Smartphones, satellite TV and holidays were among the things first-time buyers said they would not be prepared to give up in order to save to get on to the property ladder.
In a survey by Welsh building society Principality of 1,000 people across England and Wales who are saving for their first home, many also said that beauty treatments and visits to the coffee shop were things they were unwilling to give up.
The average asking price of a home for first-time buyers in the UK currently stands at £169,414 and, says the building society, a 5% deposit of £8,470 would be reached in a year if a couple each saved £353 every month.
The survey found that while people were on average saving £286 per month for a house deposit, they were were still spending almost £218 on what they believed were ‘necessities’.
Less than half (42%) said they were prepared to give up satellite TV, only 37% would sacrifice beauty treatments and just over one in ten (12%) said they would be prepared to give up their smartphone.
Regular holidays were also non-negotiable, with more than half (56%) admitting they would not give up trips away to save.
However, nearly two thirds (59%) said they would be willing to give up takeaways, while 48% said they would stop eating out and taking taxis. If respondents were to give up all three, research showed it would add an extra £62.41 to their monthly savings.
Principality’s customer director, Julie-Ann Haines, said on the findings: “We know that saving for a deposit can seem like a huge burden, which many first-time buyers feel they can’t afford, but by making some minor changes to their spending habits, they could soon realise their dream of becoming a home owner.
“By simply doing things like swapping a takeaway coffee for a flask of coffee from home each day or by cutting back on the city breaks for a year, people could soon have that deposit they have longed for. A saving of £218.38 a month can make a huge difference when you are trying to reach your deposit.”
Haines added: “(Getting on the property ladder) can be one of the most rewarding moments of your life, giving you a place where you can seek the independence you’ve always wanted or finally start a family.
“By simply cutting back on the everyday luxuries for a short time it will enable you to save more in the long run, and ultimately be on the housing ladder much sooner than anticipated.”
* Have you got a story? If so you can email me at charlie@propertyindustryeye.com
Comments (15)
Those of us who are now ancient (speaking for myself) one of the differences is we did not have the choice. My first mortgage was at 15.25% (1980) and wait for it…. a mortgage famine. Money is currently very cheap compared to then. There was virtually no letting market due to rent control. You had no real choice in reality you either stayed with parents or purchased. So whilst there may not have been BTL purchasers the number of properties to buyers/tenants was probably about the same. In those days to move around the country with your job was not so easy as you plain and simply could not rent (unless it was a company let). There is an important lesson to those who want to bring back rent control and do not know what the housing market was like in the 1970’s/1980’s. However, Scotland might yet show the uninitiated the effects of rent control!!!!!
I do like a good bit of preaching. Whilst the virtous amongst you pass around anecdotes about your years of virtue, I’d like to remind you:
1) There are probably others like you, who in 20 years will come and regail us with tales of their virtue.
2) There is little evidence that anything has actually changed in terms of the spending habits of youths. If you can find me a similar comparable study from 20 years ago, then I’d be interested. Indeed, there is evidence that alcohol consumption amongst the young has been decreasing for years in the UK – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-31452735 and nightclubs are closing.
3) It is a fact that the ratio of house prices to average income is much higher than it once was.
You must also remember that houses, like all goods, are only worth what other people are prepared to pay for them. If the study above is accurate and attitudes really has changed, and with a crackdown on the heavily leveraged btl crowd, then perhaps potential first time buyers are simply not prepared to pay the prices currently being asked for – with obvious consequences for the housing market.
You may have a point if it was a sellers market …….. which its not.
Bu99er!
* Buyers market!!!! – second time today, giving up on this and going home!
An important factor is cost of money which is currently as cheap as chips – this has the greatest impact on property prices. Irresponsible lending by banks and building societies have much to answer for when you look back over the last 20 years of property prices.
You had little choice back then on everything. Wanted a loan, see your bank manager and if he said no, that was the end. Kids today grew up with the 1990’s industrial revolution, better communication, more choice and cheap plastic. H’mm my parents said the same sort of thing when I was young 60 years ago!
A 5% deposit of £8,470 would be reached in a year if a couple each saved £353 every month.
Are my maths wrong as i make it £4,236!
my mistake just notices the “Each” part.
As difficult as it is for FTB’s i agree with the majority of posters,
Its all about choices and making the ones that are important to you. Too many youngsters these days are happy to have a flash car on HP and live with mum and dad and then complain they cant afford to move out.
I saved for my first place (it was a hole!) i then spent time improving on it and moved up the ladder, when working in agency as an employee i shunned the expensive holidays, flash cars, home improvements to save for my own agency. And once i got my own agency i did not squander the money on myself i invested pretty much all into my business. I am now at a stage where i am comfortable and have the trappings others want.
Some say i am lucky, others know how hard i have worked over the years and sacrifices i have made.
We all have an equal opportunity in life, its about the choices we make.
45 now not when bought our first house !! about 25 after renting.
a floor !? – a floor – you lucky lucky person……….. 🙂
agree with the article. 45 and our first house we saved carefully for the deposit over 4 years, then 2nd hand furniture, went camping in the UK, admittedly there were no mobile phones, cant see the point of buying coffee and going to work, old Toyota corolla car 1.3 auto in Gold – slugs went faster !!! Didnt waste money on partying/pubs etc. Just saved and worked hard.
I have been saying this for years. When I made my first purchase I cut back on everything. I moved out around 40 miles from London and traveled into London each day, because that was all I could afford. I had no furniture and slept on LiLo mattress and had second hand throw outs to furnish my first home. Nowadays, everyone wants fully matched coloured coded everthing and kitchens with every appliance.
Me too. I’m 50 (ish). I bought my first house when I was 23 but I didn’t have my first foreign holiday till I was 30.
Same here….I don’t want this to sound like Monty Pythons Four Yorkshiremen sketch, but I slept on the floor for about 6 months – couldn’t even afford a lilo !
Peter, forgot to mention it was a second hand lilo!