzie44 Thu 06-May-21 12:20:00

When we were first married we rented a one-bedroom flat in a house near Alexandra Palace. We had a living room and tiny kitchen on the first floor and a bedroom in the attic. We shared the only bathroom in the house with the family who owned the house. Every Friday evening we knocked on their living room door and went in to pay our rent (in cash).
In our 55 years of marriage we have moved eight times and lived in England, Scotland and Wales, but we have never forgotten the excitement of packing up our few belongings in that tiny rented flat and moving into the first property we bought (a first-floor maisonette in Enfield).

Unigran4 Thu 06-May-21 12:30:27

Top floor flat of a three-storey Victorian semi in South-West London.

Bath in the kitchen, with lid for when not in use. Toilet downstairs and shared with the flat on that floor. No heating, just extra jumpers or blankets on the bed.

All floors "wonky" and huge sash windows stuck shut. No fire escape ! School playground directly opposite and husband on nights.

We loved it!

Moved to 3 bed semi 30 miles outside Central London after 23 months. Husband left, 7 years and 2 children later. I'm still here.

CrazyGrandma2 Thu 06-May-21 12:30:48

I'm tempted to start off by quoting Monty Python, " luxury we lived in a ....... "smile

For the first year we lived in a caravan in the garden adjoining a friends house. It wasn't like the modern ones! There was an outside toilet just down the track but no shower. Fortunately our friends had a basic shower off their front porch so we were allowed to use that. Looking back we could never have imagined then the houses we would go on to buy.

Ellet Thu 06-May-21 12:43:09

We were able to buy a 2 bed dormer bungalow on a relatively new estate. At 27 and 25 we were considered quite old to be getting married! This was the 1970’s. I had been saving since the age of 18 so managed the deposit. My in laws paid for the wedding (reception in FiL’s school) and we had a 3 day honeymoon.
Second hand furniture, a TV that would just switch itself off after about 2 hours and like another poster a flea ridden carpet thanks to previous owners. Had to take out window to get horrible settee in, chopped it up 2years later when we were given a nicer one.
Many years later when younger son started school we discovered his friend lived in our old house.

kathw12 Thu 06-May-21 13:00:49

Think we were quite fortunate compared to some posters! Married in 1975 and rented a one bedroom flat in a block of 6. Was fully furnished with toilet and shower. Then within a year moved into a two bedroom flat in the same block. We were living in Perth WA at the time. Been lots of house and countries moves since then x

Sawsage2 Thu 06-May-21 13:02:48

New build detached house on a housing estate (no phone or car) cos my h, now ex, wanted to live near his family! whilst my widowed disabled mother lived alone 40 miles away?. 50 years on and disabled myself, I live in a nice bungalow just up the road from where mum lived.

Mealybug Thu 06-May-21 13:02:55

We lived with my Mum for six months then bought our own run down 1930's semi which I loved, but when we got the keys the kitchen was full of bugs. There was no central heating or double glazing and the ice used to form on the inside of the windows, we had to bring the bed downstairs in the winter. Family were a big help though with cleaning, bleaching everything (it was filthy) and donating bits of furniture and rugs etc. Cost us £7,000 and we sold it for £21,000. This house has made the most profit though having paid £65,000 it's now worth £290,000 but again it was a tip when we moved in. We lived with in-laws between moves, never again lol

Marg75 Thu 06-May-21 13:13:22

We had a flat at the top of a three storey house. The living room was so cold and the settee had springs sticking out of it, that we spent our evenings in bed with the television in the bedroom! We had to ask for a bath so that the owner could put the water heater on to give us enough hot water. We had a little built on kitchen which was nothing more than a lean-to, and at night when the wind blew, we used to hope it wouldn't blow down! I also remember the owner having a little 'sausage' dog who used to come up to see us, and one day she wet our bed, and I had to take the sheets to the laundry which added extra money to our outlay which hadn't been accounted for that week. The dog's name was Sadie and we went on to name our first dog that as we had such fond memories of her. Lovely memories but at the time it was very hard.

Marmight Thu 06-May-21 13:16:26

DH sold his modern semi and we bought our first house together in 1974. A Georgian semi out in the sticks on the edge of the army ranges near Pirbright. We modernised it, jiggled the bedrooms around, installed a new staircase which was more like a ladder and spent 3 very happy years there. DD1 was born during that time. I feel very tearful just describing it ?
Bought for £9.5k sold for £13k and last sold albeit extended, for £600,000

Aepgirl Thu 06-May-21 13:22:53

In a new, 3-bed terraced house. We had a bed and a cooker, and no curtains or furniture for 2 years. We just wanted to start off in our own home and gradually buy furniture, etc.

olliebeak Thu 06-May-21 13:26:11

We got married while working away from home. We lived in a 'shared flat' that went with our jobs. The other tenants were a Spanish couple who worked alongside us in the restaurant. They invited another Spanish couple (who didn't work with us all) to move into the flat and allowed them to live in the Living Room - which meant that WE couldn't have the use of that room. Literally stuck with sitting in our bedroom and using the kitchen and bathroom as best we could. Not an ideal start to married life :-(.

Alioop Thu 06-May-21 13:40:35

I moved from N.Ireland to England when I got married as he had a great job there. We bought a house in a wee village in The Midlands, it was lovely. My husband had an affair after a year married so we weren't in the house very long....

annodomini Thu 06-May-21 13:42:00

A two bed bungalow on the campus of a school in Kenya where my H taught. The campus had previously been a British Army base so had all the necessary amenities, including a plant for converting sewage to fertiliser. We found that tomato seeds were remarkably resilient!

Hobbs1 Thu 06-May-21 13:47:13

We moved into the first floor of my husband’s parents house, making one bedroom a kitchen and the main bedroom a living room, and DHs bedroom became ours. We saved for three years and bought our first 2 bed terraced house for £18,950 in 1979, with a 95% mortgage at 18% interest rate. I remember my salary covered the mortgage, I had £4 month left over and DHs salary paid bills, food and the very rare evening out.

Sparky56 Thu 06-May-21 13:51:11

We were lucky - my sister and her husband were buying bigger house so let us have theirs -a three bed semi in Leyland, Lancs at discount (saved estate agents fees!) and even helped us with deposit! Started with donated furniture, cooker and fridge left by sister - new bed though!! Cost us £9,995 in 1978 sold it for £18,000 6 years later. DH often jokes he could buy our first house with credit card nowgrin

mrsgreenfingers56 Thu 06-May-21 14:04:03

Bought a small semi with 3 bedrooms in 1977 for £8,750. Can't believe prices were so low, my conservatory built in 2003 cost more than that! But it was a lovely start to married life and I was very happy at playing new bride and wife there.