Still dreaming of getting on ladder
NEW research has revealed that a huge percentage of young people in the north west still dream of owning their own home.
A whopping 82 per cent of respondents hope to get on the housing ladder one day and only five per cent say they don’t ever want to buy a property.
This comes just days after the release of government figures revealing home ownership in England to be at a 30-year low.
A nationwide survey of 2,000 UK 18 to 40 year-olds who have never owned their own home was commissioned by life insurance provider Beagle Street to assess the landscape for potential homebuyers, along with their knowledge and understanding of the government support available to them.
Encouragingly, 57 per cent of respondents in the north west are saving into a savings account or ISA – a good first step towards accumulating a deposit.
Yet despite good savings habits, only three per cent feel well informed about the government help available to support first-time buyers, including Help to Buy, Shared Ownership and the new Lifetime ISA, launching in April.
The survey findings suggest that many young people have the potential to buy their own home, but lack information on the various parts of the buying process, from accumulating a deposit, to taking advantage of a government scheme and understanding how the purchase process works.
The research coincides with the launch of Beagle Street’s Home Buyers’ Guide, which aims to answer all of these questions and provide the information first-time buyers need.
Beagle Street managing director Matthew Gledhill said: “Despite levels of home ownership in England reaching a historic low, it’s clear many people still want to buy a home of their own.
“Our research shows that many potential homebuyers either aren’t aware of the help on offer from the Government or don’t know how to access these schemes.
“Buying a home is one of the key triggers for buying life insurance, with first-time buyers understandably keen to protect their biggest asset for their loved ones should the worst happen.
“Here at Beagle Street we’re all about making complicated things simple – so we’ve applied the same logic we apply to providing life insurance to create a straightforward guide to buying a home, packed with actionable information to help potential homebuyers understand the schemes available to them.”