First time buyers now need a £50K deposit for a mortgage – and you’ll have to wait until you’re even older to get one
FIRST time buyers will have to fork out nearly £50,000 for a deposit on a mortgage if they want to own their first home.
The average age of when people are likely to become homeowners in England has also risen to 33 from 30 a decade ago.
The depressing statistics are the latest figures from the English Housing Survey released by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government.
First time buyers will have to save up an average £48,591 deposit before they take out a mortgage - down by £240 on the year before.
This drop could be down to falling house prices with the average price of a house in the UK down by 0.6 per cent, according to
Out of the 671,000 first time buyers in 2016 to 2017, half of them bought a home with their partner, while 40,000 - or seven per cent - managed to buy one on their own.
It might seem promising that so many managed to go it alone, but 35 percent of people had help from family or friends and 10 per cent used an in inheritance.
More than half of the first time buyers will still be paying their mortgage off in 30 years time, while 42 per cent will take more than 20 years to pay it off.
The number of under 45s owning a home has also dropped by a million since 2009, down from 4.46million.
Daniel Hegarty from online mortgage broker Habito said that they results show a clear divide between those who can afford to rely on the bank of mum and dad to get on the property ladder and those that can't.
How to get help buying a house
THERE are several government schemes available to help you get on the housing ladder.
- Help to Buy loan: This scheme is for those who have a 5 per cent deposit, and is only available on new-build properties that are worth less than £600,000. The government lends you up to 20 per cent of the property value (interest-free for the first five years) which gives you access to cheaper mortgages. You will need to pay this back at the end of the mortgage or when you sell.
- Starter Homes: First-time buyers under the age of 40 can access this new scheme. You’ll get a 20 per cent discount on the market value of the property (new-build only) but you cannot sell or let the property for five years after you buy it.
- Shared ownership: This scheme is available to non-homeowners who earn £80,000 a year or less (£90,000 in London). People can buy a share of a home from a housing association and continue to rent the remainder. Buyers will need a ten per cent deposit as well as money to cover stamp duty and other fees. You’ll also need to find a mortgage lender that is willing to lend on shared ownership properties
He said: "There is a clear benefit to getting on the property ladder, as mortgage payments tend to be considerably lower than rental commitments - 18% versus 34% of household incomes.
"Yet with rental costs accounting for more than a third of the average household income, many are left with little to save at the end of the month."
Chancellor Phillip Hammond scrapped stamp duty for first time buyers in the Autumn Budget, although experts warned it would it would push up the price of houses.
Latest on house prices
Since the announcement in November, Theresa May said the cut meant no stamp duty for 80 per cent of buyers — with savings of up to £5,000 per household.
But the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) reckon it's showed little sign of boosting the housing market.
The December survey from Rics said 86 per cent of its members reported no increase in first-time buyer inquiries following its scrapping.
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