Over half of aspiring first time buyers questioned in a UK survey said they are hopeful and confident about their chances of getting on the housing ladder.
Overall 57% of those looking to buy their first property are optimistic and the majority expect to be able to do so by 2021, according to the research by conveyance services firm My Home Move.
However, for older first time buyers, those aged over 23, some 90% revealed that their home ownership aspirations and childhood expectations no longer match up as they had hoped to be able to buy at a younger age.
When asked what age they thought they would be able to buy their first home when they were growing up the majority answered age 25 or 30. For those who are now in their late 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s, this means they are years and even decades older than they expected to be when they dreamed they would buy their first home as a child.
The firm suggests there is now a ‘missed generation’ of first time buyers. ‘For many people the idea of home ownership is still the thing they aspire to the most. It offers security and a sense of achievement but of those we surveyed, over a quarter expected to be home owners by the time they hit their mid-20s but the reality is very different,’ said Doug Crawford, chief executive officer of My Home Move.
‘Our findings showed that we have a missed generation of first time buyers, those who are now into the 30s, 40s, 50s and even 60s, who are still struggling to get on the property ladder. Having grown up in the 1970s and 1980s, when home ownership figures overtook that of renting for the first time, it’s not surprising that these children believed they too would be home owners in their 20s,’ he pointed out.
When questioned how they expected to afford their new home some 72% of aspiring first time buyers said they were saving for their deposits themselves, however they also expected to need additional support from friends, family and the Government.
Only, 6.2% of respondents believe the Bank of Mum and Dad would gift them enough money for a deposit, meaning they could apply for a mortgage without the need for further savings or support through the Government’s Help to Buy schemes.
A regional breakdown of the survey shows that those in London represented the highest proportion of would be first time buyers who were expecting to receive a gifted deposit that would be enough to secure them a mortgage at 15.7% while an additional 13% were expecting to have to top up their gift with additional savings, as property prices are rising.
In comparison, only 6.8% of aspiring home owners in Yorkshire and Humberside expected to be gifted money, with 3.4% believing that they would have to top up their gift with savings.
Overall the Government’s Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme was more popular than the newer Help to Buy ISA, with over 10% of aspirational first time buyers in London and the North East planning to buy their first home through the Equity Loan scheme.
‘In today’s market, with its continued lack of housing stock and high property prices, would be first time buyers have to take advantage of every revenue stream available to them. For many, years of hard saving are not enough to afford them their first home, having to be supplemented with gifted deposits and Government support,’ said Crawford.
