First-time buyers could wait until 2012

Posted: 07 Jun 2006 09:37:39 GMT

Prospective first-time buyers have been urged to improve their saving habits after a report predicted that many will be waiting until 2012 to get their hands on a property.

With house prices continuing to soar, the Co-operative Bank has said that those looking for a home in London are going to have a particularly tough time as they look to get a foot on the first rung of the property ladder.

It is estimated that if a would-be homeowner saves £307.50 per month, it will still take around six years and two months to raise the ten per cent deposit of £25,183 needed in London by 2012.

This is based on house price inflation of 3.6 per cent, which analysts suggest is a reasonable calculation at this stage.

First-time homebuyers in the south-east will find life slightly easier in that they can expect to have raised the required deposit of £18,991 by February 2011. Those in the south-west, meanwhile, should be aiming for January 2010, based on the same savings arrangement.

In the north-east of England, the average deposit required by a first-time buyer is just £9,675 and the new research estimates that this can be achieved by November 2008.


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