According to property experts, the average lone first-time buyer will need a deposit of about £75,000 to climb on the house ladder.
This sum has doubled in the previous decade, according to Rightmove, with a single person needing £74,402 as a deposit to have a mortgage approved.
If you’re purchasing a house on your own and can only save £100 each month for a deposit, it will take you 62 years to save enough money.
While the costs won’t be the same for everyone, the calculations assume that a single buyer on the median pay can borrow up to 4.5 times their salary to buy a £223,117 home (the current average asking price in the UK).
This represents an 112 percent increase over ten years ago. On average earnings at the time, a person buying on their own would have needed £35,053 as a down payment.
Purchasing a home with a partner, on the other hand, alleviates some of the financial load.
The minimum deposit size for two persons buying jointly has climbed from £14,269 to £22,312 based on the same criterion, albeit at a slower rate.
This is because having two salaries allows you to borrow more money. A couple purchasing a home together should be able to acquire a mortgage with a 10% deposit, or £22,312.
Rightmove also commented on the rise in house prices, stating that the average asking price for a first-time buyer home is 56% higher than it was ten years ago.
‘The next generation of first-time buyers now need to raise a deposit that is more than 50 percent more than ten years ago, while average incomes have only climbed by 35 percent,’ Rightmove’s Tim Bannister said of the findings.
‘That’s before you factor in if you’ll be able to get a mortgage, as right now if you’re buying on your own you’d need a hefty deposit of more than 30% to be able to borrow enough to buy a typical first-time buyer home.
‘If a review of the mortgage market could help with the challenge of needing such a big deposit then it would be greatly welcomed by those who are able to demonstrate that they can afford monthly payments, but who are currently locked out of home-ownership.
‘It’s clear to see why there are many renters keen to get on the ladder, as they’re forking out 40% more each month than ten years ago, while low interest rates mean average mortgage payments have only increased by 11% over that same time.
‘Although competition among buyers is now starting to ease, we’re still in a market where demand is massively outstripping supply in many areas of the UK.
‘This has already pushed prices to record highs so the challenge for first-time buyers of raising a deposit is not going to get easier.
‘The review will take time and so any solution won’t help in the short-term. So as the cost of living increases more people are likely to look further afield at cheaper areas to get on the ladder.’