Young ‘uns go for it
house price rises mean parents and grandparents can release some equity to help first-time buyers onto the property ladder
Young or old, there’s good news if you own, are buying or thinking about buying a home.younger people are getting back on the property ladder, since almost disappearing after the 2008 financial crash. New figures from Halifax show there were 372,000 first-time buyers in 2018, accounting for more than half all home purchases with a mortgage for the first time since 1995.
These figures have been trending upwards for seven years. They now approach double those recorded ten years ago. Rock-bottom interest rates and lower stamp duty costs for less expensive properties have helped.
There are still huge gaps in home values. Halifax calculates the best areas for first-time buyers on a budget are the North West and Scotland, led by Pendle in Lancashire (average £88,852), and Copeland in Cumbria (£110,930), less than three times typical annual earnings for these locations.
Of the 10 least affordable local authority areas, nine are in London and the other is in Oxford. The most expensive is Brent (home to Wembley Stadium) where the average firsttime buyer property price is £500,088, 13.3 times the average annual earnings before tax for that area.
Terraced houses, closely followed by semidetached properties have continued to be the first-time buyer’s home of choice, accounting for two-thirds of first-time mortgages last year.
The average age of a first-time buyer in 2018 has remained at 31 – two years older than a decade ago.
Deposits are still hard to find – the average is 15 per cent – but many get help from the Bank of Grandma and Grandad.
Their homes – mostly mortgage free – have soared in value, typically gaining around £1,000 a month over the past six months, according to Key, a specialist in equity release where you swap the value of your property for a lifetime loan. The biggest gains have been in Yorkshire and Humberside, with London showing more modest numbers.
Key calculates home wealth owned by the over 65s without a mortgage is now £1.118trillion – £1,118,000,000,000 – an all time record.
Key chief executive Will Hale says this can be used to improve retirement income or to aid younger family members onto the housing ladder.