First-time buyers take 8 years to save a deposit

Potential homeowners face wait of 8 years to get on the property ladder

October 24, 2012

Aspiring first-time buyers take an average of 8 years to save enough cash to put down a deposit on a home. A new report by the Yorkshire Building Society has found that on average the aspiring homebuyer saves £248 per month. As the average price of a first home is £131,250 a typical first-time buyer will take 8 years to save the £26,000 required to meet the 20% deposit required by nearly all lenders.

As always with the UK housing market these figures vary wildly for different regions. Aspiring buyers in London need to raise an eye-watering £60,000 and those in the South East require more than £30,000 to get a mortgage. Whereas in the North East, North West, and Yorkshire, the figure is around £15,000.

Chris Smith at Yorkshire Building Society, said: “In the last five years mortgage activity in general has more than halved, and today’s first time buyers are facing a squeeze on incomes and pay rates that are not keeping pace with inflation. However, it’s encouraging to see the proportion of first time buyers has actually begun to increase in this period and more people are seeing home purchase as a prudent financial decision.”