Half need help to buy

First-timers facing huge cash struggle

ALMOST half of all first-time buyers need financial help from the Bank of Mum and Dad to get on the property ladder.

The average first-time buyer is in their 30s and has to find a deposit of £20,600, a new study shows.

That compares to 1960, when people bought their first home at an average age of 23, paid a £595 deposit and barely a fifth needed financial aid.

In the 60s eight out of 10 first-time buyers were married, and it took two years to save the down-payment. Today, it takes more than five years. The study, by Keepmoat Homes, shows the fees new buyers have to pay have soared, too. In the 1960s, they were £180 and are now £2,623.

James Thompson, Keepmoat’s CEO, said: “It’s worrying to see just how tough things have become, particularly since 2000.”