Despite the difficulties getting on the housing ladder, a majority of first-time buyers are still confident that they will be able to buy a home.
According to research from My Home Move, 57% of aspiring first-time buyers feel hopeful and confident about their chances of getting on the property ladder, with the majority planning to buy their first home within the next four years.
Most of those questioned said they expected to purchase their first property by the time they were 25 or 30.
However, for nine out of 10 aspiring homeowners this means that by the time they buy their first home they’ll be years older than they expected to be, creating a missed generation of first-time buyers in their mid-40s.
Doug Crawford, CEO of My Home Move, said: “For many Brits the idea of home ownership is still the thing they aspire to the most. It offers security and a sense of achievement in a world that can be fractured and stressful. Of those we surveyed, over a quarter expected to be home owners by the time they hit their mid-twenties, but unfortunately the reality is very different.
“Our findings showed that we have a ‘missed generation’ of first-time buyers, those who are now into the 30s, 40s, 50s and even 60s, who are still struggling to get on the property ladder. Having grown up in the 1970s and 1980s, when home ownership figures overtook that of renting for the first time, it’s not surprising that these children believed they too would be home owners in their twenties.”
Soaring house prices and deposits means seven out of 10 first-time buyers expect they’ll need additional support from the Bank of Mum and Dad or the government’s Help-to-Buy schemes on top of years of saving.
Overall, the Help to Buy equity loan scheme was more popular than its sister scheme the ISA, with over 10% of aspirational first-time buyers in London and the North East planning to buy their first home through the Equity Loan scheme.
“In today’s market, with its continued lack of housing stock and high property prices, would-be first time buyers have to take advantage of every revenue stream available to them. For many, years of hard saving are not enough to afford them their first home, having to be supplemented with gifted deposits and government support,” said Crawford.
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