First time buyers won't afford a house until they are 54, report warns

- Quarter of a century is how long it takes renters to raise deposit for first home- It takes nine years for people living at home to raise deposit- Average deposit set to rise to more than £100,000 by end of decade
For Sale signs - first time buyers
Mira Bar-Hillel12 February 2013

Aspiring first time buyers in London without access to “Bank of Mum and Dad” need to save for almost a quarter of a century to raise enough money for a deposit, a new report claims today.

The average deposit currently stands at £58,000 on a typical “first rung on the ladder” property costing £290,000.

Even putting aside half of disposable income - after paying the rent, council tax, utility bills and other essentials - it would take 24 years to accumulate the cash.

For people living with their parents and not having to pay the rent the wait can be drastically reduced to just nine years, according to the report from the Housebuilders Federation.

Average deposits are forecast to rise to more than £100,000 by the end of the decade making it even harder to save enough money to access affordable mortgages.

Stewart Baseley, the Federation’s executive chairman, said: “This report reveals the extent of our housing crisis and the challenge faced by today’s young people.

“Unlike previous generations that took home ownership for granted, today’s generation have a mountain to climb if they wish to own their own home. We are creating a locked out generation.”

The scale of the task means that the majority of first time buyers in London get help from their parents or grandparents with their initial move into the property market.

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