Almost half – 44% – of prospective first-time buyers are delaying becoming a homeowner because of the high cost of buying, research from a lender has found.
The Aldermore First Time Buyer Index revealed that 48% of hopeful homeowners had delayed their buying plans by up to a year, while 22% had pushed this back by at least two years. Respondents attributed this to economic uncertainty.
Although barriers were resulting in first-time buyers putting off homeownership dreams, eight out of 10 who had recently purchased said the challenges were worth it.
Aldermore’s research found that first-time buyers were making sacrifices to get onto the housing ladder, with 55% considering buying a cheaper home for lower mortgage costs.
Around 53% were thinking about moving further away from their friends, family and work to become a homeowner sooner, while 46% were considering buying with someone else.
Jon Cooper, director of mortgages at Aldermore, said: “We really must applaud first-time buyers and their resilience, especially as they’ve been hit with more obstacles and uncertainty than they would have in previous years.
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“It’s not easy getting on the property ladder and it’s reassuring that people are taking proactive steps to realise their goals, either by delaying their plans in order to save more or compromising to find something more affordable.”
Make homeownership more achievable
Cooper added: “While it’s great that buyers are being so pragmatic, action needs to be taken to help make buying more achievable. It is positive that the Chancellor did not use their recent Budget announcement to roll back stamp duty relief for first-time buyers as was speculated, however, the choice to increase additional stamp duty on second homes to 5% will have an impact on our housing system.
“We need to boost the supply of suitable properties to make the journey to homeownership easier, and until action to reform planning is taken, then it will remain a challenging environment for young people looking to make their home buying dreams a reality.”
