Average age of first-time buyers rises to 30 in the UK - and 32 in London

New research reveals that more first-time buyers are getting on the property ladder, but with soaring house prices throughout the capital, it's taking longer...
The number of first-time buyers has increased by 10 per cent in the first six months of 2016.
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The average age of first-time buyers has hit 32 in London thanks to rapidly rising house prices and escalating rents making it increasingly hard for tenants to save for a deposit.

First-time buyers in the capital are now putting down an average deposit of £96,000, according to the latest Halifax First Time Buyer Review.

This is almost three times higher than the UK average of £34,000, where first-time buyers are generally able to get on the housing ladder two years earlier than in London.

Price of starter homes

The price of homes bought by first-time buyers across the UK rose by 12 per cent over the past year, to just shy of £200,000 across the UK, £385,000 in London and £257,000 in the South-East.

Londoners won't be surprised to learn that the 10 least affordable areas for first-time buyers are all in the capital, with Brent being the borough most out of reach thanks to the average starter home costing almost £460,000 - 12.5 times more than the gross average annual earnings for the area.

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In London, the average first-time buyer's deposit was 25 per cent, compared with 17 per cent in the rest of the country, because buyers in the capital are trying to keep monthly mortgage payments as low as possible. Although higher wages in the capital might account for first-timers being able to save harder, many are obviously getting more help from the bank of mum and dad than their counterparts in the rest of the country.

All first-time buyers in London were liable for stamp duty - which kicks in on properties over £125,000 - and 85 per cent paid more than than £250,000 for their homes.

Rising numbers of first-time buyers
However, it's not all doom and gloom as the research also reveals the number of first-time buyers increased by 10 per cent over the first six months of this year, compared with the same period in 2015 and almost 155,000 first-timers got onto the first rung of the property ladder in that time.

"This rise has been broadly in line with a general improvement in market activity and is likely to have been helped by government measures including the Help to Buy scheme," says Chris Gowland, mortgages director at Halifax.

“Although numbers remain below their previous peaks and many potential first time buyers are facing escalating house prices and deposit sizes, record low mortgage rates continue to make buying seem a more attractive option than renting.”