It’s the British dream to become a homeowner, but for many young people it’s just that – a dream.
The average house price in the UK now sits at around £300,000, but if you have your heart set on the capital then it’s more like £550,000.
So, if you’re fledging, you will need to cough up a deposit of around £30,000 to £55,000 as a 10% deposit. You may be able to get a lower loan to value, with some lenders going as low as 5%, but you will need a polished credit score.
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And remember, what you do not fulfil with a deposit ends up going to mortgage debt, the cost of which will vary throughout your mortgage term, which is typically 25 years.
For most first time buyers, this deposit is out of reach; after all, the average salary for 22 to 29-year-olds is £33,000. This would generate an income of £2,273 take home pay a month, and that is not taking into account pension contributions. It’s around £2,163 with a 5% pension contribution.
Now the average rent in the UK is £1,374, according to the Office for National Statistics, but it largely depends on where you live. London rent prices can exceed £2,000 a month on average.
So, there’s little left to save after living expenses, household bills and hopefully some fun.
But could moving back home for at least three years be worth it? And if you are a parent, would you let your adult child return rent free?
How long would you have to live with parents to save for a deposit?
Based on the median salary and a gross income pay of £2,163, which includes pension contributions, if you could put away £1,200 a month (just below the average rent) strictly and use the remaining for living expenses and to help support household expenses, then you could accumulate over £43,000 over three years.
Saving or investing the deposit over time means your final cash pot could be bigger, though if you want to use that deposit in fewer than five years, investing it may not be the best option as your cash won't be as liquid.
Of course, your savings habit would have to be strict – but staying with your parents and removing the rent pressure for at least three years could finally help you get onto the property ladder.
Rent is one of the biggest expenses young people face and even if they earn more, their ability to save is stumped by high renting costs.
Would you live with your parents for three years?
I asked a few ‘young’ people if they would live with their parents for three years. Some said they would take the hit whereas others said it would not work because their parents lived too far from where they worked. One person said it was simply not worth it as it could damage their mental health.
Checking in: the hotel of mum and dad
Recent research from think tank Resolution Foundation shows two in three young adults are now residing with their parents to save money.
Gen Z have become the stay at home generation, with 63% of young adults aged 20 to 24 living in their family home, and those aged 25 - 29 are also heading back to their childhood bedroom.
While the hotel of mum and dad is helping to make it easier for young people to save for a house deposit, the report found that the bank of mum and dad is still pivotal in helping them get a foot onto the property ladder.
But whether it’s the hotel or the bank of mum and dad, or even grandparents in some cases, for most adults born in the mid-1990s onwards, buying a house is simply out of reach without additional support.
These prolonged stays at the ‘Hotel Mum and Dad’ should theoretically also make it easier for young people to save for a deposit for their first home. However, the separate, but related, ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ is still pivotal to getting people onto the housing ladder. Around one-third of first-time buyers last year had parental help, around 20 percentage points more than twenty years ago.
