Home » Uncategorised »
Owning property a pipe-dream for many renters
This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
A discouraging report suggests that a high number of private renters in the UK believe that they will never be able to afford their own home.
Research from construction and regeneration company Keepmoat indicates that 44% of renters in Britain feel they will be unable to get onto the first rung on the property ladder.[1]
Priced out
Average house prices in England and Wales now stand at £178,000, according to official figures from the Land Registry. However, there remains a significant regional variation in property values. House prices in London for example currently total £462,799.[1]
In general, house prices in the North are generally more affordable. Despite this, 62% of non-homeowners in Liverpool feel that they will never own their own home. 60% of would-be homeowners in Glasgow and Newcastle echoed this sentiment.[1]
Being unable to raise funds for a deposit was the most common reason for not getting onto the property ladder, with 56% of respondents to the survey saying this was the case. Of current homeowners taking part in the survey, 38% said it took between two and five years to save for their deposit. 13% said that it took up to ten years for them to save the required amount.[1]
Owning property a pipe-dream for many renters
Help…with Help to Buy
More concerning data from the report suggests that there is low awareness of the Government’s Help to Buy scheme. Less than one-third of respondents said that they would be using the initiative to buy their homes, with a further 38% of people claiming that they do not know what the scheme is.[1]
‘It’s clear that the amount of money first time buyers need to raise for a deposit continues to stop many from getting on the property ladder,’ said Dave Sheridan, chief executive of Keepmoat. ‘However, we were surprised that the results show Londoners are more confident about owning a home than those in other cities, particularly in the North,’ he continued.[1]
‘There is plenty of assistance available for buyers in the form of the Help to Buy scheme and help is available when saving for a deposit with the Help to Buy ISA,’ Sheridan added.[1]
[1] http://www.propertywire.com/news/europe/uk-would-be-buyers-2015071710762.html
