The affordable cities renters in London escape to in order to buy their first home and you could save up to £23k on a deposit
THE most popular cities for first-time buyers to escape to from London have been revealed - and you could save thousands of pounds on a deposit by moving there.
Hamptons International estate agent analysed the latest migration figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to find out where first-time buyers were ditching London for.
The Sun then worked out how much you could save on a 5 per cent deposit - the minimum you need to take out a mortgage - based on average house prices from property portal Zoopla.
And it turns out you can save more than £23,000 on your deposit by moving to one of these cities compared to the average £31,593 needed for a 5 per cent deposit in London.
Of course, you'd have to opt for a longer commute or move jobs though.
First-time buyers who move to Liverpool will save the most on their deposit - a huge £23,034 compared to London.
What help is out there for first-time buyers?
GETTING on the property ladder can feel like a daunting task but there are schemes out there to help first-time buyers have their own home.
Help to Buy Isa - It's a tax-free savings account where for every £200 you save, the Government will add an extra £50. But there's a maximum limit of £3,000 which is paid to your solicitor when you move.
Help to Buy equity loan - The Government will lend you up to 20 per cent of the home's value - or 40 per cent in London - after you've put down a five per cent deposit. The loan is on top of a normal mortgage but it can only be used to buy a new build property.
Lifetime Isa - This is another Government scheme that gives anyone aged 18 to 39 the chance to save tax-free and get a bonus of up to £32,000 towards their first home. You can save up to £4,000 a year and the Government will add 25 per cent on top.
Shared ownership - Co-owning with a housing association means you can buy a part of the property and pay rent on the remaining amount. You can buy anything from 25 to 75 per cent of the property but you're restricted to specific ones.
"First dibs" in London - London Mayor Sadiq Khan is working on a scheme that will restrict sales of all new-build homes in the capital up to £350,000 to UK buyers for three months before any overseas marketing can take place.
Starter Home Initiative - A Government scheme that will see 200,000 new-build homes in England sold to first-time buyers with a 20 per cent discount by 2020. To receive updates on the progress of these homes you can register your interest on the website.
In Liverpool, average deposits are £8,559 in comparison.
Here, 8 per cent of all first-time buyers in the northern city moved away from rented properties in the capital.
Oxford was the most popular city for Londoners though, where up to 22 per cent of first-time buyers in the area went from the capital last year.
And it's no wonder when it turns out that you can save £6,473 on a deposit, with average deposits at £25,120.
The next most popular destination was Cambridge, with 22 per cent of new property owners moving from London, where the minimum deposit costs £21,936 on average - a £9,657 saving.
Out of the 15 most popular cities, Newcastle was the furthest away from the capital where 7 per cent of first-time buyers were renters from London.
Here, they could save £21,513 on a 5 per cent deposit, which will set you back £10,080 on average.
Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons International, said: "As London has become increasingly unaffordable, more people are choosing to up sticks and move to other cities in England.
"The cities closest to the capital such as Oxford and Cambridge have the highest proportion of people moving in from London... but given Oxford and Cambridge are expensive cities too, people are having to look even further away to buy or rent a home."
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As part of our My First Home first-time buyer series, we spoke to Theo Fashesin who moved 200miles away from her family in London to Manchester in order to buy a house.
Ethan Bragginton and his girlfriend Aimee also got onto the property ladder by 19 but they had to leave London behind.
And two pals managed to stay in the capital city by clubbing together to buy £425,000 flat in Whitechapel through the shared-ownership scheme.
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