Half of first-time buyers given up hope - Telegraph

Half of first-time buyers given up hope - Telegraph

Fifty three per cent of would-be home buyers believe that they won’t ever be able to afford to buy a home. According to the Post Office, half of prospective home owners said that in order to save enough money for a deposit, they would need to either get a better-paid job with a higher salary, or receive a lump sum from a relative.

The average age of a first-time buyer is 35 today compared with just 23 in the 1960s. The Post Office blamed rising house prices and the huge deposits needed to get on the property ladder.

The research found that on a regional basis, would-be buyers who are already living in London are being hit hardest when trying to raise a deposit, as they are faced with the obstacle of high property prices. Some 43pc of people living in the capital say that they could not afford a deposit unless their financial circumstances changed. This is considerably higher than the national average of 37pc.

In contrast, only 32pc of people living in the West Midlands said that raising the deposit was the main reason impeding their decision to buy. However, it seems they are feeling the pinch more that their southern counterparts, as 32pc of people in the region cited unaffordable mortgage repayments as their main reason, compared to the national average of 12pc.