A house is a residential building which stands on its own ground, has its own walls and its own roof. Typically, a house will have a separate room for a kitchen, bathroom and toilet, lounge and a number of bedrooms. Houses cover a very wide spectrum of residential accommodation. A few examples of common house types are: bungalows, 2/3 bedroom terraced houses, 3/4 bedroom semi's, 3/4 bedroom detached, 4/5 bedroom townhouses. Probably the most popular types of houses for families are those with 3 bedrooms.

Most people in the UK aspire to owning their own house. As the saying goes - "An englishman's home is his castle." A house is likely to be a great source of pride to the owner and the way it is decorated is a strong reflection of the owner's personality. After seeing the TV Series "Through the Keyhole" , one would agree that you can tell a lot about a person from his house.

Probably the biggest financial commitment anyone would make in their lives is the purchase of a house. Historically, house have always risen in value year on year. There are only a few occasional exceptions when house prices have fallen - usually after an extremely quick price rise. In the long term, after any house price falls house prices have risen far beyond their previous highs after falls have taken place. Hence, "bricks and mortar" can be seen as a pretty safe and profitable long term investment. In the past few years, mortgage interest rates in the UK have fallen to unprecedented low levels. This has been a contributing factor to the massive upsurge in house prices. Interest rates have started to rise recently and house prices are beginning to settle to more realistic levels.

There has previously been a significant north/south divide in the UK for house prices with the south being considerably more expensive than the south. In recent years, the north and Wales has been catching up with house prices rising at a much faster rate. The London house market can be seen as a more special case with the effects of international buyers and other influences driving up prices even further. At the time of writing (Sep 2004), the average house price for a first time buyer in the UK is £218,000. Though in parts of London, typical houses could sell for more than £1,000,000.

Most house buying considerations begin with finding out how much money one can obtain to buy a house. This would mean working out how much one has in savings and consulting a mortgage advisor or lender to see how much one can borrow. Several years ago mortgage lenders typically lend up to twice one's salary. Nowadays, about three and a half times ones salary plus once of one's partners salary is typical. For example if you earn £20,000 pa and your spouse earns £10,000 pa The lender could lend you: £20,000 x 3.5 + £10,000 x 1 = £80,000. There are a few lenders who are willing to lend up to six times your annual salary with self certified mortgages. I personally would not recommend this as this is clearly a very risky borrowing option.

Do be aware of other costs involved involved in buying a house. First time buyers can easily be caught out by these. Other costs include, solicitors fees, mortgage arrangement fees and surveyors fees. Since house prices have risen so much recently, stamp duty is another cost that will affect most buyers. Stamp duty is charged on houses costing over £100,000 and is currently charged at 1%. Don't forget relocation costs and the costs of furniture also.