First time buyers in crisis talks with parents

For the last decade the country has experienced a continuous boom in the housing market, which currently shows no end and is outstripping the rise in people’s incomes.

Mortgage borrowing is still thriving, but it is warned that first-times buyers will now be forced out of the housing market and drag it down.

It is suggested that 40% of first-time buyers now enlist the help of their parents when buying a home. Half of those parents were contributing towards their deposit and 17% were helping with monthly repayments.

It is clear that first-time buyers are finding it hard to get a deposit together and that asking relatives is the only option for them, resulting in many parents pooling equity from their own properties. Repayments aren’t so much the issue, it is finding the money in the first place, to get a property.

With house prices constantly rising there is a certain amount of panic buying in order to secure a property before the prices go out of reach. Only 20% of 20-24 year olds are home owners compared with 34% in 1994. It is also estimated that 20% of ‘apparent’ first-time buyers are older buyers returned to the property after a spell in rented accommodation.