Top property hotspots named for first-time buyers
Thursday, 26 April 2012 9:02 AM
By Phil Scullion Follow philscullion
Milton Keynes, Dartford and Swindon are the UK's hotspots for first-time buyers, according to new research from Experian.
The nominations come from PropertyCheck, a new service from the credit referencing firm that provides property valuations and insights into the market in local neighbourhoods.
The top place for first-time buyers is Milton Keynes, where they make up 9.5 per cent of the market. It is closely followed by Dartford (9.3 per cent) and Swindon (8.9 per cent).
People taking their first step on the ladder also make up more than eight per cent of the market in Aldershot, Hempstead Valley and Basingtoke.
And the rest of the top 10 is also made up of places in the South East: Crawley, Slough, Bexleyheath and Aylesbury.
The research also identifies two key groups among the first-time buyers. 'Foot on the ladder' buyers are young single people and couples on middle incomes who have recently bought a house on private estates. Their mortgage typically accounts for a large proportion of their income and most of the homes are not new builds or somewhere they will stay for more than five years.
In contrast 'first to move in' buyers are people who have moved into homes built in the last 18 months. They are mostly under 35 and many of them will be sharing to help pay the mortgage and have often bought into developments in a central location.
Peter Turner, managing director of Experian Interactive, said: "In spite of difficulties across the country in getting that first foot on the property ladder, online indicators suggest the market is improving for first time buyers. Year-on-year searches for 'first time buyer mortgage' were up eight-fold and searches for '95 per cent mortgages for first time buyers' more than doubled in the last 12 months."
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