First time buyers (FTBs) need to save for nearly six and a half years to raise funds to purchase their first home according to recently published research. A single person, purchasing a property at the average price of property in the UK (£234,000) with a 10% deposit and covering moving costs including conveyancing, surveying and removals, will need to save £25,554 according to comparison website reallymoving.
The calculation takes into account putting aside 10% of the national average salary each month, it takes 76 months to save £25,554 to buy a first home for a single person. That reduces by half when buying with another person; assuming they are both earning national average wage and continue to put 10% of their wages aside each month.
reallymoving analysed 35,500 conveyancing quote forms submitted by FTBs between 1st January 2023 and 22nd February 2024 through their website, to determine the average FTB purchase price in each region. they also looked at FTB quotes for conveyancing, surveying and removals during 2023 to determine additional moving costs.
The analysis show a start north/south divide thought with Londoners having to save for twice as long at FTBs in the North East. London buyers must raise £45,012 needed to get on the housing ladder, taking 104 months (8 years and 8 months) based on the the same parameters, whereas in the North East the time halves to achieve the £14,962 needed.
The research also identified that the requirements in a home for FTBs is changing. During 2023, just over half (50.5%) of FTBs bought a 3-bedroom property or larger. Coupled with the rise in the average age of FTBs (33), FTB homes need to accommodate family life, rather than the traditional one/two bed first rung of the property ladder.
Reallymoving founder and CEO, Rob Houghton, says:
“Mortgage affordability has been a big focus over the last two years, but raising a deposit and covering the cost of moving is still the biggest challenge facing most First Time Buyers who don’t have access to the Bank of Mum and Dad.
“With the cost of living, and rents, still so high, putting money aside every month is extremely difficult and even for those who are able to do that consistently, the average First Time Buyer is still looking at a minimum 6.5 year wait to get on the ladder.
“Clearly tackling access to home ownership is not a top priority for the Conservative Government, with no support whatsoever for First Time Buyers in the Spring Budget. We can only hope that as the parties publish their manifestos in the run up to the general election, we will finally see meaningful action to increase housing supply, including social housing, which would filter through to lower house price inflation for the rest of the market. With net migration into the UK of 670,000 in 2023, increasing supply is the only way to make home ownership more affordable in the long term.”
