First-time buyers expecting to wait until they are 37

Tuesday, 24 April 2012 8:58 AM

Frustrated home buyers expect to have to wait until they are 37 to take their first step on the housing ladder, according to research by MoneySupermarket.com.

And four out of ten (41 per cent) of UK adults who do not already own a home do not intend to buy a property at all.

The results came as the price comparison website revealed that the number of mortgage products has fallen by 12 per cent in the last year to 1,337. That is also less than a tenth of the 14,940 available before the credit crunch in July 2007.

The current average loan-to-value for products available to new buyers is 78 per cent, which means someone trying to buy a £150,000 home would need a deposit of £33,000.

However, there are now 209 products available to people with a 10 per cent deposit, a 20 per cent increase on 2011, and the average interest rate on them is now 1.14 per cent lower than in April 2009.

Only nine per cent of the non-owners questioned had already saved enough for a deposit. Of the rest, 40 per cent are planning to rent until they have saved enough cash, six per cent say they are relying on winning the lottery and five per cent say they will ask friends and families.

Clare Francis, mortgage spokesperson at MoneySupermarket.com, said: "Home ownership is a really big thing here in the UK. For years it has been something millions of people aspire to and therefore it's surprising to see that this may be changing and that some people are giving up on the hope of ever owning their own home.

"To a certain degree it is perhaps understandable. Despite a stagnant housing market in many areas of the country, property prices remain exceptionally high.

"Coupled with this, mortgages remain hard to come by with the number of loans available to those with a small deposit well down on the pre-credit crunch days. Rising living costs are also making it harder for aspiring first time buyers to save that all important deposit."

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