Countrywide: ‘It takes 10 years for a first time buyer to save for a home’

The average time it takes for a single first time buyer to save for a 15 per cent deposit in England and Wales is now an extraordinary 10 years and three months.

That’s actually six months less than two years ago hen it took 10 years and nine months to save – a sign that affordability has improved slightly according to the estate agency behind the research, Hamptons International. 

The agency - one of Countrywide’s high-end brands - says eight out of 10 regions saw a fall in the amount of time needed for a single first-time buyer to save a 15 per cent deposit over the last two years.

It was nine months quicker to save for a deposit in the East, East Midlands and Wales than it was in Q4 2016.  The North East and North West were the only regions where time to save stayed the same.

A single Londoner hoping to buy would need 15 years and nine months to save, down from 16 years in Q4 2016 as house price growth has slowed and incomes have risen. 

For those couples who are first time buyers it is three months quicker for a full-time working couple in England and Wales to save than it was in 2016. In London it was three months quicker. 

Aneisha Beveridge, Hamptons’ head of research, says: “Saving a deposit is still the biggest barrier to buying a home, but things did improve in 2018. Slowing house price growth – which is expected to continue – combined with rising wages, meant that last year it was six months quicker to save for a home than it was two years earlier.