Wages rising faster than prices in the UK, but high house prices remain a challenge for first-time buyers. Nationwide Building Society reports that 40% of first-time buyers require financial assistance from family or friends to afford a deposit. The report highlights affordability issues, particularly in Southern England and East Anglia, where mortgage payments consume a larger portion of take-home pay.
Nationwide finds four in 10 buyers need a loan or gift from friends or family to raise enough for home depositAround four in 10 first-time buyers need a gift or loan from relatives or friends, or an inheritance to get the deposit to buy a home, Nationwide reported.
Nationwide, the UK’s biggest building society, said affordability pressures are strongest in southern England and East Anglia, while in northern England and Scotland mortgage payments as a share of take-home pay are closer to their long term average. “Annual house price growth ended the year at 4.7 per cent, a marked improvement from the small declines seen at the start of 2024.
Mortgage payments for those in skilled trades buying a typical first-time buyer property would account for 41.3 per cent of take-home pay, increasing to 43 per cent for plant and machine operatives. House price-to-earnings ratios remain broadly similar to a year ago across the UK, with London continuing to have the highest ratio at 8.0 and Scotland the lowest at 3.0.. Affordability pressures are strongest in the South of England and East Anglia, while in the northern regions of England and Scotland, mortgage payments as a share of take-home pay are much closer to their long-run average the report says.
AFFORDABILITY HOUSING MARKET FIRST-TIME BUYERS MORTGAGES DEPOSITS
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