"I can’t afford to buy a house so I’m converting my parents’ barn into a £450k home"
- 9 months ago
A young professional told she'd "never get a mortgage" on a £40,000 salary is getting on the housing ladder - by turning her parents barn into a house.
Isobel Perl, 28, left London when she lost her job at KPMG and set up her own cosmetics company while living at her parents.
And despite earning £40k a mortgage advisor said she still wouldn’t be able to afford anything beyond a one-bedroom flat or a garage.
So instead she is converting a barn next to her parents house into a home and has spent £20,000 so far.
With just two months work left, she says it will be a one-bed home worth £450,000 when she is done, and will only have cost her a total of £10k.
She didn't have to pay her parents to use the two-storey barn on the side of their five-bed home in St Albans, Hertfordshire - in a neighbourhood with houses worth £3mil.
But she said it was the only option for her to move out and buy as a single self employed person.
She said: “Mortgages just aren’t set up for single people - I had this crazy idea about converting our barn, and my parents gave it a hard yes!
"I don’t have £300,000 to spend on a mortgage - and the mortgage I’d be able to afford would get me a garage.
“If you’re single, it’s so hard. If I had a partner, we’d automatically have double and we’d be more likely to find somewhere.”
Having lost her job as a project manager for KPMG in 2020, Isobel had to move back home after living in Oval, London, for a year.
In June 2020, she set up Perl Cosmetics - and, eventually, she was able to pay herself a salary of 40k a year.
Despite this, she was told by a mortgage advisor she still wouldn’t be able to afford anything beyond a one-bedroom flat.
Isobel’s parents, Ruth, 58 and David, 64, both used the barn attached to their home as an office, working as therapists.
But this year, they both cut down to 16 working hours a week - meaning they only use “half of downstairs” for their work space.
So she decided to get “the best of both worlds” by converting her parents’ barn into her own home - where she can have her independence while staying close to family.
“I was out walking the dog with my mum, and I asked - ‘how would you feel about a barn conversion?’ - she thought it was actually quite a good idea," she said.
“We agreed it just didn’t make sense to use that space when we convert it into somewhere to live.
“I did think it would be a no - but it was a hard yes!”
So far, Isobel has spent £20k from her savings on fixtures, white good-fittings, and furniture.
She hopes not to spend much more - and estimates the barn will be completed by October.
She added: “We’ve pretty much converted the entirety of the downstairs into a kitchen-and-living area - but upstairs is taking a lot longer with all the plumbing needed.
“I’m hoping to turn the upstairs into an en-suite bedroom and walk-in wardrobe.”
Isobel has been getting plenty of help from her dad, who “loves” decorating and installing white goods.
“My dad’s in his sixties and he’s doing it all himself,” she said. “He’s a machine! He loves it so much.
“I caught him the other day, up at four o’clock in the morning and Googling plug sockets.”
She has a firm plan for how she wants the end product to look - and estimates it’ll be worth around £450k when she’s finished converting it.
She said: “I’ve got the Pinterest board all ready to go."
Isobel says she’s mostly looking forward to getting back some of her independence - while remaining close to her parents.
She said: “We’ve been okay living together - I’ve been so fortunate as I’ve really been getting on with my parents.
“They don’t treat me like a child - and, at 28, I’ve been able to get to know them as adults, not parents.
“But, I do struggle with my lack of independence. My mum does my washing and the big food shop… I’m excited to do all of that for myself again.
“I’m really looking forward to taking control over my life and not having to let people know where I’m going 24/7."
Isobel Perl, 28, left London when she lost her job at KPMG and set up her own cosmetics company while living at her parents.
And despite earning £40k a mortgage advisor said she still wouldn’t be able to afford anything beyond a one-bedroom flat or a garage.
So instead she is converting a barn next to her parents house into a home and has spent £20,000 so far.
With just two months work left, she says it will be a one-bed home worth £450,000 when she is done, and will only have cost her a total of £10k.
She didn't have to pay her parents to use the two-storey barn on the side of their five-bed home in St Albans, Hertfordshire - in a neighbourhood with houses worth £3mil.
But she said it was the only option for her to move out and buy as a single self employed person.
She said: “Mortgages just aren’t set up for single people - I had this crazy idea about converting our barn, and my parents gave it a hard yes!
"I don’t have £300,000 to spend on a mortgage - and the mortgage I’d be able to afford would get me a garage.
“If you’re single, it’s so hard. If I had a partner, we’d automatically have double and we’d be more likely to find somewhere.”
Having lost her job as a project manager for KPMG in 2020, Isobel had to move back home after living in Oval, London, for a year.
In June 2020, she set up Perl Cosmetics - and, eventually, she was able to pay herself a salary of 40k a year.
Despite this, she was told by a mortgage advisor she still wouldn’t be able to afford anything beyond a one-bedroom flat.
Isobel’s parents, Ruth, 58 and David, 64, both used the barn attached to their home as an office, working as therapists.
But this year, they both cut down to 16 working hours a week - meaning they only use “half of downstairs” for their work space.
So she decided to get “the best of both worlds” by converting her parents’ barn into her own home - where she can have her independence while staying close to family.
“I was out walking the dog with my mum, and I asked - ‘how would you feel about a barn conversion?’ - she thought it was actually quite a good idea," she said.
“We agreed it just didn’t make sense to use that space when we convert it into somewhere to live.
“I did think it would be a no - but it was a hard yes!”
So far, Isobel has spent £20k from her savings on fixtures, white good-fittings, and furniture.
She hopes not to spend much more - and estimates the barn will be completed by October.
She added: “We’ve pretty much converted the entirety of the downstairs into a kitchen-and-living area - but upstairs is taking a lot longer with all the plumbing needed.
“I’m hoping to turn the upstairs into an en-suite bedroom and walk-in wardrobe.”
Isobel has been getting plenty of help from her dad, who “loves” decorating and installing white goods.
“My dad’s in his sixties and he’s doing it all himself,” she said. “He’s a machine! He loves it so much.
“I caught him the other day, up at four o’clock in the morning and Googling plug sockets.”
She has a firm plan for how she wants the end product to look - and estimates it’ll be worth around £450k when she’s finished converting it.
She said: “I’ve got the Pinterest board all ready to go."
Isobel says she’s mostly looking forward to getting back some of her independence - while remaining close to her parents.
She said: “We’ve been okay living together - I’ve been so fortunate as I’ve really been getting on with my parents.
“They don’t treat me like a child - and, at 28, I’ve been able to get to know them as adults, not parents.
“But, I do struggle with my lack of independence. My mum does my washing and the big food shop… I’m excited to do all of that for myself again.
“I’m really looking forward to taking control over my life and not having to let people know where I’m going 24/7."