Starter home hotspots: Oxford tops new list of best UK cities for first-time buyers
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First-time buyers should start their property search in Oxford where one-bedroom flats average £259,000, according to a new study released this week.
The university city beat 34 other cities to the top spot of a list of best locations for those hoping to get onto the property ladder thanks to its high average salaries, good job opportunities and its easy commute to London.
The new First-Time Buyers index from price comparison website, MoneySuperMarket, rates cities according to a range of factors including the cost of a one-bedroom flat, job opportunities, average salary and disposable income, and content theft rates.
The Roman city of Bath, with average starter home prices of £273,000, comes in second place thanks to having the highest job availability of all cities analysed (13.76 vacancies per 100 capita).
One-bedroom flats in Wolverhampton are just £98,000 on average — significantly lower than the national average of £135,000 — putting it in third place.
Despite also offering good job opportunities and salary potential, London comes in last place largely due to sky-high property prices, with one-bedroom flats now costing more than £513,000 on average.
“The first-time buyer sector is showing signs of life as property prices fall in some areas, thanks to the heat going out of the buy-to-let market," says Kevin Pratt, consumer affairs expert at MoneySuperMarket.
"If buyers can be flexible, they stand a better chance of finding somewhere they can afford to purchase.”
Even though average house prices in these cities are around a fifth of the cost of homes in the capital they have lower than average job opportunities, salaries and disposable income impacting the potential for a good quality of life.
LONDON: AN OVERVIEW OF THE FIRST-TIME BUYER MARKET
Recent research from Spareroom found half of renters in their twenties want to buy before they hit 30, mostly because of a desire to "pay into their own home rather than line a landlord's pockets".
However, home ownership in the capital is becoming further out of reach as those on a salary of £27,600 (take-home pay of £1,837 a month) could be saving for up to 68 years for the average first-time buyer deposit of £107,000.
Property prices drop significantly as you head to the fringes of the capital, with east London’s Barking and Dagenham offering average house prices of below £300,000.
Government schemes such as Help-to-Buy and Shared-Ownership are also slowly opening up London property opportunities to those looking to get on the ladder for the first time.
A recent report highlighted Croydon in south London as the capital's top Help-to-Buy hotspot, while shared ownership will allow first timers to move into the prime north London location of Islington for just under £122,000.
SECURING A MORTGAGE
Potential buyers across the UK should be aware that interest rates are expected to rise again next month, for the second time this year.
However, first-time buyers should not be panicking about being priced out of a mortgage because rate rises will be introduced gradually in minor increments, says Lee James Pendleton, director of estate agents James Pendleton.