First-time buyer homes have become smaller in the past few decades, while the average age and deposit needed have grown, research has shown.
According to research by Yorkshire Building Society, which surveyed 2,000 adults who have bought a home, since 2020 the most likely first-time buyer home is a two-bedroom flat with two bathrooms, coming to six rooms in total and no garden. This costs an average of £215,699.
In the 1970s, however, the most common first home was a two-bed semi-detached house with the estimated average price at the time standing at £19,309. This is equal to around £92,172 in today’s money.
Flats account for around a quarter of all first-time buyer homes in the current decade, with terraced houses most popular in the 1980s and semi-detached homes with a private drive the most popular choice in the 1990s.
The average first-time buyer in the 1970s needed to borrow around £11,149, or £52,220 in today’s money. However, the average amount of a first mortgage has risen to around £200,000.
The smaller properties favoured by today’s first-time buyers required 6.04 times the average income of £35,724, which compares to approximately two-and-a-half times the average salary in the 1970s.
The average 10% deposit today is around £20,000, which is more than half of the typical salary.
The average age of first-time buyers has jumped from 24 in the 1970s to 30 in 2021, survey participants said. Similar research by Royal London echoes this.
The number of first homes with outside space has fallen, making up 85% of properties bought in the 1970s, but dropping to 66% today.
Homeownership ‘completely out of reach’ for some
Ben Merritt, director of mortgages for Yorkshire Building Society, said: “Achieving homeownership isn’t easy; we know that house price growth means people are having to borrow much more to get on the property ladder, and for some it’s now, sadly, completely out of reach.
“It’s clear from our research that some of the factors behind people’s choice of first home have remained stable, like the number of bedrooms required. However, the need to compromise on quality-of-life aspects like having a garden or a drive has arisen over the decades, and it just goes to further highlight the scale of the challenges the latest generation of first-time buyers must now overcome to get on the property ladder, despite being willing to compromise.”
He added: “We want to do our bit to make sure everyone who wants to own their own home has the opportunity of fulfilling their dream, and we will continue to look at innovative solutions to help people wherever possible, like our £5k deposit mortgage, which launched earlier this year.”
Anna is currently the deputy editor for Mortgage Solutions and editor for Specialist Lending Solutions. She has worked as a journalist since 2019, having secured her Gold Standard NCTJ diploma from News Associates in a fast-track six-month course.
She started her career as a report at specialist publication The Insurance Insider covering a wide range of areas before joining Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions in 2021.
In her role, she helps put together and structure the news agenda for the day and writes up press releases, reports, interviews, analyses and exclusives across both titles. She also commissions blogs for Specialist Lending Solutions and hosts online masterclasses and in-person events across the business.
She has been shortlisted for three journalism awards, which include BIBA Journalist and Media Awards Scoop of Year Award in 2020, Headline Money Mortgage Journalist of the Year Award (B2B) in 2022 and 2023.
Prior to being a journalist, Anna worked in ecommerce across Snow + Rock, Cycle Surgery and Runners Need websites, and before that worked at specialist financial PR firm Rostrum.
In her spare time, Anna enjoys reading, seeing live music, and cooking for friends and family. When she gets a chance, she also enjoys hiking, skiing and indoor rock climbing.
